| | Director-General of DG Research and Innovation (RTD) at the European Commission. In this capacity he is responsible for defining and implementing the EU policy and programmes in the field of research and innovation (average annual budget 8 billion euro). |
| 2014-2020 | One of the main architects and negotiators of Horizon 2020, the new 80 billion EU programme for science and innovation. |
| | Instrumental in the development of several other policy initiatives in the field of European science and innovation such as: the European Research Council (ERC), the European Roadmap for large scale facilities, Public-Private Partnerships in research, the Innovation Union and the European Research Area (ERA). |
| | Mr Smits is chairing several high-level committees such as European Research Area Committee (ERAC), the Steering Committee of the ERC (ERCEA) and joint S&T committees with Europe's key global partners. |
| | Mr Smits was born in The Netherlands. He has degrees from Utrecht University in The Netherlands, Institut Universitaire d'Hautes Études Internationales in Switzerland and Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy in the United States of America. |
| 1989 | Researcher Associate - Research Unit for Computational Linguistics - University of Helsinki |
| 1994 | Postgraduate studies, University of Cambridge |
| 1998 | DG Translation - European Commission |
| 2001 | Intermediate Diploma, Mechanical Engineering & Management Sciences University of Technology, Darmstadt |
| 2005 | Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering & Management Sciences University of Technology, Darmstadt, Germany |
| Master of University of New South Wales |
| Project Officer, Cognition, DG Information Society, European Commission |
| 2007-2012 | IMP³rove Global Coordinator, IMP³rove, Düsseldorf, Germany |
| 2008 | Deputy Head of Unit - Cognitive Systems, Interaction, Robotics - DG Information Society - European Commission |
| 2011 | Ph.D. in Engineering Sciences |
| 2011-2013 | Senior Lecturer, European School of Business (ESB), Reutlingen, Germany; Teaching in International Partnership of Business Schools Program (IPBs) |
| 2012-2013 | Visiting Research Fellow, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia |
| 2011-2013 | Head of Open Innovation, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO), Stuttgart, Germany |
| 2012-2014 | Visiting Scholar, New Science and Engineering Center, School of Information Systems (visiting period over Christmas and during summer breaks). Queensland, University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia |
| Senior Research Fellow, ESADE Business School, Barcelona, Spain |
| since 2013 | Associate Professor for Innovation, Purdue University, West Lafayette |
| 2014 | Head of Unit - Robotics - DG Connect - European Commission |
| since 2014 | Director of Purdue Research Center for Open Digital Innovation (RCODI) in the Discovery Park, Purdue University, West Lafayette |
| Director of Research of the Joint Purdue-Tsinghua Center for Innovation (JPTC) |
| Adjunct Professor Digital Innovation, School of Information Systems, Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Australia |
| 2013-2015 | Strategic Advisor Open Innovation, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO), Stuttgart, Germany |
| 2014-2016 | Visiting Professor Open Innovation and Public Policy, Institute for Innovation and Knowledge Management, ESADE Business School, Barcelona, Spain |
| since 2014 | Director of Purdue Research Center for Open Digital Innovation (RCODI) in the Discovery Park, Purdue University, West Lafayette |
| 1986 | Master's in Electrical Engineering, Vienna University of Technology |
| 1989 | PhD, 1995 Habilitation for Control Eng., Vienna University of Technology |
| 1986-1990 | Voest Alpine Automotive (today: Bosch) |
| 1990-1991 | Visiting Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) |
| 1991-1995 | Vienna University of Technology (associate professor since 1995, honorary professor since 2015) |
| 1996 | Siemens AG Austria (System Engineering and Development) |
| 1998 | Vice President Technology Management, responsible for knowledge networking, innovation management and technology management |
| 2007-2009 | Global Vice President for Knowledge, Innovation and Technology at Siemens IT Solutions and Services |
| 2009 | Additionally responsible to build up the knowledge networking for Siemens globally, leveraging the innovation potential of Siemens as an Enterprise 2.0 |
| 2010-2014 | Corporate Technology, Innovation and Technology Management (CT TIM), Open Innovation and Scouting, Siemens AG, responsible for Open Innovation Networks (globally). |
| since 2015 | Head, Research Group Cyber-Physical Systems, Corporate Technology, Siemens AG Österreich; |
| 1990-1994 | Freie Journalistin, Tageszeitung Der Standard, Wien |
| 1993 | Mag.rer.nat, Universität Wien, Diplomstudium Ernährungswissenschaften |
| 1994-2006 | Redakteurin, Tageszeitung Salzburger Nachrichten, Büro Wien |
| 1997 | Dr. rer. nat., Universität Wien, Doktoratsstudium in Ernährungswissenschaften |
| 1999-2008 | Lektorin, Universität Wien |
| 2004-2005 | Studium, Harvard University, USA; Master in Public Administration (MPA) |
| Studium, Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA |
| 2006-2013 | Vorsitzende der arge creativ wirtschaft austria, der bundesweiten Creative Industries Plattform in der Wirtschaftskammer Österreich |
| seit 2006 | Gründerin, Geschäftsführende Gesellschafterin, Innovationsberatung winnovation |
| seit 2007 | Wöchentliche Innovationskolumne "Gewagt Gewonnen", Tageszeitung Salzburger Nachrichten sowie als Blog im Internet |
| seit 2013 | Gewählte stellvertretende Vorsitzende der arge creativ wirtschaft austria |
| 1990-1995 | Student, Technical College for Mechanical Engineering and Business Management, Weiz |
| 2003-2008 | Research Assistant, WU Vienna, Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Austria |
| 2004 | Magister rer. soc. oec. (MBA equivalent) in International Business, WU Vienna, Austria |
| 2006-2008 | Visiting Scholar, MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, USA |
| since 2006 | Academic Advisor and Innovation Consultant to organizations from various industries including national and international firms and policy-making institutions |
| 2008 | Ph.D. in Social and Economic Sciences, WU Vienna, Austria |
| since 2008 | Head of the Academic Advisory Board, winnovation consulting, Austria |
| 2008-2013 | Assistant Professor (tenure track), Copenhagen Business School, Department of Innovation and Organizational Economics, Denmark |
| 2011 | Visiting Scholar, Bocconi University, Italy |
| Visiting Professor, ETH Zurich, Switzerland |
| since 2014 | Associate Professor (tenured), Copenhagen Business School, Department of Innovation and Organizational Economics, Denmarkssince 2014 Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum |
| Academic Director, Lab for Open Innovation in Science (LOIS), Austria |
| Advisory Board Member, Danish Crowdsourcing Association, Denmark |
| since 2015 | Member of the Foundation Council, Julius Raab Stiftung, Austria |
| 1992-1997 | Study of History and Political Science (without completing) |
| 1994 | Freelancer "Vorarlberger Nachrichten" |
| 1996 | Entry to "Die Presse" |
| 2002 | Editor, Domestic Policy Department, "Die Presse", Vienna |
| 2004 | Appointment to Department head "Chronik/Wien", "Die Presse", Vienna |
| 2009 | Appointment to Editorial Director for the new "Presse am Sonntag", Vienna |
| 2010 | Appointment to Head of Domestic Policy, "Die Presse", Vienna |
| since 2012 | Editor-in-Chief, "Die Presse", Vienna |
| since 2014 | Publisher, "Die Presse", Vienna |
| 2017 | Appointment as Managing Director, "Die Presse", Vienna |
