Researchers

Klára Votavová, Czechia 

Klára is a European Studies graduate from Masaryk University in Brno and Maastricht University in the Netherlands. After completing several internships at the EU institutions, she worked in the Czech public service for over four years. There, she took part in preparations for the Czech EU Council Presidency in 2022. In her research, Klára focuses mainly on the social implications of the EU policies, including digitalization and decarbonization, EU social policies, and inequalities between EU states and regions. 


Silke Maes, Czechia 

Silke is a Junior Research Fellow with the Just Europe Programme at EUROPEUM. She is currently engaged in research focussing on the social challenges within the EU Digital Single Market. Her main research interests are centred around European social policy and the external aspects of EU migration management. Silke is a graduate of EU studies from Ghent University in Belgium and is currently doing an Erasmus Mundus Master in European Politics and Society at Charles University in Prague and Leiden University. 


Michal Vašečka, Slovakia

Foto N – Tomáš Benedikovič

Doc. PhDr. Michal Vašečka, PhD. (1972) is sociologist by background and focuses his interests on issues of ethnicity, race, antisemitism, and migration studies. As an Associate Professor he operates at the Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts (BISLA) since 2015, he is a program director of Bratislava Policy Institute. Since 2012 Michal Vašečka serves as a representative of Slovakia in the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) of the Council of Europe. He operated at the Faculty of Social Studies of Masaryk University in Brno in 2002-2017 and at the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences of the Comenius University in 2006-2009.   


Ingrid Borárosová, Slovakia 

Ingrid studied political science at Ss Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, where she received her Doctoral degree with the thesis focusing on the integration of migrants. She is one of the founding members of BPI, where she works as the financial and project manager and also as a senior researcher. She focuses her work currently mainly on the following topics such as migration, integration, extremism, radicalisation, public policies, young people and informal education. 


Gabriella Torzsa, Hungary

Gabriella is a political scientist and cultural anthropologist. She completed her studies at ELTE (ÁJK and TáTK). During her studies, she focused on causalities between centralization and decision-making and political systems theory. She wrote her Master’s thesis on the identity of the musician community in Budapest. During her university years and after them, she worked at a think-tank as a qualitative researcher and research organizer both in market research and social research. Her research interests are in political communication, cultural relativism, community research, identity research, value and culture research, and family (policy) research. She joined 21 Research Center in 2022 and works as an Analyst. She is responsible for qualitative research projects. 

Orsolya Bajnay, Hungary

Orsolya is a sociologist who has been working at 21 Research Center as an analyst since 2021, where she conducts quantitative data analyses and works with international grants. She gained her Master’s degree in Sociology and her Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and studied in Lisbon after gaining an Erasmus Scholarship. She had been a member of a College for Advanced Studies during her university years, where she took several social science courses complimenting her university studies. Her research interests include gender inequalities, feminism and rural sociology. She is a member of an association, where she organises events for young people about social issues in her free time. 


Maciej Milewicz, Poland 

Maciej is a sociologist and researcher in Projekt: Polska Foundation. Expert in social consultations with residents – he participated in in organization of the first Deliberative Poll in Poland on the future of the Municipal Stadium, Civic Court and Participatory Budgeting. Author of scientific publications on social participation, sociology of the city, local communities and the methodology of qualitative research. Owner of the independent marketing company.  


Krzysztof Mączka, Poland 

Krzysztof is a sociologist at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, focusing on public policies and public participation, especially in relation to the environment. He was involved in various projects financed, among others, by the European Commission, the Norwegian Funds, and the National Science Centre. He collaborates with local government and non-governmental organizations. Owner of an independent research company.  


Klaudia Rodziajczak, Poland 

Klaudia is a Ph.D. candidate in psychology at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. She participated in research on public participation, diagnosis of local environments, and analysis of the socio-political situation in Poland. In projects, she conducts quantitative and qualitative data analyses. Currently, her main research interest is social inequalities and hate speech, particularly in the case of women and the LGBTQ+ community. 


Adam Mielczarek, Poland 

Adam is a sociologist working as a freelance researcher. He has carried out a number of research projects on historical sociology and local government issues. He is a specialist in the Solidarity movement, which was the subject of his PhD.