John Edwards is Secretary General of EURASHE, the European association for professional higher education and applied research. In this role he acts as an interface between European policy makers and EURASHE members in the fields of higher education, employment, research, enterprise, and regional policy. John previously worked for the European Commission's Joint Research Centre between 2011 and 2020, mainly on higher education and Smart Specialisation. He is currently coordinating an Erasmus+ project on mapping the regional impact of Universities of Applied Science. John holds degrees from the University of St Andrews, the College of Europe in Bruges, and Newcastle University, where he completed his PhD in economic geography. He is a dual Portuguese/UK national.