I am a Researcher at the Research and Innovation Center, and the Co-Director and Co-Founder of both the Institute for Democracy and the Data & Society Lab — all based at Matej Bel University (UMB). My research explores the role of information and communication technologies in political life, examining both the technologies themselves and their use as tools for analyzing various political phenomena.
I am currently co-coordinating the Horizon Europe project BRRIDGE, which aims to strengthen research capacities in the field of democracy and policy and contribute to a deeper understanding of the current democratic disconnect that stems from changes in technologies, inequalities, culture and governance. I also lead a work package in the Horizon Europe project EMMELO, and coordinate the POSILA project, funded by VAIA.
In my work, I strive to cross disciplinary boundaries as well as work together with people across sectors to create meaningful and impactful change for the benefit of society — for my work I was named on the Forbes’ 30 under 30 list.
I graduated from Matej Bel University and King’s College London, and hold an IBM-funded PhD (with distinction) in International Relations. In addition to my graduate degree education, I completed further research training in political methodology at Harvard University.
My academic experience includes previous roles as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Political Science and International Relations at Matej Bel University, and as a CMDS fellow at the Center for Media, Data and Society at Central European University. Additionally, I have also held visiting professorships at UBS’s Faculty of Sciences and Engineering in France and ZYU in China, as well as a visiting graduate student fellowship at the University of Vienna. I am a member of multiple professional associations including the International Studies Association in which I previously served as an at-large member of the STAIR executive committee. In 2023, I became an affiliate of the Technological Change and Society Cluster at the European University Institute and Regional Manager for Central Europe at the Digital Society Project. My work has been supported by IBM, the European Union (Horizon Europe), and Open Society Foundations, among others. I have advised a range of international and national institutions, including Meta Platforms Inc., the Slovak Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense, the Slovak Council for Media Services, and the European Commission. My research has been cited by the European Parliament and featured in national and European media.
Prior to academia, I worked in various NGOs in the fields of foreign and security policy, and innovation. My NGO journey started in the Euro-Atlantic Center (EAC), a student-led non-governmental organization. Later, I co-founded the Central European Start-up Center, an NGO that was dedicated to the support and development of innovative business ideas in the regions of Slovakia. Besides my non-governmental experience I also had a half year stint at the Slovak Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, where I worked in the Department for Horizontal Coordination as a Liaison officer for the UK.