Naoel Mezgani obtained her PhD in management science jointly from the Faculty of Economics and Management of Sfax (Tunisia) and Montesquieu University-Bordeaux (France). She started her career 15 years ago in public higher education as a contract teaching assistant. Her leadership qualities were demonstrated in her previous roles supervising, assisting, and mentoring students. 

In 2019, Naoel joined the R&D unit at Sfax Technopark, where she spent two years working as a project advisor on international funding programmes, including H2020. During this period, she contributed to projects in the field of ICT, with a particular focus on Industry 4.0 and Agritech. She was also involved in a research project at the interface between academic research and real area work, actively contributing to the development of new project concepts. This experience strengthened her expertise in research valorisation and reinforced her interest in European projects.

Currently, she joins Jammoussi Olive Oil Group “JOOG” as a member of team SDA of one of its subsidiaries. Driven by a strong commitment to innovation she established an R&D unit aimed at enhancing the integration of the group’s SMEs into national and international research funding ecosystems. Her work focuses on promoting their transition, towards research-driven and innovation-oriented enterprises.