Staff

Filomena Berardi, Policy analyst
Filomena Berardi is a PhD social psychologist specialising in intergroup relations dynamics, with expertise in experimental design research and quali-quantitative methods. Since 2019, she has been involved in monitoring and ex-post evaluation projects within Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 (ERDF), primarily focusing on innovation policies and the dynamics of collaborative innovation within regional development. Additionally, she has supported capacity-building initiatives aimed at public servants, enhancing local authorities’ ability to attract EU funding and resources.

Marcello Bernacchini, Policy analyst
Marcello joined Applica in 2020. He has a Master’s degree in Economics and a specialisation in European Project Management. He is especially interested in regional and sustainable development, economic policies and evaluation of public policies. He has been working as a researcher and consultant of public policies, mainly conducting evaluations and technical assistance activities in the field of European regional policy, researches in the fields of sustainable development and youth policies. At Applica he works on the Evaluation Helpdesk (for DG Regional Policy and DG Employment and social affairs) summarising and assessing evaluations undertaken by Managing Authorities as well as supporting Member States and the Commission in the design and management of evaluations. Italian is his mother tongue and he is also fluent in English and Spanish, with a good knowledge of French.

Giulio Ferraresi, Policy analyst
Giulio Ferraresi joined Applica in 2024. He has a PhD in Political Studies from the University of Milan, and his research interests include multilevel governance, citizenship and freedom of movement, welfare studies and public policy. For the past three years he has been working as a policy analyst, conducting research and evaluation on public policy and providing technical assistance to Italian public entities in the management of National Operational Programmes. At Applica, he works on the “Evaluation Helpdesk” project for Cohesion Policy, dedicated to the assessment of evaluations and the provision of support to Member States and the Commission on evaluation-related themes.  He is also part of the research team working on the WP1 project “Ex-post evaluation of Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 (ERDF and Cohesion Fund)”. He is a native Italian speaker, is fluent in English, has a good knowledge of French and a basic knowledge of Spanish.

Nicole Fondeville, Economic and social analyst
Nicole is a researcher specialised in employment and social issues. Before joining Applica, she worked in DG Employment of the European Commission and was a research assistant at the University of Bordeaux (France). With Applica, she has been a member of the research teams working on the Social Situation Monitor until 2016, on the database on Women and men in decision-making, and on the Labour Market Policy database since 2007. She has also been the project manager of the study on the Attitudes towards adequacy and sustainability of Social Protection Systems in the EU. She is currently a member of the team responsible for managing the MISSOC information base (the ‘Mutual Information System on Social Protection’) and she is involved in the Exploratory study which aims at filling in the knowledge gaps and identifying strengths and challenges in the effectiveness of the EU Member States’ minimum income schemes. French is her mother tongue and she is fluent in English and Spanish.

Liesbeth Haagdorens, Communications manager
Liesbeth joined Applica in 2007. She has a PhD in German literature. In addition to providing technical and content-related support on a number of projects, she is a publications and web content manager. She has been the coordinator of all publications produced as part of the Peer Reviews  on Social Protection and Social Inclusion and the European Social Policy Network as well as of the German version of the last three Reports on Economic and Social Cohesion published by DG Regional Policy. She is also a member of the team responsible for managing the MISSOC information base (the ‘Mutual Information System on Social Protection’).   Dutch is her mother tongue and she is also fluent in German and English, with a working knowledge of French.

Francesca Liberati, Economic and social analyst
Francesca joined Applica in 2014. She has a PhD in Political Science and her research interests are in regional development, multi-level governance and evaluation of public policy. She has participated in a number of national and international research projects and published papers in Italian Political Science journals. Since joining Applica, she has worked on the Ex-post evaluation of Cohesion Policy 2007-2013 (ERDF and Cohesion Fund) and the Evaluation Helpdesk reviewing  evaluations and evaluation plans (for DG Regional Policy and DG Employment). She is also a member of the team responsible for managing the MISSOC information base (the ‘Mutual Information System on Social Protection’). Italian is her mother tongue and she is also fluent in German and English, with working knowledge of French.

Aicha Oukaid, Secretariat and Administration
Aicha has been with Applica since 1996 and is responsible for managing the office, providing secretarial and administrative support and dealing with suppliers. Her mother tongues are French and Arabic and she is also fluent in English.

Fadila Sanoussi, Economic and social analyst
Fadila joined Applica in 2006.  Since then she has worked on a large number of projects as an economic analyst with a special interest in data management and statistical analysis of national and regional data of the EU countries. She has a detailed  knowledge of European cross-national surveys such as the European Labour Force Survey  and the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (the EU-SILC). She has been a member of the statistical team working on the SSM – Social Situation Monitor for DG Employment until 2016. Since 2014, she has been a member of the team responsible for managing the MISSOC information base (the ‘Mutual Information System on Social Protection’). She is a native French and Arabic speaker and fluent in English.

Gisèle Uwayezu, Event coordinator
Gisèle joined Applica in 2010 and since then has been actively involved in the organisation and management of events. She is responsible for the organisation of all logistical tasks, handling registrations and providing support to speakers and participants for hotel and travel booking. With a background in accounting, she is also responsible for book-keeping and a range of administrative issues, including reimbursing travel expenses. She is a native French and Rwandan speaker and is also fluent in English and Dutch.

Austė Vaznonytė, Policy analyst
Austė joined Applica in 2019 after a traineeship at the European Commission. She has a Masters in International Public Management and Public Policy from Erasmus University Rotterdam and a PhD in Political Studies from the University of Milan. Her research interests are in European integration, multi-level governance and public policy. At Applica she works on the Evaluation Helpdesk (for DG Regional Policy and DG Employment and social affairs) reviewing evaluations undertaken by Managing Authorities, assessing their quality and giving support to Member States and the Commission in designing and managing evaluations. Lithuanian is her mother tongue. She is also fluent in English and has a good knowledge of Italian and German.