CIVIS student council

The CIVIS Student Council is the body representing all students enrolled at the 11 member universities of the CIVIS Alliance. The council is the voice of the students and its goal is to ensure that the needs of the students are accounted for, met and respected.

The the Student Council consists of the managing committee, chair and secretary, and the leaders of the five working groups: Social Media, Internal communication, Mobility, Rules of Procedure and African Partnerships. The characteristics of the working groups ensure that the Student Council is in constant connection with the students, facilitating the communication of their needs to other responsible bodies.

The Student Council is also present and active in various CIVIS Alliance structures. The students work alongside the academics and administrative staff in designing and innovating our common academic space, as important actors in the co-creation process of Europe’s Civic University Alliance.

Please, feel free to contact us at: Student@lists.civis.eu and share your best thoughts and ideas regarding CIVIS. Keep an eye on us, as a lot of great things are about to happen!

Meet the students committed to changing the Higher Education landscape with CIVIS!

Ioannis Stouras , National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

My name is Ioannis Stouras and I am currently a medical student at the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The main reason why I am delighted to be part of the CIVIS Student Council is that I strongly believe that students are the most important stakeholders of the CIVIS community. With our voices heard in the decision-making process, we significantly contribute to driving science and education forward in the gulfs of this great European initiative.

Katerina Schoina, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Ana Maria Belciu, University of Bucharest

Hello, everybody! My name is Ana-Maria Belciu and I am a 1st year Bachelor student in Sociology in English at the University of Bucharest. I am passionate about sustainability and ways of providing quality of life to vulnerable population groups. I joined CIVIS in hopes of advancing the dialogue on how adapting more sustainable methods at all levels in our society can increase the quality of life of all members of a community.

Angelo Petre, University of Bucharest

My name is Angelo, I am currently in my masters, studying Geodemography, Social and territorial Vulnerabilities at the University of Bucharest. My interests focus on spatial accessibility to essential services, especially educational facilities, as well as foodscape characteristics and the impact on health and population wellbeing. I am also interested in the analysis of human capital and the links between health status and education level on the allocation of human capital.

I am very thankful to be part of the CIVIS community as I consider that the role of students in the consolidation and co-creation of the future civic university is essential, as we are directly targeted by the higher education policies.

Razvan Bunciu, University of Bucharest

My name is Răzvan! I am a student at the Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest and I am keen on social sciences, including IR, Sociology and (especially) Law. I consider myself a hands-on person and I enjoy spending my time volunteering, with my friends, and binge watching TV series.

Vanessa Jubenot, Université libre de Bruxelles

Bonjour!

My name is Vanessa Jubenot. I have a BA in Political Science and French from the University of Western Ontario in Canada and am now doing a Master's degree in Anthropology at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Belgium. My memoire will combine the European migration crisis, citizen's activism in Brussels and the horn of Africa (specifically Ethiopia).

I joined the CIVIS Global Student Council (GSC) Managing Committee as Secretary in October 2022, along with my colleague Angelo Petre who joined as Chair. Within the GSC, I'm the Working Group leader for African Partnerships and was honoured to be able to join a CIVIS delegation to South Africa, Mozambique, Morocco and Uganda to meet our new partners and their local student councils in 2022-23. Within the bigger CIVIS family, I sit on the Steering Committee, Stream 1 and Hub 4 on Cities, Spaces, and Mobilities.

At the ULB, I'm part of my local council's executive committee as "Responsable International" and also sit on the "Conseil d'Administration" and "Assemblée plénière". I believe that it is only through connection, immersion and shared experiences that we can build a healthy, vibrant and thriving society. For me, the CIVIS project is a wonderful, ambitious platform that champions these values and I'm thrilled to be able contribute to its growth through the Student Council

Arnav Saxena, University of Glasgow

Hiya! My name is Arnav Saxena and I'm studying Chemistry at the University of Glasgow! Alongside being the Chemistry Representative at Glasgow Uni I'm really excited to join CIVIS, last year I had the opportunity to study abroad and it was one of the most enriching and exciting things I have ever done. I’m really looking forward to helping students with their own exchanges and becoming a part of this multicultural group

Miko Mijsiej, University of Glasgow

Hello , I’m Miko and I’m in the 4^th year of my Law degree at the University of Glasgow. I’m originally from Poland and moved to the UK in 2007. Over the last few years, I focused on researching European human rights law and I participated in reviews of Human rights implementation of a few EU member states . For me , the most important thing that CIVIS ensures is international collaboration on issues like human rights research – I think that the benefits of international collaboration are being shown more and more in a divided world

Rina Väre, University of Glasgow

Hiya! I'm Rinna Väre, originally, I'm from Finland but I have lived in Glasgow, Scotland, since 2018 having completed my undergraduate degree in Politics and Sociology this summer. This year I'm working full time as the President of our Student Representative Council and I'm really excited to be able to contribute to CIVIS Global Student Council for the second year. For me the most important thing about CIVIS is ensuring that students from a wide range of backgrounds can experience studying abroad or at a different university even after the constraints Brexit has created for student mobility.

Lea Fontana, University of Lausanne

Hi! I am Lea Fontana from Switzerland. I am 22 years old, and I am in my second year of Law at the University of Lausanne (UniL). Overactive, Passionate, and motivated, I love taking part in new projects. For me, CIVIS is a unique and ambitious educative initiative with the collaboration and multiculturalism. Which represents the future of the European identity.

Judith Garcia, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

Hi! My name is Judith García Ribas and I study Law and Political Science. I have always been very interested in International Relations and I love languages. I speak Spanish, Catalan, English and a little bit of German.

Annachiara Ciancio, Sapienza Università di Roma

My name is Annachiara Ciancio , and I’m a third year law student at Sapienza University of Rome. I am so grateful to be part of CIVIS because I am convinced that is a great opportunity for all students to get to know more about our fellow students experience from all over Europe , and also to work on our personal and professional skills.

Gabriele Vallin, Sapienza Università di Roma

My name is Gabriele Vallin. I’m 21 and I’m attending the 3th year of the Bachelor Degree on Political Sciences and International Relations at Sapienza University of Rome. I’m also an Erasmus student in France right now.

Sara Palumbo, Sapienza Università di Roma

Hello everybody, my name is Sara Palumbo and I study aerospace engineer in the Italian university Sapienza. I am really pleased to actively partecipate in the many CIVIS activities. I hope to be helpful for anyone that wants to learn about the opportunity CIVIS gives. I wish that my contribution to this alliance and the Italian savior-fair will be useful to the improvement of all universities.

Johanna Büttner, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg

Hello everyone,

My name is Johanna Büttner and I am currently in my 2nd master semester at the University of Salzburg. I am interested in the field of psychology.

Nevertheless, as a student I find it important to participate in university dialogue. Through various functions at PLUS, I am happy to have the opportunity to represent students in the CIVIS Student Council and to contribute to the process of creating a European university and European campus!

Lisa Pfefferseder, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg

Hi! My name is Lisa and I am currently in my second year of the Master’s Program of Psychology at the University of Salzburg. I have always loved to connect with people from different countries and cultures, and that is why I love working for the CIVIS alliance. It makes me happy to be part of an alliance that helps to bring Europeans closer together.

Vida Kastelic, Stokholm University

Hi, my name is Vida and I am 24 years old. I study Criminology at Stockholm University, Sweden. I am also a certified veterinary technician. I love animals, video games and sports. In my free time I love spending time with my friends and going for walks with my doggo. :)

Divya Baharathi, Stokholm University

I am Divya, 2nd year Master's student in Environmental Atmosphere Biogeochemistry and Climate student at Stockholm University. I am from a coastal city in India, Visakhapatnam. I believe in equal opportunity for all, and I highly believe CIVIS plays a crucial role in uniting people from different cultures and bringing them together. I am very excited to develop my skills, gain experience and continue learning with CIVIS

Disa Ahlblom-Berg, Stockholm University

My name is Disa and I am from Stockholm University in Sweden. I have studied to be a students’ counselor but right now I am working full time as the vice president of the student union. That means that one of my main tasks is to participate in this kind of groups. I think that it’s important to always have the perspective of the student in everything. To travel to another country for your studies can make you very exposed and there for its important that we see and take care of the student rights in these kinds of programs.