CEDEFOP
Iraklis Pliakis is a Cedefop expert in qualifications and credentials. Working in the Department for
VET and qualifications since 2017, Iraklis manages the project on National Qualifications Frameworks
(NQFs), mapping and analysing NQF developments in countries participating in the European
qualifications framework (EQF) process. His current research areas of focus include Microcredentials
for labour market education and training, and Transparency and transferability of learning
outcomes. He is also a member of the Cedefop VET Policies and Systems team reporting on and
analysing European training policies. Iraklis is an economist by training, with a PhD in didactics of
Economics from the University of Macedonia. Before joining Cedefop he was an advisor to the
Deputy Minister of Education in Greece focusing on VET and apprenticeship. He has also worked as a
teacher in upper secondary and post-secondary education and as a researcher in tertiary education.