Leonidas is a Research and Innovation Policy Expert with an educational background in architecture, urban and regional development, and planning.

He is currently working as a Research Associate at the HERACLITUS Research Centre of the Cyprus University of Technology.

He has served for 20 years as a Director at the Research and Innovation Foundation of Cyprus with the responsibility of designing the national R&I Programmes’ Framework and the Smart Specialisation Strategy of the country.

At the European level, he has acquired a deep knowledge of the R&I Policy, Programmes, and Partnerships landscape. Among others, he has been the Chair of the High-Level Group for Joint Programming and a member of the ERAC Steering Board, the H2020 and HE Strategic Configuration PC, the Ad-hoc Committee for European Partnerships, and the ERA-LEARN Advisory Board. He also served as the national coordinator for H2020, COST, and EURAXESS, the Director of the EEN-Cy network and a member of the GB of more than 20 JPIs, the ESF, the AAL and ERANET networks. Among others he served as a Governing Board member of the Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage and Global Change.

In addition, he has accumulated experience in impact assessment of European R&I policies and partnerships as chairman/member of Expert Groups.