Our People
GPRG brings fresh thinking and deep expertise to the most pressing policy challenges we face today. We bring senior researchers, young professionals, and students together to create a global dialogue of ideas that national policymakers and the international policy community can act on.
ECONOMICS PROGRAM
Research Fellow
Calvin Schumann
Calvin is a Research Fellow for GPRG’s Economics Program and is currently pursuing undergraduate studies in economics and economic history at Lund University. His academic interests are primarily spatial and behavioral economics, as well as economic development. He is fluent in English and German.
EU PROGRAM
Research Fellow
Aryna Creangă
Aryna is a Research Fellow for GPRG’s EU Program. She graduated with an MSc in Strategic Communication from Lund University in 2022 after obtaining a Master’s Degree in Editorial Production and a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Al. I. Cuza University. Aryna was a reporter for four years and worked for the other two for the Parliament of Romania as Parliamentary Communications Advisor. Currently, she is based in Sweden, where she works as a Communication Editor and Strategist.Her main research interests are strategic communication and media practices within political and diplomatic areas in the time of digitalization. She has conducted research on dialogic diplomatic communication on social media and on the usage of ethics of care in the crisis communication discourse of female political leaders. Aryna is fluent in Romanian and English.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS & SECURITY PROGRAM
Research Fellow
Lucas Lixinski Arnhold
Lucas is a Research Fellow for GPRG’s International Affairs and Security Program, based in Porto Alegre, Brazil. He is currently studying in the International Relations program at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. He is fluent in Portuguese and English. His primary research interests range from defense and strategic studies to international humanitarian law and disarmament.
Research Fellow
Nicolas Naing
Nicolas Naing is a driven undergraduate student majoring in political science with a focus on comparative politics at the University of California, Berkeley.
He is the founder and lead Geopolitical Analyst at The Geopolitical Correspondent, an independent platform dedicated to providing insightful commentary on global geopolitical affairs.
Specializing in Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) techniques, Nicolas closely monitors and analyzes developments in global geopolitics, with a keen emphasis on the ASEAN region, U.S.-China relations, and broader U.S. foreign policy.
His role involves conducting extensive research and crafting engaging geopolitical articles for The Geopolitical Correspondent's website, along with delivering succinct geopolitical insights on LinkedIn to a broader audience.
Research Fellow
Edoardo Campanile
Edoardo is a Research Fellow for GPRG's International Affairs and Security Program. He is attending his MA in 'Politics and Society of the Contemporary Middle East' at Lund University after graduating with a BA in 'International Studies and European Institutions' at the University of Milan in 2021.
His research interests gravitate around Turkey and, more specifically, the connections between the country's foreign and domestic policy. The objective of his research activity is to examine the strategic importance of Turkey in the international system, especially from a geopolitical standpoint, and the role played by identity politics in the country's foreign policy agenda-setting.
In 2023, he interned at a think tank based in Turkey called Istanbul Policy Center. The same year, he collaborated with the Association of Foreign Affairs (UPF) Lund. He is a native Italian speaker, fluent in English, and has basics in French and Turkish.
Research Fellow
Nicolas Fiessinger
Nicolas is a Research Fellow for GPRG’s International Affairs and Security Program. He’s studying Political Science, International Relations, and Diplomacy at UCLouvain (Belgium) and is currently doing an Erasmus in Lund, Sweden. He previously studied in France and Finland. He has a background in research (researcher at CECRI UCLouvain) and work experience in Public Affairs. He’s currently writing a thesis on the EU special representatives and their actions in the Western Balkans. Apart from his studies, he’s a high-level runner and he’s invested in diverse associations (UPF Lund, Les Jeunes IHEDN). He’s native in French, fluent in English, and has basics in Spanish and Arabic.
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Head of Program
Berke Celik
Berke Çelik is a Research Fellow for GPRG's Development Program. Berke will contribute to the expansion and diversification of GPRG's Development Program, with a special focus on evidence-based, scalable interventions.
Berke is currently a BA student majoring in Philosophy at Boğaziçi University, having previously dedicated a year to studying Economics. Berke is particularly interested in blending philosophical rigor with practical solutions to global challenges, and has co-founded Effective Altruism Society at Boğaziçi University and AI Safety Turkey.
Berke has a diverse portfolio of interests, such as moral philosophy, global development and AI Governance. His research endeavors include running a lead exposure research project in Turkey, in collaboration with Lead Exposure Elimination Project, a project on wheat fortification in Turkey and working as a volunteer analyst at SoGive, a UK-based charity evaluation organization.
He is fluent in Turkish and English.
Research Fellow
Sheryl N. Ruiz
Sheryl is a research fellow at GPRG's Development Program. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from the National Autonomous University of Honduras, as well as a Diploma in Pedagogical Training in Higher Education. Her areas of expertise include, but are not limited to, public health, health policy, evidence-based research, and project formulation and management. She is currently a Swedish Institute scholar pursuing a Master's Degree in Public Health at Lund University.She has worked as a Municipal Health Supervisor, Emergency Room Charge Nurse, and Healthcare Administrator, performing a variety of tasks such as the management of a public health crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic, conducting research, particularly on cancer, tuberculosis, and immunology, and implementing and coordinating projects and programs with international and civil society organizations to improve the quality and coverage of health services provided to key populations.This year, Sheryl published a sociopolitical book called From a Third World Abyss, and she’s currently working on her second book. Her mother tongue is Spanish, as she was born in Honduras. She’s fluent in English and she's currently learning Swedish.
Research Fellow
Adriana Raygada
Adriana is a Research Fellow for an ongoing program-external research project at GPRG. She holds a bachelor's degree in Sociology from the Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP), a Diploma in Planning in the Public Sector, and a Diploma in Applied Statistics.
She has worked in the public sector and has experience in evaluating educational and childhood policies and socio-environmental impact assessments. She became interested in environmental issues by working with native communities in the Peruvian Amazon affected by oil spills and the impact this had on people's health. Her main topics of interest are evidence-based research, social inclusion and socio-environmental policies.She studies the Master’s in Economic Growth, Population and Development (Economic Demography Track) at Lund University and also follows the Change Makers Future Track. She speaks English and is a native speaker of Spanish.
ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS PROGRAM
Head of Program
Katharina Fey
As the Head of GPRG’s Environmental Solutions Program, Katharina oversees the department’s research, output and management. She is a double degree Master’s student of Development Economics at the universities of Groningen, Netherlands and Lund, Sweden, with an undergraduate background in International Cultural Studies, Political Science and Economics. Katharina’s research focuses on alternatives to traditional growth paths, sustainability and development studies. In past dissertations she has focused on green growth and degrowth, as well as the relationship of diaspora lobbying and aid allocation. She is a native speaker of German and English, while also dabbling in French, Indonesian and Dutch.
EU ACADEMY
Partnership Officer
Szymon Szacht
Szymon is a Partnership Officer for GPRG EU Academy, where he oversees external communications between the GPRG and various guest speakers and facilitates visits for the Academy’s participants to various international bodies.
He is currently a BA student of Development Studies at Lund University.
Prior to joining the EU Academy, Szymon graduated International Baccalaureate in Nairobi, Kenya where throughout his studies, Szymon carried out internships at numerous international organizations.
He is fluent in English and Polish, and is currently learning Swedish.
LEGAL TEAM
Legal Advisor
Nabyiel Marionell
Nabyiel is a Legal Advisor at GRPG, where he advises the Board in numerous legal matters and is the primary contact within the organization for any legal questions. He furthermore plays an active part in drafting external applications as well as the organization's statutes and regulatory documents. As a law student at Lund University, Nabyiel is particularly interested in business law and family law. He also finds himself interested in various aspects relating to human rights law. He recently wrote his equivalent to a bachelor's thesis on the topic of sexual life as a requirement according to Sweden’s Cohabitees Act. In the upcoming Autumn semester, he will be studying tort and insurance law as well as the law of mergers and acquisitions in the EU. Nabyiel is a native speaker of Indonesian and is fluent in both Swedish and English.
EXTERNAL RELATIONS
Interns
Intern
Kisha German
Kisha is an Intern with GPRG, she graduated with a BSc in Mathematical Sciences (Statistics & Computing) from The University of Malawi in 2023.
Kisha is a Samuel Foundation Research Fellow Alumni (2023) where she worked with Partners In Health (PIH) with their team in Malawi. Her research focused on understanding how current electronic health tools impacted services and feeling of connection for recipients – particularly for pregnant women. Her passion for research, and sustainable change through data, ignited during her undergraduate dissertation which was on Factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy on her university campus in 2021.
Additionally, Kisha has worked and collaborated with a number of Malawian youth-led NGO’s and organizations advancing STEM education and leadership. Kisha is also recognised as a Youth Sounding Board Member with the European Union (EU) Delegation in Malawi, a Women@Dior Mentee and YALI Alumni.
Her interests and hobbies include content curation, traveling and STEM advocacy. She speaks English and Chichewa (Malawian language) learning to speak French.
Intern
Marie-Alix Depuydt
Marie-Alix is an intern at the GPRG. Marie-Alix is a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, International Development, and Economics at McGill University.Marie-Alix’s research focuses on European politics, trade, and transatlantic relations. She has conducted a variety of research and comparative analysis on topics namely, Brexit divisions.
Professionally, Marie-Alix has worked for various organizations including think tanks and research institutes. Through her extensive extra-curricular experience and involvement, as well as professional opportunities, Marie-Alix has been able to narrow her political interests and refine her skills in research and communications.
She is also fluent in English and French, and proficient in Spanish. Additionally, in her free time, Marie-Alix enjoys running, baking, and meeting new people.