CV
CV

PhD Student – Political Science & International Affairs

About me


Welcome! I am Gabriela, a first-year political science PhD Student at the University of Georgia, School of Public and International Affairs, focusing on Comparative Politics and Methodology. I hold an MSc in Political Science from the University of Amsterdam, a Master in European Studies (M.E.S.) from the University of Vienna, and a BA (with distinction) in Hungarian Studies from the University of Vienna. 

I am also a recipient of the University of Georgia’s Graduate School Doctoral Fellow Award and additional supplemental funds from the UGA Dean’s Scholarship Fund.

My research focuses on the populist radical right, polarization, democracy and democratic erosion, as well as political behaviour. I am particularly interested in the intersection of far-right politics and political psychology. My primary regional focus is on the European Union, with a particular emphasis on Central and Eastern Europe. 

My previous work experiences include internship positions at the Fund for Global Human Rights (Washington D.C.) and the United Nations (New York City) and a Schuman Traineeship position at the European Parliament (Brussels). I was also an associate fellow at the Austrian Institute for European and Securit Policy and worked as a Community Engagement Manager at the Austrian Daily, Der Standard. In 2020, I co-founded the youth platform Quo Vademus.

Currently, I am a board member at the American Friends of the Austrian Resistance Movement, an organisation associated with the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW), a research centre focusing on resistance and persecution during the Nazi era, Nazi crimes, and right-wing extremism since 1945. 

Before returning to grad school to pursue my PhD, I published analyses, policy briefings and opinion pieces in several outlets such as the New Eastern Europe Magazine, The Diplomat, Visegrad Insight, Social Europe and the Austrian Institute for European and Securit Policy (AIES). 

You can connect with me on Twitter, Bluesky and LinkedIn or via the contact form below. 

Research

Working Papers
What’s trust got to do with it? Unpacking the role of generalised trust trust in anti-immigrant attitudes in Eastern versus Western Europe.
Hungary: Between democratic breakdown and authoritarian consolidation – The role of party convergence, populist radical right politics, and polarization

Work in Progress
Revisiting Renan: The discursive construction of Austrian and Hungarian national identities in comparative perspective.

Conference Presentations
Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA), Chicago (IL), April 2024

Other Publications (selection – see CV for complete list)
When ‘never again’ becomes ‘again and again’. Social Europe.
Normalising the far right: a warning from Austria. Social Europe.
Orbán’s Bid to Shape Hungary’s Next Generation Through Education Reform. Visegrad Insight.
How Fidesz’s irredentism strains neighbourly relations. (03+04 (56)), 95-102.
Hungary’s Eastern Opening Policy as a Long-Term Political-Economic Strategy. AIES Fokus 4/2023.
How Hungary’s Russia connection undermines EU support for Ukraine. New Eastern Europe, (01+02 (55)), 75-81.
Exploiting every crisis: why the FPÖ is topping the polls. Social Europe.
China’s Growing Foothold in Hungary. The Diplomat.
Euroscepticism on the rise among the Hungarian government party – A case study of Viktor Orbán’s Eurosceptic rhetoric. (Master Thesis)

Teaching

Comparative Politics
 Teaching Assistant: INTL3300 Introduction to Comparative Politics (undergraduate), Fall 2023

Teaching Interests
Introduction to European Politics
The European Union and its Neighbourhood
EU Politics and Transatlantic Relations  
Democratic Erosion in Global Perspective

Contact

If you have any questions or inquiries, feel free to reach out via the contact form below.




    University of Georgia
    School of Public and International Affairs
    Department of International Affairs
    Athens, GA, 30602
    United States