CEU Student Research Team in 2020/21

Monty Aal is master’s candidate in public administration at the Central European University, specializing in governance and technology. Prior to studying at CEU, he was vice-chair of the Dutch National Student Union and was involved in several social projects in the fields of harm-reduction, youth participation and sexual and reproductive health and rights. Originally from Hungary, Monty lived in Australia and the Netherlands, and now resides in Vienna.

Mohammad Abu Hawash is enrolled at CEU's School of Public Policy, where he is pursuing a Master's degree in Public Administration and Sectoral Policy. His main areas of interest are Arab politics (particularly Palestinian affairs) and the political economy of the Levant sub-region of the Arab League. Other interests include Ottoman and Islamic history (and history in general), as well as entrepreneurship. 

Kanan Azimov was born and raised in Baku, Azerbaijan and he graduated from ADA University, School of Public and International Affairs. His thesis covered the topic of "The Establishment of Mobile Government in Azerbaijan".  He is  pursuing his Master's degree at the CEU School of Public Policy, Master of Public Administration. Currently he is also working as a researcher with International Press Institute in Vienna on the project of "Media Freedom Violations". His research interests are media and communication, freedom of speech, cyber security, geopolitics of the Internet, civil society and their roles in policy making processes. 

Sophia Fehrenbach is a first year MPA student at the School of Public Policy. Before joining CEU, she finished her undergraduate studies in International Relations in the Netherlands, and interned at the EU Delegation of Mauritius and later in the audio section of the Süddeutsche Zeitung in Germany. Since ever then, she has a fascination for podcasting. She is further interested in religious extremism, conflict resolution and mediation and is keen to learn what role the media plays in conflicts and possible resolution mechanisms.

Grace Linczer is a second-year student of Public Administration at Central European University's School of Public Policy. Prior to her time at CEU, Grace was Membership Engagement Manager at PEN America where she worked to mobilize the organization's nationwide constituency in support of free expression. Before this, Grace was part of the Member Mobilization team at Amnesty International USA. Today, she is interested in evaluating policy responses to combat misinformation and disinformation in the online sphere.

Nina Melkonyan is currently a second-year graduate student of Public Policy and Administration at CEU. Prior to CEU, she volunteered in a Burmese migrant school in Thailand and last year worked with UNDP Armenia Country Office on developing policies addressing the needs of the Internally Displaced People as a result of the Armenia-Azerbaijan war. She is interested in Development and human safety and well-being specifically in developing countries. She strongly believes that giving voice to those who have been neglected by our institutions is one of the pillars of good policy-making.

Oisín Nolan has been enrolled in a master’s degree in public policy at CEU’s School of Public Policy since 2020. Previously, he studied a bachelors at the University of Edinburgh, where he majored in Political Science and minored in Human Geography. Today, Oisín’s academic research continues to focus on migration, health, and food policy. He is fluent in French and English, and has professional background in consulting and public affairs.

Laura Palenčíková is a second-year student of Public Administration at CEU where she is pursuing a specialization in Higher Education Policy, which has been her main research and personal interest for a couple of years. Prior to CEU, she graduated from Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts (BISLA) with BA in Political Science. She was an intern in the Office of the Bratislava Self-Governing Region, at the Department of Strategy, Spatial Development, and Project Management. Currently she is also an Advocacy Intern in the international organization Habitat For Humanity, EMEA.

Vanda Pozner is a second-year student of Public Administration in the School of Public Policy at CEU. Previously she graduated from Corvinus University of Budapest with a BA in Sociology with a specialization in Social Policy and Equal Opportunities. Currently, she is interested in development, sustainability, and environmental policies. She is also working at the Environmental Social Science Research Group, on a Sustainable Food System Networks project.

Anastasiia Ptichkina is a Political Science M.A. Student at the Central European University. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow. Anastasiia participated in  Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility Program at the University of Edinburgh, Politics and International Relations (PIR) in 2019. As a project intern at Transparency International-Russia (TI-R), she co-authored two successful investigations which were published in 2018. Her main academic interests are political economy, political regimes, developmental corruption, gender factor in social, political and economic research.