Piotr Dutkiewicz is a Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. He served as Editor-in-Chief of a 19-volume series on Local and Regional Development in Poland (1986-1989) and as editor or co-editor and contributor to 11 other academic books published by Routledge, NYU Press, and Edward Elgar. He has also served as Co-Director of the Centre for Governance and Public Management (2008-2025), Director of the Institute of European and Russian Studies (2003-2008), and Director of a large-scale CIDA-funded projects in Ukraine and Russia. Professor Dutkiewicz has played a prominent role in fostering international academic collaboration with the EU and Russia. His contributions have been recognized through numerous distinctions, including two honorary doctorates and awards for research excellence, teaching, and public service.

Tom Casier is a Professor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, where he holds the Chair in Global Politics of Europe and is the Head of the Department of International Relations and International Organisations. Previously, he was a Reader in International Relations at the University of Kent's Brussels School of International Studies (BSIS). He served as Academic Director of BSIS from 2014 to 2017 and was also the Director of the Global Europe Centre. Additionally, he held a Jean Monnet Chair and offered policy advice to various institutions. Tom Casier's research primarily concentrates on Russian foreign policy and the EU's relations with its eastern neighbours, as well as on hegemony and global transformation.

Jing Men holds the position of Professor and Director of the Centre for European Studies at East China Normal University. She has a remarkable career bridging Europe and China. She spent over 20 years in Belgium. She obtained her Ph.D. in Political Science from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She worked at the College of Europe as the Baillet Latour Chair of European Union-China Relations and the Director of the EU-China Research Centre. During her tenure, she was the first and only professor of Chinese background at the College. Her work included offering one of the earliest courses on EU-China relations. In 2009, she founded the EU-China Observer, an electronic journal dedicated to research articles and policy analysis on EU-China relations. Additionally, she authored and edited six books in English, three special issues in academic journals, and three books in Chinese. Her book The Evolving Relationship between China, the EU, and the USA: A New Global Order, published by Routledge in 2020, received the 2021 Choice Outstanding Award.