Toma Burean – Director
Toma Burean is an university assistant of the Political Science Department, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca. He obtained a Phd in 2014 at the Postuniveristary School of Social Science, Polish Academy of Science. He graduated a Master course of Political Science at CEU, Budapest. His domains of interest are politics, political behaviour, political attitudes of young people and migration.
OVIDIU OLTEAN – Secretary
Since October 2014 I am a PhD student at the Doctoral School of Political and Communication Sciences, College of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, BabeşBolyai University in Cluj-Napoca. The research project I am working on looks at the relation between the process of ethnic migration and social change in a mixed environment of Germans and Romanians, where social change is understood in terms of transformation of ethnic relations and social status. Local and national institutions are also included in the research as they play an important role in supporting and enhancing such transformations. I also look at recent processes of immigration taking place in the same context which are interrelated to the former ethnic migration and change of the political and economic situation in Romania. At the same time, I work as a research assistant at the Center for the Study of Democracy, College of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, in the research project PNIIIDPCE201130602 ʺRecasting Migrants’ Voices. Local Perspectives on Migration, Development, and Social Change in Romaniaʺ, exploring various forms of migration and their effects on migrants’ home communities.
ANATOLIE COSCIUG – Vice-Director
Anatolie Cosciug is a doctoral fellow in sociology at the University of Bielefeld, Germany with a research on migration and social change in Eastern Europe. He is also an Early Stage Researcher at the Babes-Bolyai University in Romania, being involved in projects on informal entrepreneurship, migration, development and youth.
GABRIEL BĂDESCU
Gabriel Bădescu is an university professour, director of the Center for the Study of Democracy and member of the Political Science Department at Babeș-Bolyai University. He is licensed in Mathematics and Sociology, has a PhD in Sociology, had a scholarship at Fulbright la University of Maryland, College Park and followed specializations in social statistics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Between 2009 and 2010 he coordinated the Agency for Governmental Strategies, and between 2011 and 2013 he was a member of the national Council of Scientific Research. His later publications include themes of socialisation, politics, social capital, civil society, labour migration and scientometry. Among his academic interests, themes as democratic transitions in Eastern Europe, social capital, political and social participation in a compared perspective, social inequality, labour migration, quantitative/calitative methods of research can be found.
Andreea Vornicu – Researcher
Andreea Vornicu is a PhD Student in Political Science at Babeș-Bolyai University. She graduated Law College and Journslism at the College of Political , Administrative and Communication Science, and has a Masters Degree in International Development. Her research interests include: intitutional design and reconstruction of post-conflict countries, rule of law and restorative processes of justice and transition.
Bogdan Radu – Researcher
Bogdan Radu received his MA in European politics from the University of Manchester (MA) and his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine, USA, in 2007. His research interests revolve around issues interconnecting religion and politics. He conducted research on religious values and political beliefs, for both adults and the youth, focusing on the relationships between religiosity and religious participation on the one hand, and political participation and support for democracy on the other hand. More recently, Bogdan became interested in studying the concept of public opinion in the realm of international governance, especially focusing on international development. He is committed to interdisciplinary approaches and the combined use of empirical and interpretive methods. He also teaches courses iof Introduction in International Relations and Theories of International Relations, and a course of Economical and Democratic Transition in Taiwan at the College of Political, Administrative and Communication Science. Bogdan Radu is also responsible for the Maters Degree program of International Development, which started in 2010.
Giorgiana Găvruş – Researcher
Georgiana Găvruș is a Phd candidate in the Political Science Department at Babes-Bolyai University. Her thesis explores the relationship between religion and forced migration in the European context.She holds a BA in Psychology and an MPA in NGO Management at the same university. For her Master Thesis she researched the volunteer’s motivation to work amongst refugees in Europe. Her academic interests are migration, social networks and religion. Before enrolling in the MPA program, she spent six years in Afghanistan working in education and development.
Marius Matichescu – Researcher
Lector in the Sociology Department, he got his Licentiate degree in sociology at the West University in Timișoara, and his Masters Degree and Phd at Montpellier 3 University, France. Among his fields of scientific interest are social integration of immigrants and political representation. Also, he teaches the courses of Social integration and Techniques of negotiation at the Sociology and Psychology College, West University, Timișoara.
Andriana Coșciug -Researcher
Andriana has a BA in Political Sciences and a MA in International Development, both at Babeș-Bolyai University. She works as an Romanian language and cultural orientation teacher for immigrants living in Cluj-Napoca at the League for the Defense of Human Rights, Cluj branch. She worked as project manager at Societatea Studențească de Știinte Politice and Rațiu Democracy Centre. Her topic interests are human rights, inclusion of immigrants and the social involvement of youth in their society.
Astrid Hamberger – Researcher
Giorgian Guțoiu – Researcher
Giorgian Guțoiu is a Teaching Assistant at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu. Since 2019 he holds a PhD in Political Sciences from the University of Bucharest with a thesis on urban electoral geography of Bucharest. His main areas of interest are in political behavior, urban sociology and human geography.
Alin Croitoru
Alin Croitoru holds a PhD in Sociology (University of Bucharest, 2013) and he is a lecturer at the Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu (since 2014). He participated as a researcher in multiple national and international research projects focused on various topics (e.g. HORIZON 2020 – YMOBILITY, PN2 – MIGLIFE, FP7 – TEMPER, FP7 – EUCROSS). He has experience with qualitative and quantitative analysis of social data and published on topics linked to international migration, entrepreneurship and rural studies.
Livia Pogan- Researcher
Livia Pogan is currently a Teaching Assistant at Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, holding a PhD in
Sociology (2017). She also studied Law and Psychology (BA&MA) and has previous practical experience as a Human Resources psychologist. Her research interests were focused on work-life balance, organizational learning, development and change, work behavior and other work-related aspects and are reflected in papers published in scientific journals or presented at national and international conferences.
Ionela Racatău – Researcher
Raluca Drob – Researcher
Mara Birou – Researcher
Mara Birou is coordinator of socio-educational and cultural activities within the SIM_CIS project – „Integrated services for migrants – Intercultural and Solidarity Communities”, implemented by the League for the Defense of Human Rights, Cluj branch and political scientist at Babeș-Bolyai University. She holds a bachelor and master degree in Political Science from UBB Cluj. Her academic interests focus on migration, political participation, political behavior and electoral system. Her recent research also includes topics related to social marginalization, living conditions, the vulnerable consumer and energy poverty.
Stefánia Toma – Researcher
Stefánia Toma is a researcher at the Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities. Since March 2020 she is a research fellow of the HOMING: The Home-Migration Nexus, an ERC project hosted by University of Trento. She is also a PhD student at the Sociology Doctoral School of the Babeș-Bolyai University. Her area of interest includes anthropology of ethnic minorities and ethnic relations, migration, economic anthropology and sociology of education.
László Fosztó – Researcher
László Fosztó is a social anthropologist working as senior researcher at the Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities in Cluj-Napoca. His main research interest includes approaches to ethnicity, nationalism, migration and the intersections of anthropology of religion and economic anthropology. He served as Secretary for the European Academic Network on Romani Studies a joint initiative of the European Commission and Council of Europe between 2011 and 2015. After the project was finalized he continues as voluntary administrator of the Network webpage and email-list.