Professor Dimitris Tsaltas is the Director of Agricultural Microbiology and Biotechnology Laboratory and Head of the Department of Agricultural Sciences, Biotechnology and Food Science at the Cyprus University of Technology. He has extensive contribution and experience in building a dynamic technological university in the Mediterranean and experience in research policy and strategy representing Cyprus at European level (DG Research committees on agriculture, food, and biotechnology, and COST Food & Agriculture Domain Committee). He serves in multiple international associations and is an International Mentor of the American Society for Microbiology. He introduced training in enterprenuership and innovation into the agrifood student curiculla and delivered multiple EU funded trainings in empowering women in the sector while he implemented the first gender equality plan in Cypriot research institution. In the past 15 years he has managed over 3M euro of EU, regional and national funds mostly in microbial biotechnology research and innovation.