This connected community aims for the transdisciplinary exploration of topical global challenges as well as of high interest issues in research & education. Focus relies on the multidisciplinary scientific exploration of these, whereas the transdisciplinary approach is ensured by using art as a communication tool of scientific finds towards wider communities & society.
Connected Community Activities
International Symposium on Science, Art & Community: 15-17 May 2025 (unwrap for details)
As the moral philosopher Toby Ord wisely observed, "We have the power to destroy ourselves, without the wisdom to ensure that we don’t." Over the course of three days, lectures and research-based learning activities will bring together students, researchers, and artists to ask critical questions, shape innovative solutions, and promote partnerships that prevent environmental destruction and enhance societal well-being. If you're interested in actively engaging in discussions or simply listening, you can view the symposium program here.
You are welcome to join us online or on-site in Cluj-Napoca at the following address: Mihail Kogălniceanu Street No. 4, Room 43.
If you are willing to attend, please fill out the registration form before May 12th, 12:00 CET (also available by scanning the QR code below).
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Join us in the journey of exploring the intersection and common ground between science and art, through engaging presentations and workshops on research-based learning. Take part in insightful discussions on science communication and artistic research methods. Collaborate with specialists to uncover the challenges and benefits of merging art, science, and community.
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Connected Community Members
Lead: Alexandra Ana Csavdari (UBB). E-mail: alexandra.csavdari@ubbcluj.ro
ACs
Alexandra Ana Csavdári is a graduate of the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of the Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Since her graduation in 1990 as a chemical engineer, she has been working in higher education and research.
At her Alma Mater she carried out her teaching duties in four languages (Romanian, English, Hungarian and German), by embracing both under- and postgraduate programs. Her courses covered a wide range of topics, such as: physical chemistry (thermodynamics, kinetics, electrochemistry), dynamics and energetics of metabolic processes, reaction engineering and design, optimization techniques in chemical related processes, statistical analysis and interpretation of experimental data, as well as qualitative risk assessment techniques.
Since 2019 she is affiliated to the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University of Almaty, Kazakhstan, where, as an international lecturer she tutors master students in process control, introduces doctoral students to emerging trends in chemical engineering, and engages in applied chemistry summer schools. As a recurring visitor to the Botswana International University of Science and Technology of Palapye, Botswana, she offered extended workshops in many of the subjects listed above.
At the Babeş-Bolyai University she has contributed to the introduction of the didactic master studies. For a few years she has been the vice-president of this university’s didactic council, and as such has yearly organized at least two workshops/ webinars for the academic staff. Since 2017, she has been awarded four times the didactic excellency award by her home institution and has received in 2019 the annual award of the Romanian Chemistry Society. She is socially active in the more than 165-year-old Transylvanian Museum Society, an institution striving to preserve and grow the Hungarian language scientific heritage of Transylvania. Within this context, she presides the Natural Sciences Section, organizes the latter’s annual conference, and works in the advisory and editing boards of two of the society’s prestigious scientific journals. She is also listed at the European Commission as expert in chemical terminology.
Her interest in arts was awakened in her childhood when she started playing the blockflute. More than thirty years ago, she succeeded in also attending formal Modern Art History classes during the academic year of 1992-93, when the renowned visual art historian Erika Wolf, a guest lecturer at that time at the University of Arts and Design of Cluj-Napoca, opened her class to broader audiences. Since then, she is interested in recognizing and exploring the common ground between science and art.
Alexandra Csavdári’s research interests lay in the description and modelling of process dynamics, from homogeneous chemical reactions, over complex pharmacokinetics and phytoremediation to heterogeneous non-reactive phenomena, such as adsorption and extraction. She has also investigated the potential of chemical kinetics in analytical chemistry and water quality monitoring. She has won four national research grants and was member in many others, both at Romanian and international level. Her array of scientific publications presents the results of her work.
Associate professor, PhD, Faculty of Theatre and Film, Babeș-Bolyai University
Teaching disciplines: Editing, Motion graphics, Set design, Experimental techniques in short-films, Practice as research.
She graduates the University of Art and Design, in Cluj-Napoca, completing her Ph.D. thesis in 2012 with the title The role of Video Essay in the Postmodern Visual Communication.
Worked in the field of graphic-design, broadcast motion-graphics and set design for television. As independent artist, she begins as a fine art printmaker, later exploring the field of video-art, experimental and documentary films from editing to directing.
Films as author:
2023 Passage …to nowhere -a short docu-fiction which reveals art's therapeutically, cognitive and often spiritual role by interviewing a group of Romanian and German artists from the twin cities Cluj-Napoca and Köln.
2016 Video-installation Meditation was shown in group exhibitions in Cluj-Napoca such as: 2016 Dialogue in Agora- Contemporary Archeology / 2019 The night of the galleries / 2021 Antisistem integrat.
2012 short experimental animation-essay named "Confessions" which participates at 2012 Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival / 2013 Dublin International Short Film and Music Festival, Ireland.
In the field of documentary film, 2006 she was selected to the International workshop Aristoteles Workshop, working at editing and sound. Directed by Adina Pintilie, in 2007 the film “…Don’t get me wrong…” won the Golden Dove prize at DOK Leipzig, Germany and it was selected to numerously international film festivals in Europe.
As printmaker she participates to international and national art exhibitions as member of the Romanian Artist Union or independent: Finland, New York, Japan, Timișoara, Bucharest, Malaesia.
In 1994 Arts Link residency grant for artists and art managers from Eastern Europe- at Lower East Side PrintShop, New York, USA. Her prints were selected to be published in the “New Art” edited by Roxana Marcoci, Diana Murphy, Eve Sinaiko, Harry N Abrams, Inc., New-York, 1997, a book featuring work by over one hundred contemporary artists around the world.
Lead: Raluca Anca Mereu (UBB). E-mail: raluca.mereu@ubbcluj.ro
Dr. Raluca Anca Mereu is a university lecturer at the Department for Chemical Engineering of the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj - Napoca, Romania. She obtained her MSc at the Babeș-Bolyai University and her PhD at the Technical University, located both in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She is a professional with multidisciplinary educational background and work experience (both Academia and Industry). She worked in different EU-Programs as research assistant for 3 years, among which she also collaborated with Dr. Maurizio ACCIARI from the University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy. She worked for 4 years in different industry fields (Automation and Automotive) in various strategic points, fact which led to her expertise in validation process in the R&D and Serial Projects, as well as customer care. She is a recurring visiting researcher at University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy), Budapest University of Technology and Economics (Hungary) and RSE SpA - Research on Energy System of Milan (Italy). Her main research areas of interest are: thermal analysis, oxidic materials; transparent conductive oxides; nano-powder synthesis; composites; thins films; solar cells; batteries; critical raw materials; optimization of processes and products; development of engineering tools for cost and workload reduction; product and device development. She is interested in student focused activities. Hence, she was active in different Human Capital Operational Program (POCU) projects dedicated to 3rd year students in chemical engineering, for specialized internships, by accompanying them and ensuring the implementation of the targeted activities. She is also involved in Romanian Secondary Education Projects (ROSE) programs as teaching staff. In 2022 she accompanied the targeted group of students to perform their interdisciplinary specialized internship abroad, in Vannes, France.
Emese Sófalvi (1984, Cluj-Napoca, Romania) is a violinist and musicologist. As a performing artist she promotes communication and mediation of arts via chamber music and in unusual concert venues. Her main field of research is 19th century Transylvanian musical culture. Her publications include the monography of the first Hungarian music school, prominent musicians (Georg Ruzitska, Rozália Schodel-Klein), local musical theatre and the reception of the Wiennese Triad’s works in Transylvania at the beginning of the 19th century. Emese Sófalvi was curator to exhibitions presenting music related documents in Cluj-Napoca, with topics like: repertoire of the Hungarian theatre groups,the first century of the Conservatorium in Kolozsvár, children on the opera stage and letters to the Hungarian State Opera in Cluj etc. She currently edits a data-base of 19th century musical manuscripts found in Transylvanian Archives. Emese Sófalvi works as a lecturer at the Faculty of Reformat Theology and Music at the Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca.
web: https://ubbcluj.academia.edu/EmeseS%C3%B3falvi https://rt.ubbcluj.ro/sofalvi-emese/
Renata Sõuknad is Associate Professor of ethnobotany at Ca’ Foscari University in Italy and she has recently successfully concluded an ERC Starting Grant “DiGe”. She has received a PhD in Semiotics and Cultural Theory (2010) from the University of Tartu and has an educational background in pharmacy (BSc) and environmental sciences (MSc). Her main research interests include current and historical ethnobotany of the post-Soviet region, especially Eastern Europe, biocultural diversity, environmental history and ecosemiotics (with the focus on relations between humans and nature). Her ethnobotanical and anthropological field experience in all three Baltic States, Finland, Ukraine, Belarus, Romania, Caucasus, Balkans, Iraq, Tajikistan, Slovakia, Greece, Cyprus and Corsica have given her the possibility to observe, compare and reflect upon the inextricable link between sustainability and all aspects of bicultural diversity. She has co-authored of over 100 publications (current h-index=31, over 3000 citations) including both her field experience and historical research on representation of plant use within the folklore collections as well as various other sources influencing the evolution of the plant use.
Dr. Camilla Audia is an Assistant Professor in Global Sustainable Development in the School for Cross-Faculty studies at the University of Warwick. As an interdisciplinary social scientist, her foundational aim is to bring together people from different institutions, disciplines and backgrounds to research transdisciplinary solutions to complex global challenges. Her core research focus is the examination of relations between climate change, populations and sustainable development through the co-production of knowledge. She was the PI of a NERC Innovation Placement grant on knowledge hierarchies and systems around climate and weather information in Burkina Faso, bridging a gap between climate information users (vulnerable local farmers) and producers, mainly Met Office scientists. She has experience working on several other international grants funded by DFID, NERC, Wellcome Trust and ESRC. Her work is transdisciplinary and grounded in responsible co-production methodologies, approaches for community-led research and arts-based techniques and methods.
Partner: Jessica Savage (UW). E-mail: J.Savage.2@warwick.ac.uk
JS Jessica Savage is an Assistant Professor in Global Sustainable Development in the School for Cross-Faculty studies at the University of Warwick.
She is an interdisciplinary marine ecologist working on climate change, sustainable development, nature-based solutions, human-ecosystem interactions, and the monitoring of marine resources, impact assessments. Her contribution in this CC will mainly focus on topics related to Climate Change and Natural Disasters.
Marijke Huysmans is Associate Professor in Groundwater Hydrology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels in Belgium since 2012 (Department of Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering, Water&Climate Research Group). She holds a degree in Mining Engineering and a PhD in Geology. Her research focuses on groundwater modelling, geostatistics, drought, groundwater-surface water interaction, climate adaptation measures and sustainable groundwater management. Her research group combines field work, groundwater modelling, model development and geostatistics for assessing groundwater reserves, groundwater recharge, interaction between surface water and groundwater, sustainable groundwater management and potential for shallow geothermal energy. She has been President of IAH-Belgium “the Belgian chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists” from 2016 to 2020. She is also very active in science communication and outreach on groundwater and drought to the general public. She is co-author of a children’s book of water that has been translated into seven languages. She is also active as a policy advisor and was named by the non-profit organisation InspiringFifty Belgium as one of the 50 top female role models in the technology sector in 2022.
HR H. Rahier obtained his PhD in 1995 on the synthesis and characterization of inorganic polymers (now known as geopolymers). After the PhD, the research topic is broadened to phosphate cements. In 2001 be became assistant professor at Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
As of 2017 he is head of the research unit ‘Physical Chemistry and Polymer Science’ (FYSC), part of the Department ‘Materials and Chemistry’ (MACH) of the Faculty of Engineering. The research activities of FYSC are focused on '(molecular and supra-molecular) structure - processing - property' relations in polymers for developing materials with improved performance.
H. Rahier is leading the development of new inorganic materials, striving to develop construction materials with a minimal environmental impact. This is done via the use of residuals or waste as raw materials. In 2011 the research on the production of a cementitious material purely based on residuals started with the use of biomass ashes as activator for residuals such as blast furnace slag. In 2017 the research on the complete recycling of concrete started. The main issue being the recycling of the hydrated (Portland) cement. Several researchers from all over the world visited his lab or collaborate on research on inorganic polymers.
Silviana Onisei obtained her PhD in materials science, focusing on the oxidation of non-ferrous metal sulfides and the alkali activation of industrial by-products for building materials production. After completing her PhD, her research expanded to include cementitious materials, alkali-activated materials, and carbonation for the development of sustainable construction materials. She worked as a post-doctoral researcher at KU Leuven for seven years before continuing her research at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), where she has been active for the past four years. Her work revolves around the valorization of industrial residues, integrating them into novel, sustainable materials.
Silviana is involved in European and Flemish research projects, contributing to the development of construction materials with a lower environmental impact.
Associate professor, PhD, Faculty of Theatre and Film, Babeș-Bolyai University
Dr. Raluca Anca Mereu is a university lecturer at the Department for Chemical Engineering of the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj - Napoca, Romania. She obtained her MSc at the Babeș-Bolyai University and her PhD at the Technical University, located both in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She is a professional with multidisciplinary educational background and work experience (both Academia and Industry). She worked in different EU-Programs as research assistant for 3 years, among which she also collaborated with Dr. Maurizio ACCIARI from the University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy. She worked for 4 years in different industry fields (Automation and Automotive) in various strategic points, fact which led to her expertise in validation process in the R&D and Serial Projects, as well as customer care. She is a recurring visiting researcher at University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy), Budapest University of Technology and Economics (Hungary) and RSE SpA - Research on Energy System of Milan (Italy). Her main research areas of interest are: thermal analysis, oxidic materials; transparent conductive oxides; nano-powder synthesis; composites; thins films; solar cells; batteries; critical raw materials; optimization of processes and products; development of engineering tools for cost and workload reduction; product and device development. She is interested in student focused activities. Hence, she was active in different Human Capital Operational Program (POCU) projects dedicated to 3rd year students in chemical engineering, for specialized internships, by accompanying them and ensuring the implementation of the targeted activities. She is also involved in Romanian Secondary Education Projects (ROSE) programs as teaching staff. In 2022 she accompanied the targeted group of students to perform their interdisciplinary specialized internship abroad, in Vannes, France.
Emese Sófalvi (1984, Cluj-Napoca, Romania) is a violinist and musicologist. As a performing artist she promotes communication and mediation of arts via chamber music and in unusual concert venues. Her main field of research is 19th century Transylvanian musical culture. Her publications include the monography of the first Hungarian music school, prominent musicians (Georg Ruzitska, Rozália Schodel-Klein), local musical theatre and the reception of the Wiennese Triad’s works in Transylvania at the beginning of the 19th century. Emese Sófalvi was curator to exhibitions presenting music related documents in Cluj-Napoca, with topics like: repertoire of the Hungarian theatre groups,the first century of the Conservatorium in Kolozsvár, children on the opera stage and letters to the Hungarian State Opera in Cluj etc. She currently edits a data-base of 19th century musical manuscripts found in Transylvanian Archives. Emese Sófalvi works as a lecturer at the Faculty of Reformat Theology and Music at the Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca.
Renata Sõuknad is Associate Professor of ethnobotany at Ca’ Foscari University in Italy and she has recently successfully concluded an ERC Starting Grant “DiGe”. She has received a PhD in Semiotics and Cultural Theory (2010) from the University of Tartu and has an educational background in pharmacy (BSc) and environmental sciences (MSc). Her main research interests include current and historical ethnobotany of the post-Soviet region, especially Eastern Europe, biocultural diversity, environmental history and ecosemiotics (with the focus on relations between humans and nature). Her ethnobotanical and anthropological field experience in all three Baltic States, Finland, Ukraine, Belarus, Romania, Caucasus, Balkans, Iraq, Tajikistan, Slovakia, Greece, Cyprus and Corsica have given her the possibility to observe, compare and reflect upon the inextricable link between sustainability and all aspects of bicultural diversity. She has co-authored of over 100 publications (current h-index=31, over 3000 citations) including both her field experience and historical research on representation of plant use within the folklore collections as well as various other sources influencing the evolution of the plant use.
Marijke Huysmans is Associate Professor in Groundwater Hydrology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels in Belgium since 2012 (Department of Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering, Water&Climate Research Group). She holds a degree in Mining Engineering and a PhD in Geology. Her research focuses on groundwater modelling, geostatistics, drought, groundwater-surface water interaction, climate adaptation measures and sustainable groundwater management. Her research group combines field work, groundwater modelling, model development and geostatistics for assessing groundwater reserves, groundwater recharge, interaction between surface water and groundwater, sustainable groundwater management and potential for shallow geothermal energy. She has been President of IAH-Belgium “the Belgian chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists” from 2016 to 2020. She is also very active in science communication and outreach on groundwater and drought to the general public. She is co-author of a children’s book of water that has been translated into seven languages. She is also active as a policy advisor and was named by the non-profit organisation InspiringFifty Belgium as one of the 50 top female role models in the technology sector in 2022.
