Beata Javorcik is the Chief Economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). She serves on the Bank’s Executive Committee and advises the President and other members of the senior management on economic matters of strategic or operational importance to the EBRD’s regions of operations. She provides thought leadership, both internally and externally, on economic issues related to the EBRD’s activities in its countries of operations.

The Office of the Chief Economist (OCE), led by Beata Javorcik, conducts and provides original research, representing the Bank at high-level external policy and academic conferences and seminars. It publishes in both academic and non-academic outlets and maintains close ties between the EBRD and the academic community. She also shapes a research agenda that keeps the EBRD at the forefront of understanding the economic and strategic challenges in its regions of operation, thereby fostering the development of effective policy solutions. The Office is also responsible for macroeconomic forecasting. It contributes to the work of the Bank’s risk management department, specifically by developing scenarios for risk identification, mitigation, and stress testing.

Professor Javorcik is currently on leave from the University of Oxford, where she holds a statutory professorship in economics (being the first female to hold this position) and is a Fellow of All Souls College. She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Ifo Institute at the University of Munich, as well as the Executive and Supervisory Committees of CERGE-EI in Prague.

Before joining the University of Oxford, Professor Javorcik worked at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., where she engaged in research, lending operations, and policy advice. Professor Javorcik specializes in international trade. Her research interests include the determinants and effects of foreign direct investment inflows, the impact of services liberalization, the evaluation of investment promotion programs, the transmission of shocks through production networks, and import duty evasion. Her research findings have been published in the American Economic Review, Journal of the European Economic Association, Review of Economics and Statistics, European Economic Review, Economic Journal, Journal of International Economics та Journal of Development Economics.

Volodymyr Ponomarenko investigates the problems of strategic enterprise management, simulation modeling, reforming higher economic education, training competent specialists, and the use of information technologies in education. In the 1970s, he was one of the pioneers of simulation modeling in the USSR. He is author of about 400 scientific works, in particular, more than 100 monographs and about 50 training manuals. Under the scientific leadership of Volodymyr Ponomarenko, strategic programs for the development of the Kharkiv region until 2011, until 2015 and until 2020 were developed.

He is head of the scientific school "Development of strategic management systems of an industrial enterprise" of Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics. His key publications include the following monographs: Problèmes de formation des économistes et managers compétents en Ukraine, Розвиток вищої освіти в Україні: аспекти менеджменту та маркетингу, Some problems of the education system in Ukraine: analytics, Conceptual and model support for the development of an innovative-active university.

Mark J. Brandt specializes in political and social psychology, with a particular focus on ideological conflict and belief systems. His research examines the causes and consequences of political, religious, and moral attitudes, as well as the psychological mechanisms that may reduce social polarization and foster more tolerant societies. Dr. Brandt’s work provides insights into how threats and life crises shape the stability or transformation of individuals’ political preferences, and how these dynamics inform broader theories of political attitudes and societal responses to large scale crises.

Dr. Brandt is currently a Professor in the Department of Social Psychology at Tilburg University.

Dr. Roland Bouffanais specializes in complexity science, computational diplomacy, artificial intelligence, and multi agent systems. His research at the University of Geneva and within the Applied Complexity Group (ACG), which he leads, addresses interdisciplinary questions at the intersection of computer science, the social sciences, and AI. In recent years, his work has focused on applying AI methods and complexity based approaches to challenges in international relations and diplomatic practice. Dr. Bouffanais investigates issues related to social contagion, collective decision making, and the dynamics of human behavior.

He serves as Director of the Department of Computer Science (Faculty of Science) at the University of Geneva and is Co Director of the Science Diplomacy Laboratory (SiDLab), jointly operated with ETH Zürich.

Dr. Bouffanais has authored numerous journal articles, book chapters, and scientific reports on swarm intelligence, network theory, AI ethics, complex urban systems, and modeling human behavior in crisis situations. His research integrates theoretical and computational developments with experimental validation in real world environments.

He has participated in multiple international projects, collaborated with governmental agencies and transnational companies, and is a member of the Editorial Board of Scientific Reports, published by Nature.

October 29, 2026.

9.20 – 9.50 – Offline registration of conference participants (New building lobby);
9.40 – 9.50 – Joining of online conference participants (Zoom meeting);
9.50 – 10.00 – Opening of the conference, welcome address by Tetyana Shtal, Rector of S. Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics (Secure location, Zoom meeting);
10.00 – 10.40 – Presentation by Dr. Beata Javorcik, Professor, Chief Economist of the EBRD «Sanctions and the Shifting Landscape of International Trade» (Secure location, Zoom meeting);
10.40 – 11.00 – Presentation by Dr. Howard J. Schatz, Professor of Policy Analysis, RAND School of Public Policy « » (Secure location, Zoom meeting);
11.00 – 11.20 – Presentation by Dr. Volodymyr Ponomarenko, Professor at SK KhNEU «The University as a Hub of Culture, Research, and Education» (Secure location, Zoom meeting);
11.20 – 11.40 – Presentation by Dr. Mark J. Brandt, Professor of Political Psychology at Tilburg University «Mapping the Belief System Landscape» (Secure location, Zoom meeting);
11.40 – 12.00 – Presentation by Prof. Roland Bouffanais, Global Studies Institute at University of Geneva, Co-Director SiDLab (Secure location, Zoom meeting);
12.00 – 13.00 – Break;
13.00 – 17.00 – Presentations by conference participants, discussions (Secure locations, Zoom meeting);
17.05 – 17.30 – Conference closing ceremony (Secure location, Zoom meeting).