Study in Europe - EU Policy Event Moldova 2026

This half-day hybrid event offers a dynamic space for knowledge-sharing, peer learning, and policy dialogue on EU higher education developments in quality assurance (QA) and cross-border quality assessment. The event will promote mutual learning, support policy alignment with the European Education Area, and encourage constructive dialogue, with a particular focus on Moldova and Eastern Partnership (EaP) regions. 
 
The event will focus on the technical dimensions of QA and assessment, bringing together policymakers and practitioners from higher education authorities, agencies, and institutions for constructive discussion and mutual learning. 
 
A central focus will be the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG), including the ongoing revision towards ESG 2027, currently under preparation following the 2024 Tirana Ministerial Communiqué. Participants will gain insights into current achievements, future policy directions, and the technical dimensions of QA and assessment shaping trust, mobility, and recognition across Europe. 

Practical information 

• Dates: 4 May 2026
• Location: Chișinău, Moldova
• Venue: Summit Events & Conference Center
• Working language: English 

Registration 

Participation in the policy event is subject to registration. Please register here

The deadline for onsite registration was 13 April 2026. The deadline for online participation is 30 April 2026.

Due to limited space, not all institutions can attend in person. Selection will aim for a balanced representation across countries and profiles. 

Agenda 

Estonian Quality Agency for Education (HAKA) is involved in co‑organising the event. We would be very pleased to invite you to contribute to the event as a panelist in the discussion on the potential implementation and implications of the planned amendments to the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). As the ESG have not yet been formally updated, the panel will focus on how the proposed changes might influence quality assurance systems in different countries.

The agenda is subject to change. Session times and speakers may be adjusted.

Speakers & Panelists

	Dan Perciun has served as of Minister of Education and Research Moldova since July 2023. He previously served as a Member of Parliament (2019–2023) and chaired the Parliamentary Commission for Social Protection, Health and Family, contributing to legislative work and reforms in social benefits and pensions. Since 2014, he has been involved in key policy initiatives, including promoting child-centred education and advancing digital transformation in education during his time at the Ministry of Education. As Minister, he focuses on improving education quality and access, promoting inclusion, strengthening teacher training, and modernising education systems through digitalisation, internationalisation, and stronger links with labour market needs.
	Dr. Heli Mattisen is Director of the Estonian Quality Agency for Education (HAKA), which she established in 2009, and a leading expert in quality assurance in higher education. She previously served as Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs at Tallinn University, where she led institutional reforms and implemented the Bologna Process. Heli Mattisen has contributed to national education strategies and driven enhancement-led quality approaches across education sectors. Actively involved in international cooperation, she has supported EU-funded initiatives in Eastern Partnership countries and has been a member of the ENQA Board since 2025.
	Felicia Banu is a Head of the Department of Higher Education Evaluation at the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Education and Research (ANACEC) of the Republic of Moldova. Throughout her career, she has gained extensive experience in teaching, institutional management, internal and external quality assurance, having held several academic and managerial positions, including Head of the English Philology Department and Head of the Quality Assurance Department at Cahul State University, as well as Member of the Council of the Doctoral School at Moldova State University.
	Nataliia Stukalo is Vice-Head of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance of Ukraine (NAQA), Board Director of INQAAHE (2021-2024), and MBA Programme Leader at London School of Business and Finance. She is an international quality assurance expert and one of the architects of Ukraine’s modern higher education quality assurance system. Professor Stukalo has played a leading role in shaping NAQA’s international engagement and in steering the Agency’s application and preparation for ENQA membership and EQAR registration review. A Doctor of Sciences in International Economics and Full Professor, she has over 20 years of academic, leadership, and cross-border higher education experience.
	Vesna Dodiković-Jurković is president of the Central and Eastern European Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (CEENQA) and served as vice-president from 2022 to 2024. She holds a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Zagreb and has over 35 years of experience in higher education. She spent 15 years as Vice Director of the Agency for Science and Higher Education. Her expertise includes quality assurance, strategic planning, policy development, higher education reform, and Bologna process implementation. She has contributed to external evaluation, expert training, and international cooperation, and has authored numerous publications and conference presentations.
	Nikolas Bursiewicz (MSSc) is an evaluation adviser focusing on higher education evaluation at the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC). Current evaluation work he is involved in includes audits of institutions of higher education as well as thematic evaluations of higher education in ICT and the implementation of sustainability competencies in the Finnish education system. Before joining FINEEC, Bursiewicz served on its Higher Education Evaluation Committee, which decides the outcomes of higher education audits. As a committee member from 2022 to 2025, Bursiewicz was involved in the decision-making for the majority of audits conducted during FINEEC’s third round of national audits.
	Liia Lauri is an Estonian higher education quality assurance expert and researcher with more than two decades of experience in the field. She currently serves as Head of Higher Education at the Estonian Quality Agency for Education (HAKA), following nearly ten years as Assessment Director. Her professional work has focused on the development and implementation of external quality assurance frameworks, and standards for digitally enhanced higher education. She holds a PhD in Information Society Technologies from Tallinn University. Her research explores information culture, information overload, and quality assurance in higher education. She also contributes to international training, workshops, and publications on higher education quality and e-learning across Europe and wider professional networks.
	Lilia Parhomenco is the Head of Public Policy Coordination and European Integration at the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Moldova. She has extensive experience in the Bologna Process and has also served as a member of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) Secretariat. She is responsible for the implementation of the European acquis into Moldova’s national legislation, as well as for coordinating international relations and foreign assistance in the field of education. Ms. Parhomenco has contributed to the development of the Moldova Education 2030 Strategy Implementation Programme and to the implementation of policy documents covering all levels of education. She is also actively engaged in cooperation with key education stakeholders across Europe and other macro-regions.
	Anna Gover is the Director of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), the representative body for quality assurance agencies in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). In this role she oversees the ENQA Secretariat and works with the ENQA Board to ensure the strategic development and management of the Association, its activities and membership relations. Anna coordinates ENQA’s input to quality assurance policy developments within the EHEA, the EU and internationally and represents the Association at events and meetings. Anna is currently the Secretary to the Steering Committee for the revision of the ESG, and a Board member of EQAR.
	Paolo Girol is the Head of the Department of Composition and Improvisation at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn, Estonia. He is a MusiQuE peer reviewer, he has participated in numerous MusiQuE training sessions and is currently involved in the Programme Quality Enhancement Review of a Swiss HEI. He has been involved in various initiatives within the Eastern Partnership Connect (EaPConnect) project, which is funded by the EU and coordinated by GÉANT. In recognition of his project MIRCO: Music Instruments Renewal via Contemporary Creation, he was awarded the Enlighten Your Research award by GÉANT-EaP in 2016
	Aleksandar Šušnjar is the Director of the European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR) since 2024. His role in EQAR includes Secretariat management, organisational representation, supporting the work of the EQAR Register Committee and implementing EQAR’s strategic and operational plans. Before joining EQAR, Aleksandar was employed at the University of Rijeka (Croatia) where he was the Institutional Coordinator for the university’s involvement in the YUFE Alliance. His other professional experience includes contribution to European projects, policy-making bodies and expert groups dealing with inter-institutional cooperation, quality of higher education, social dimension, student engagement, and qualification frameworks. Between 2021 and 2024, he was a member of the EQAR Register Committee.
	Reijo Karu is the Head of Rectorate Strategy Office at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) with extensive experience in international cooperation, institutional development and quality assurance. He previously worked at Enterprise Estonia as a consultant for companies, an expert for business development, and an internal quality auditor, gaining experience in organisational quality systems and evaluation. For the past 15 years, he has been at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech), where he has held senior roles, including Head of International Cooperation, leading internationalisation across student mobility, recruitment, R&D projects, and partnerships including EuroTeQ under the EUN initiative. For the past two years, he has served as the Head of the Rector’s Strategy Office, overseeing institutional-level strategy development, quality assurance, risk management and taken part in two previous accreditation processes.
	Dmytro Shevchuk is Vice-Rector for Research and Teaching at the National University of Ostroh Academy. He is also a professor of the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Management and an expert at the School of Political Analysis, POLIS, at NaUOA. He went through all academic career stages - from assistant teacher to professor and vice-rector. The leadership of Prof. Dmytro Shevchuk is manifested in many aspects of university activity. He is the founder and coordinator of the "Mission of the Modern University" discussion platform, which is used for discussions with famous Ukrainian and foreign experts on ways to develop higher education.
	Virginia Șalaru is Deputy Head of the Didactic and Academic Quality Management Department at the Nicolae Testemițanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy. A medical doctor specialising in family medicine, she holds a Master’s degree in Public Health and a PhD in Internal Medicine. She oversees educational processes, curriculum development, and quality assurance, leading accreditation and evaluation activities aligned with European standards. As an ANACEC expert, she conducts external reviews and contributes to accreditation reports. She also teaches family and palliative medicine and is involved in research on multimorbidity and its impact on patients, communities, and primary healthcare systems.
	Natalia Gașițoi is Rector of Alecu Russo Balti State University (USARB), Republic of Moldova, and Associate Professor at the Department of Mathematics and Informatics, USARB. She holds a PhD in Mathematics and has extensive experience in higher education leadership, quality assurance, and institutional development. She has over 20 years of experience in accreditation and external evaluation processes in higher education, including procedures carried out at Alecu Russo Balti State University with the participation of AQAS (Germany), EKKA (Estonia), ARACIS (Romania), and ANACEC (Republic of Moldova), and has also served as an external evaluator for ANACEC. Her professional work is guided by a strong commitment to quality culture, institutional development, and the continuous improvement of higher education.
	Claudia Melinte is the Coordinator of the National Erasmus+ Office in Moldova, which assist the European Commission and the EACEA in the implementing of the Erasmus+ Programme in the country. The Office provides guidance to higher education and VET institutions, as well as to sport and youth organizations, and promotes opportunities for international cooperation. It also works closely with national authorities and stakeholders to ensure the quality and impact of Erasmus+ initiatives in Moldova.

Organising Committee

Eero Loonurm Study in Europe Harno	Liia Lauri Estonian Quality Agency  for Education (HAKA, Harno)	Piret Puuorg Study in Europe Harno	Sabina Maidla Study in Europe Harno

About the Study in Europe project

Study in Europe is a European Union (EU) project, which aims to:

• Showcase what higher education in Europe has to offer to students worldwide 
• Provide information about organising and funding study and research periods abroad in Europe
• Help European higher education organisations connect with potential students and partner organisations

Study in Europe provides information about study opportunities in 33 European countries. These countries fully participate in Erasmus+, the EU's programme supporting students from EU and partner countries across the world to study in Europe.

https://education.ec.europa.eu/study-in-europe