Polizzi, Luca

Luca Polizzi is currently a visiting research fellow at UNU-CRIS, working on science diplomacy with Luk Van Langenhove with a focus on EU Science Diplomacy within UNTRAD and the Re-LAB Cluster.

Luca Polizzi holds a PhD in International Studies and Science Diplomacy from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). His doctoral research investigated how EU science diplomacy is defined, operationalised, and assessed in its impact on innovation in the complex and dynamic landscape of the Middle East. Guided by constructivism and inspired by practice theory, positioning theory, and the Third-Stream Activities model for impact assessment, his study examined how diplomatic agency shapes scientific priorities, how scientific cooperation influences international relations, and how perceptions, behaviours, and practices contribute to new policies and positions.

Through case studies on Jordan, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, his research demonstrated differentiated patterns of engagement with EU science diplomacy, shaped by national capacities, innovation ecosystems, and geopolitical preferences. The study introduced perception as a key variable in understanding asymmetries of engagement and highlighted the need for recalibrated EU strategies at national and regional levels. His analysis shows how science diplomacy practices can foster trust, incentivise innovation, and support policy alignment, while also exposing systemic fragmentation, uneven participation, and geopolitical competition as limiting factors.

He is Manager for Strategic Planning and Academic Review at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) in Saudi Arabia. Previously, he served as EU Diplomat and Attaché for Research and Innovation in Israel, where he led science diplomacy initiatives and organised multilateral regional dialogues on energy and climate cooperation. Returning to Brussels in 2021, he was responsible for hydrogen and innovation policy at the European Commission’s DG Research and Innovation, contributing to EU and international energy diplomacy. Earlier roles in DG R&I included managing the R&I portfolio for Africa, the Gulf, and the EU Neighbourhood, serving as Policy Assistant to the Director for Industrial Technologies, and working as Policy Officer for Nanotechnologies and Advanced Materials.

He has also held academic roles, including Visiting Professor at the University of Sassari and Professor of EU Law at Marconi University. Luca lectures on EU policies and programming at institutions including the College of Europe, University of Canterbury (New Zealand), Ben-Gurion University, Università Cattolica of Milan, University of Glasgow, University of Edinburgh, and the University of St Andrews.

His science diplomacy activities include engagement with the EU R&I Framework Programmes and initiatives, EEAS Foreign Policy Instruments in the Gulf, PRIMA (Partnership for the Mediterranean), and SESAME (Synchrotron Accelerator) in Jordan; the design of co-funding mechanisms to facilitate GCC engagement; promotion of EU-GCC joint projects on solar power and desalination; and the organisation of cross-regional dialogues across the health-climate-energy nexus.