As 2024 comes to a close, we are reflecting on this past year as one of growth. We have welcomed a host of new full-time staff and interns to grow our Vienna-based team over the last several months, all of whom have helped to advance ESPI’s mission as the European independent think tank for space.
As part of our latest round of new hires, we are pleased to welcome to the team:
- Clelia Iacomino as our new Senior Associate Fellow.
- Giulia Pavesi as our newest Research Fellow.
- Andrea Alberti as our new Junior Research Fellow seconded by ASI-SIOI.
- Valentin Hoffmann as a new Research Intern.
- Juan Galera as a new Research Intern.
Clelia Iacomino earned her Master’s degree in Political Science from Università La Sapienza and a Master’s degree in Institutions and Space Policies from the Italian Society for International Organizations (SIOI) in Rome, Italy. She also holds a PhD in Management and Innovation from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy. Clelia began her career at Thales Alenia Space and served as a secondee from the Italian Space Agency to ESPI. She also worked at the Space Economy Evolution Lab of SDA Bocconi School of Management, where she conducted research on policy impact analysis, economic impact assessments, and public-private partnership models. Between 2021 and 2022, she served as a Space Economy Expert, collaborating with the Department for Digital Transformation of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, focusing on issues related to space project expenditures under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). Her books and scientific articles have been published in major international journals and publishing houses.
Giulia Pavesi studied Law at the University of Milan and Global Strategy and Security at the Institute for Advanced Defense Studies in Rome, Italy. Prior to joining ESPI, she was a researcher under the FWO PhD Fundamental Fellowship at the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies at KU Leuven and a Visiting Researcher at the University of Adelaide. Her fields of interest are international space law (with a focus on space security), hybrid warfare applied to space, and European space policy and security. Giulia has been a Teaching Assistant in Space Organizations, International Organizations, and European Legal Theory, as well as an expert, at the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in EU Space Governance, and in multi-stakeholder projects on space traffic managements, and European space policy and law.
Andrea Alberti holds a post-graduate Master’s degree in Strategic Protection of the Country System with a focus on Space Critical Infrastructures and the Cyber Domain, awarded by the Società Italiana per l’Organizzazione Internazionale. He also completed an Executive Master’s in Leadership for International Relations and Made in Italy from the Fondazione Italia-USA, as well as a Master’s in International Studies from the University of Pisa, specialising in security and defence in the post-Soviet era. He has received the American Giovani Prize for university talent from the Fondazione Italia-USA and the Academic Merit Medal from the University of Pisa. His professional experience includes work as a Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst and an internship at the Italian Ministry of the Interior in the State Accounting Department.
Valentin Hoffmann studied History and Political Sciences in Toulouse, France. He spent a year in Oslo, Norway as an exchange student, and another year in the French Cultural Network in Winnipeg, Canada. Since moving to Vienna, he has started a Master’s degree in East Asian Studies. He has taken part in several research projects on China and the Indo-Pacific region for a Central European think tank, analysed sanctions implementation gaps in North Korea for a South Korean company, and has worked at the Lycée français, where he remains a football coach.
Juan Galera has a double Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and International Relations from Loyola University in Sevilla, Spain. Prior to joining ESPI, he worked at the Permanent Mission of Spain to International Relations in Vienna where he covered issues related to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, industrial development, and space.
