MSc Liliana Fonseca is a Research Assistant in the European Policies Research Centre, and a PhD candidate in Public Policies at the University of Aveiro (Portugal). At the EPRC she has contributed to the H2020 project TRACER, supporting formerly coal-intensive regions in their transition towards more sustainable forms of energy. She has also carried out public policy research for the EoRPA and NPA programmes and the NONURBAN project, leading the EPRC briefing paper on Coronavirus and the NPA. Between 2017-2020 she was an Early Stage Research Fellow of the H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network RUNIN (The Role of Universities in Innovation and Regional Development), in which she developed her PhD work on universities’ engagement in regional innovation policy like that of Smart Specialisation, through international cross-regional comparative research.
Her previous studies focused on political science, governance, urban and regional sustainability and grassroots initiatives, holding an MSc in Eco-Cities by Cardiff University's School of Geography and Planning, and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and International Relations by the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
