Project leads

Rebeka Hengalová

Lead researcher, Czechia – Linkedin

Rebeka is a Research Fellow of the climate team in the section Green Europe. She studied international relations and diplomacy at the Prague University of Economics and Business, following with a master’s degree in socio-ecological economics and policy at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Her specialization was social policy, in her master’s thesis she focused on Czech family policy in the context of company childcare. In EUROPEUM she continues in the socio-ecological direction in a research project on the impact of the decarbonization of the Czech automotive industry on its worker’s employment stability, their re-skilling and impact on their personal lives. She is also interested in European and Czech state policies and their impact on the individual and on the labour market.

Viera žúborová

Project lead, Slovakia – Linkedin

Viera is a political scientist by background. She focuses her interests on populism, extremism, civil society, intolerance, and hate speech. Furthermore, she worked for ten years on various levels in the academic sphere. Besides, she also worked as a senior research fellow at the think tank CENAA.  In 2017, she was a scholar-in-residence in the ISGAP at Oxford University, and in 2010 a visiting Ph.D. scholar at the ULB Brussels. She have been a regular columnist at Aktuality.SK and Startitup. Viera worked at IOTA Foundation, focusing on blockchain technology and its social impact. Currently, she is affiliated with ORAM as a volunteer focused on promoting and supporting LGBTIQ Ukrainians in Germany. Her current position is also affiliated with the non-profit investigative newsroom Correctiv fundraising Manager with a focus on democracy promotion and strengthening the democratic development in Eastern Europe and Russia.

Borbála Baittrok

Project lead, Hungary

Borbála graduated as a sociologist from the Faculty of Social Sciences at ELTE. She has 20 years of experience in market research, with a primary focus on the online sector. She was the Research Director at Gemius for over 10 years, where, in addition to media research projects, she was periodically responsible for overseeing online audience measurement and led numerous international research projects. Prior to that, she gained research experience at Medián and GfK Hungária. Before joining 21 Research Center, she worked at Datalyze, first as an employee and later as co-CEO. During this period, in addition to conducting qualitative and quantitative research, she became familiar with methods such as deep social listening and led many international research projects. Since April 2024, she has been the Research Director at 21 Research Center. In her free time, she enjoys being in nature with her dog and family, and for many years, she has spent longer vacations travelling by campervan. Whenever possible, she stays active by regularly participating in sports, including basketball, yoga, and running.

Milosz hodun

Project lead, Poland – profile

Miłosz is the President of the Projekt: Polska Foundation and member of the Board of Directors of the European Liberal Forum. Author and editor of various publications on hate speech and populism, e.g. US/THEM. Hate Speech at the Service of Politics; Free Voices. LGBT+ Rights in Eastern Europe; Beyond Flt Earth. Conspiracy Theory vs. European Liberals. Visiting adjunct professor at Reykjavik University Law School. His main areas of academic interest are comparative constitutional law and federalism.

Jaromír mazák

Project lead, Czechia

As a sociologist, Jaromír focuses on issues of civic and political participation and social cohesion. At STEM, he focuses on the development of new research topics and advancement of methodology. Previously, he worked at Charles University as a researcher and lecturer focusing on general sociology, statistics and data analysis. He also led several projects on impact evaluation at Schola Empirica. Jaromír obtained his PhD in sociology in 2019 from Charles university and spent two trimesters as an academic visitor at Oxford University in 2017.

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