Project Research Leads
Carlos Gómez del Tronco
EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, Czechia – Linkedin
Carlos Gómez del Tronco holds a PhD in political sociology from the University College London School of Slavonic and East European Studies (UCL SSEES), and an MA in International Relations and European Studies from Metropolitan University Prague. During his time at UCL SSES, he was a teaching assistant on political sociology and a predoctoral research fellow on a project on the rise of illiberalism and populism in Central and Eastern Europe. He has also worked for NGOs as a research assistant on migrants’ rights, as a project management assistant and as a pro-bono evaluation consultant. His research interests include international migration to/in the EU and its politicisation, populism, the social psychology of intergroup relations and discourse studies.
Jesús Ruiz-Huerta
Fundación Alternativas, Spain – Linkedin
Jesús Ruiz-Huerta Carbonell is the director of the Public Policies Lab at Fundación Alternativas. He is a professor of Applied Economics at Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid. He has taught at the Complutense University of Madrid and the University of Salamanca (where he served as vice-dean for economics), and was director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies from 2004 to 2008.
Alexandru Damian
Romanian Center for European Policies, Romania – Linkedin
Alexandru Damian is Programs Director at CRPE. He has a solid background in good governance, public administration, and civic activism, with a key aim to strengthen citizens’ participation in public decision-making and advocate for data-driven public policies. For almost 12 years in the NGO sector, with multiple consulting projects, especially in Romania and the Republic of Moldova. His educational background includes a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Bucharest, and a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the Free University of Brussels.
Martin Kratochvíl
STEM, Czechia – Linkedin
Martin is an Analyst and Methodologist at STEM with more than decade of experience with leading and managing projects for both private and governmental partners. He particularly enjoys studying political opinion and improving STEM’s electoral models. He has prepared and oversaw fieldwork design of several multi-county projects. He focuses on the methodology of quantitative research and data wrangling and analysis. He obtained bachelor’s degree in sociology and demography from Charles University.
Kristiina Toomik
Institute of Baltic Studies’, Estonia – Linkedin
Kristiina Toomik is an Analyst and Project Manager at the Institute of Baltic Studies since 2021 when she completed her bachelor’s internship at IBS. As an analyst, she has contributed to research on migration, integration, and security. Kristiina holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies at the University of Tartu and a master’s degree in internal security at the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences. In her thesis, she examined the securitization of Ukrainian war refugees in Estonia’s alternative media.
Kristjan Kaldur
Institute of Baltic Studies’, Estonia – Linkedin
Kristjan Kaldur has worked at the Institute of Baltic Studies since 2007 and is currently a member of the board of the Institute of Baltic Studies. His main area of work and interest is migration and integration, and he also has a keen interest in issues related to the information society and the data-driven world. Kristjan holds a Master’s degree in Comparative Politics from the University of Tartu. During his studies, he has studied at various universities in Germany and Georgia on long-term scholarships. He is pursuing a PhD at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu, where he also supervises BA and MA students on nationalism, ethnopolitics and migration.
Sara Singleton
Think tank for Action on Social Change (TASC), Ireland – Linkedin
Dr Sara Singleton is Head of Public Education at TASC (Think-tank for Action on Social Change). She has extensive experience in programme management in the community and voluntary sector, with expertise in social inclusion and public education. She has managed educational projects in Africa and Asia and worked with refugees, migrants, and at-risk young people in Ireland. She also coordinated the Sociology and Social Policy Module for Trinity Access Programmes. She holds an MA in International Politics and Human Rights from City, University of London, and a PhD in Sociology from Trinity College Dublin.