Project team

Tenured Professor Inta Mieriņa

E-mail: inta.mierina@lu.lv
Tel:+371 25919309

Tenured Professor at FESS, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, and Director of the Centre for Diaspora and Migration Research at the University of Latvia. Her research interests include political sociology, migration, integration, social capital and public goods, as well as political attitudes and behaviour, and issues related to youth and education. I. Mieriņa has participated in numerous international studies and led several migration research projects, including the largest survey of Latvian emigrants, which covered 14,068 respondents across 118 countries. Prof. Mieriņa regularly provides expertise to Latvian policymakers on migration and integration issues and serves as an evaluator of research projects for the European Commission.

Paride Carrara

E-mail: paride.carrara@lu.lv
Tel:+393 331188591

Contact person for questions about the study in Italy

Postdoctoral researcher on the WICE project at the University of Latvia. He holds a PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the University of Bologna and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Milan. His research focuses on party politics and voter behaviour, coupled with a strong expertise in computational social sciences, and natural language processing in particular.

Maria Ewa Lompe

E-pasts: maria_ewa.lompe@lu.lv

Contact person for questions about the study in Poland

PhD student at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Doctoral School of Humanities, Theology and Art. M. Lompe is pursuing her doctoral dissertation in the field of Science and Technology Studies. Her research interests focus on internet studies, with particular emphasis on controversy mapping using digital methods and disinformation research. She contributes to several scientific projects dedicated to the study of new technologies and social media, and is the co-author of several scholarly publications analysing Russian disinformation in the Polish online sphere.

Diego Caballero-Vélez

E-mail: diego.caballero_velez@lu.lv
Tel:+393 889230702

Contact person for questions about the study in Italy

He earned his PhD at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, Italy and has held postdoctoral positions at the University of Messina and the Centre of Migration Research (University of Warsaw), as well as visiting research appointments at the University of Oxford, the European University Institute, and the SGH Warsaw School of Economics. D. Vélez research focuses on EU migration governance, with particular emphasis on Central and Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean region. His broader academic interests include political economy, international security studies, and EU foreign policy. He is also a former Blue Book trainee at the European Commission’s Research Executive Agency, his work has been presented at numerous international conferences and published in leading journals, including “Journal of Common Market Studies”, “European Politics and Society”, and “Perspectives on Politics”, among others. He is the author of the book “Contesting Migration Crises in Central Eastern Europe”.

Réka Tamássy

E-mail: reka.tamassy@lu.lv
Tel:+36 30 511 2617

Contact person for questions about the study in Hungary

Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Latvia, working on the WICE project. Previously, she worked as a researcher at the Budapest University of Economics and Business. R. Tamássy earned her PhD in Sociology from Corvinus University of Budapest, where she explored the discursive construction of Roma and LGBTQIA+ people in Hungarian online political communication. Her research interests include the portrayal of marginalized social groups in (social) media and political communication, as well as minority representation and meaning-making in politically sensitive contexts, particularly analysing how these processes shape social exclusion.

Eva Gaigalniece

E-mail: eva.gaigalniece@lu.lv
Tel:+371 28602541

Contact person for questions about the study in Latvia

PhD student in Social Sciences at the University of Latvia. Her academic work focuses on political radicalisation on social media in Latvia, with broader research interests in disinformation, migration, and security studies. Currently works as a research assistant at the University of Latvia and teaches courses on European Union politics. In 2023, received the Innovation Award in International Politics Research for her bachelor’s thesis, presented by the Foreign Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia. In addition to her academic career, has five years of professional experience covering political news in a leading Latvian media outlet.

Hanna Palii

E-mail: hanna.palii@lu.lv
an_pa@ukr.net
Tel:+371 26714311

Contact person for Ukrainian-speaking respondents

PhD in Political Science. Since 2022, visiting researcher (Dr.) at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Latvia, and leading research fellow at the National Institute for Strategic Studies (Kyiv). Author and co-author of scholarly articles, monographs, policy briefs, and analytical reports on Ukraine’s state politics and political system, civil society, national security, national identity, and international politics. Research interests include national security, political systems and civil society development, comparative studies of Central and Eastern Europe, and cooperation between Ukraine and the Baltic States. Current research focuses on the impact of the war in Ukraine on state politics and society, as well as on the adaptation and integration of migrants in Latvia, particularly Ukrainian forced migrants.

Hanna Markova

E-mail: hanna.markova@lu.lv
Tel:+371 26608399

Contact person for Ukrainian-speaking respondents

PhD candidate in Social Sciences at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Latvia. Doctoral research focuses on the social adaptation and integration of Ukrainian forced migrants in Latvia, with particular attention to education and language policy as key integration instruments, as well as the educational pathways of refugee adolescents. Holds a Master’s degree in Pedagogy and completed professional studies in Social Pedagogy. Academic background combines social sciences, education, and migration studies, enabling analysis of integration processes at the intersection of social policy, education systems, and state responses to forced migration. Research interests include migration and integration policies, education as a tool of social integration, language policy, social capital, and youth transitions in host societies. Actively involved in international research and expert initiatives related to migration, integration, and inclusion, and contributes to qualitative and mixed-methods research, including focus groups and fieldwork.