José Eduardo Franco
José Eduardo Franco is a Full Professor of the Aberta University and is the Director of the UNESCO/CIPSH Chair for Global Studies in this institution. Currently coordinates the Doctoral Program in Global Studies in the Aberta University. Member of the Portuguese Academy of History. Holds a PhD in History and Civilizations from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales of Paris and a PhD in Culture from the University of Aveiro, a Master’s Degree in Modern History from the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon and a Master’s Degree in Sciences of Education from the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Lisbon.
He has coordinated large-scale research projects such as the Historical Dictionary of Religious Orders and Related Institutions in Portugal, The Complete Works of Father Manuel Antunes in 14 volumes, and the Vatican Secret Archives in 3 volumes. Among his vast bibliography, we can find in-depth studies on Vieira, the Jesuits and the Marquis of Pombal. He directed, together with Pedro Calafate, a great Luso-Brazilian project named “Vieira Global”, which includes the publishing of The Complete Works of Father António Vieira in 30 volumes, preparing the Dictionary of Father António Vieira and publishing a selection of works of this baroque author in 20 languages of great international circulation. He coordinates, together with Carlos Fiolhais, the project Pioneer Works of Portuguese Culture, which is being published by Círculo de Leitores in 30 volumes. Together with Fátima Vieira, he directs the project Global Portugal in a Game of Mirrors (150 mini-books for each country), supported by the Camões Institute. He also coordinates the project “Culture in Negative”, which resulted in the publication of the Dictionary of the Antis and a History of Portuguese Culture in Negative. Like his other projects, the format of this project is already being adapted in other countries.
Besides this, his bibliography includes the following books: O Mito de Portugal, Lisbon, Roma Editora, 2000; O Mito dos Jesuítas em Portugal e no Brasil, Séculos XVI-XX, 2 Vols., Lisbon, Gradiva, 2006-2007; A Europa ao Espelho de Portugal: Ideia (s) de Europa na Cultura Portuguesa, Lisboa, Temas & Debates/Círculo de Leitores, 2020. In 2015, he was awarded the Cultural Merit Medal of the Portuguese State, the most important award attributed by the Portuguese Government, in recognition of the services provided to culture and science. In 2023, the Antônio Paim Medal – the most important distinction of the Order of Merit of Brazilian Thought; and, in 2024, the Dom Pedro IV – Father of the Nation Medal, at the Knightly Grade of Commander, the highest honor bestowed by ABRASCI – the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, Arts, History, and Literature. Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Paris – Panthéon-Assas in 2025.
Ciencia Vitae: https://www.cienciavitae.pt/portal/8712-5B36-6B35
Nicu Gavriluță
Nicu Gavriluță is professor and former dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Social-Political Sciences, “Al. I. Cuza” University of Iaşi, 2008-2016. Sociologist, anthropologist and essayist. Member of the Union of Writers in Romania since 2014. He published the following volumes of author: Culianu, mental games and multidimensional worlds (Polirom, Iasi, 2000), Social Imagination of the Romanian Transition (Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 2001), Magical and Religious Mentalities and Rituals (Iasi, Polirom, 1998); Fractals and Social Time (Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 2003), Hermeneutics of Religious Symbolism (AXIS Foundation Publishing House, Iaşi, 2003), Oriental Religious Movements. A socio-anthropological perspective on the globalization of yoga practices (Provopress Publishing House, Cluj-Napoca, 2006), Romania in the bardo state. Journalism and Cultural Dialogues (Provopress Publishing House, Cluj-Napoca, 2006), Social and Cultural Anthropology (Polirom, Iaşi, 2009), The mother of the fools is always pregnant. Sociology of daily pathologies (European Institute Publishing House, Iasi, 2010), Sociology of Religions. Beliefs, rituals, ideologies (Polirom Publishing House, Iasi, 2013), Myth, magic and political manipulation (European Institute Publishing House, Iasi, 2015), New secular religions. Political correctness, technologies of the future and transhumanism (Polirom Publishing House, Iasi, 2018), Life, an initiation ritual. Cultural interviews and dialogues (Junimea Publishing House, Iasi, 2020), Homo magicus. Camouflages, mysteries, soteriologies (University “Alexandru Ioan Cuza Iasi” Publisging House, Iasi, 2021); Why do we like superheroes? The mythology and symbolism of the Marvel movies, (Polirom Publishing House, Iasi, 2022), Secularization and the Camouflage of the Sacred (Polirom Publishing House, Iasi, 2025).
He is co-author of the Sociology of Sport volumes. Theories, Methods, Applications (Polirom Publishing House, Iasi, 2010); Religion and Violence in secular Europe (Trinitas Publishing House, Bucharest, 2016; Publishing House “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” from Iasi, Iasi, 2016); Globalization and Romanian Identity (Junimea Publishing House, Iaşi, 2018); Homo religiosus and the simulacra of reality (Eikon Publishing House, Bucharest, 2019).
Claudiu Ștefan Turculeț
Claudiu Ștefan Turculeț is a senior consultant general surgeon and Associate Professor of Surgery at the “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, Romania, with more than four decades of continuous clinical and academic activity.
He graduated in medicine in the early 1980s and completed his full surgical training at Colentina Clinical Hospital, progressing through internship and residency to become a specialist (1988–1993) and then senior consultant in general surgery (from 1993). Since 2005, he has served as Head of the First Surgery Department at the Bucharest Clinical Emergency Hospital, one of the country’s leading trauma and emergency centres. In this capacity, he has coordinated complex surgical care for critically ill and polytrauma patients and has played a key role in shaping institutional protocols for emergency surgery and trauma management.
His academic career began in 1989 as a substitute university assistant in surgery, followed by successive appointments as University Assistant and Lecturer at the “Carol Davila” Faculty of Medicine. Since 2007 he has held the position of Associate Professor of Surgery in the same institution. His teaching portfolio covers undergraduate courses and practical classes in general surgery for 4th and 5th year medical students, as well as postgraduate courses for residents in general surgery and physicians in emergency medicine, intensive care, and related specialties. He has also contributed to interdisciplinary teaching in medical management and crisis management, including lectures delivered at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies and coordination of anatomy teaching within the Faculty of Medical Engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest.
Professor Turculeț obtained his PhD in Medicine in 2001 with a thesis on “Polytrauma: Organization of the Care System, Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Therapeutic Particularities,” supervised by Professor Mircea Ciurel. This work anticipated many of the subsequent developments in structured trauma systems and modern damage‑control strategies. Clinically, he has been instrumental in introducing and implementing Advanced Trauma Life Support principles and trauma scoring systems in the Bucharest Emergency Hospital from the mid‑1990s, as well as the early adoption of FAST ultrasound in the assessment of polytrauma patients. His field of expertise includes abdominal trauma, hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, and complex oncological surgery.
His scientific activity is extensive and multidisciplinary. He is author or co‑author of numerous chapters in leading Romanian surgical and oncology textbooks and treatises, including works on polytrauma, abdominal trauma, pancreatic pathology, biliary and breast disease, digestive hemorrhage and colorectal cancer. He has published widely in peer‑reviewed national and international journals on topics ranging from clinical trauma and abdominal surgery to advanced interventional techniques and, more recently, to translational research in biomaterials, nanocomposites, and antimicrobial surfaces with surgical applications.
He has participated in and contributed to multiple national and international research projects, including CEEX and PN programs, focused on innovative bionanomaterials for diagnosis and therapy, novel antiseptic formulations for wound care, bioceramic composites for local antibacterial therapy, and stem‑cell‑based vascular reconstruction. He is a frequent presenter at national surgical congresses and international meetings in trauma, emergency surgery, hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, and clinical nutrition.
Beyond his clinical and academic roles, Professor Turculeț has held significant leadership positions in hospital management, including interim and elected manager of the Bucharest Clinical Emergency Hospital, and has coordinated major twinning and collaboration programs with university hospitals in Zurich, Gent and Fribourg. He serves as Vice‑President of the Romanian Society for Emergency Surgery and Trauma and is an active member of several professional societies, including the Romanian Society of Surgery, the International Association of Surgeons and Gastroenterologists, and the European Association for Trauma and Emergency Surgery.
Victor Jeflea
Victor Florin Jeflea is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economic Sciences at “Ovidius” University of Constanța, with over two decades of experience in higher education, research, and academic project management at the intersection of economics and information technology.
He graduated in Mathematics–Informatics from “Ovidius” University of Constanța in 2000, followed by a Master’s degree in Business Project Management from the same institution (2000–2002). He subsequently obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from “Spiru Haret” University (2000–2004), and completed a PhD in Economic Informatics at “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași (2006–2013). He further consolidated his research profile through postdoctoral studies at “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University between 2019 and 2022.
Since 2023, Dr. Jeflea has served as Associate Professor at “Ovidius” University of Constanța, where he is involved in teaching, curriculum development, research, publication, and educational management. His earlier academic appointments include positions as Assistant and later Lecturer at “Spiru Haret” University, Faculty of Finance and Banking, Constanța (2001–2008), as well as teaching activity at the Industrial High School for Machine Construction in Constanța (2000–2001). His teaching and supervision work has been repeatedly recognized through institutional awards for excellence in didactic performance and for supporting student research.
Dr. Jeflea’s research and professional interests lie primarily in economic informatics, entrepreneurship, sustainable development, and digital transformation in education and business. He has been actively involved as research economist and expert in multiple national and European projects, including initiatives on sustainable entrepreneurship in health and wellness tourism (SUSTENT), standards in university teaching (STUNED), and innovative vocational training for renewable energy adoption in rural areas. Within these projects, he has contributed to research design, data analysis, development of educational content, and the implementation of training and mentoring activities.
His project-based roles at “Ovidius” University—such as Project Director, Education Expert, Training Expert, Career and Internship Counsellor, and E‑Content Expert—highlight his strong engagement with academic innovation, entrepreneurial education, and digital learning. Notably, he has been responsible for managing the generation and updating of digital content within the POCU project “Start in career through the didactic master’s degree,” and for training activities in projects dedicated to entrepreneurship, equal opportunities on the labour market, and student professional development.
Complementing his academic profile, Dr. Jeflea has pursued extensive professional training in areas relevant to contemporary economic and digital ecosystems, including data protection (GDPR), information security and security management, process improvement, evaluation and training competences, and web technologies (HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript). He has also contributed to the scientific and editorial infrastructure of his faculty as database maintainer (RePEc, DOAJ, EBSCO, CABELL), and as administrator of institutional websites.
He currently serves as President of the Trade Union of “Ovidius” University and as a member of the Executive Bureau of the national federation FNS “Alma Mater,” reflecting his longstanding involvement in academic governance and representation. His professional affiliations include the Association for Information Systems, the Professional Association of GDPR Experts (First Vice‑President), the Research Center for Applied Intelligence “Nicolae Țăndăreanu,” and the International Association for Conservation of Natural Resources and Energy.