Yanbin Ma PhD Candidate Fudan University

Yanbin Ma was GTGC guest researcher from September 2023 to August 2024. He is a Ph.D. candidate at Fudan University and received his bachelor’s as well as master’s degree at China University of Political Science and Law. With the theoretical perspective of International Practice Theory and Chinese School (Relational Theory in particular), his research focuses on Global Environmental Governance (GEG) and International Organization. His latest study discussed the value of local knowledge to GEG and the role of IO in this process. Besides, he also published some articles about The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Climate Finance of Multilateral Development Bank. His doctoral dissertation explores the cooperation among IOs from a comparative perspective based on several different cases.

Joohyun Baik PhD Candidate Sungkyunkwan University

Joohyun Baik was GTGC guest researcher from 1 April 2023 to 15 March 2024. She received a master's degree in Political Science from the Department of East Asian Studies at Sungkyunkwan University, and she is now a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science & Diplomacy at the same university. Currently, Joohyun works as a researcher at the Center for Good Democracy in Sungkyunkwan University. Previously, she was a Project Researcher at the Humanitarianism and Cooperation Research Division of the Korea Institute for National Unification(KINU) in 2022, and a Research Assistant at the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)'s Department of West Africa in 2017. Her doctoral dissertation explores the impact of ICT development led by the United States and China on knowledge power in African digital governance. Joohyun's research focuses on the power dynamics of advanced information and communication technology in Africa, and how they are exercised. 

Stéfano Mariotto was GTGC guest researcher from August 2023 to January 2024. He is a Ph.D. candidate in International Strategic Studies at the Programa de Pós-Graduação em Estudos Estratégicos Internacionais da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (PPGEEI/UFRGS), and holds a master's degree and lato sensu specialization also at PPGEEI/UFRGS. He is a journalist graduated from the same university, with an extension in the area by Universidad de Navarra / O Estado de S. Paulo. He works with union policy and communication at Sindisaúde-RS, one of the largest health unions in Brazil, where is communication coordinator. His research adopts the perspective of the Critical Theory of International Relations and is related to the Political Economy of Data and ideologies. His doctoral dissertation seeks to identify fissures in the current hegemonic structures of the global Political Economy of Data from a Global Southern point of view, pointing out the counter-hegemonic potentials that this region of the world possesses to undertake reforms of the status quo.

Pınar Bedirhanoğlu Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations at Middle East Technical University in Turkey

Dr Pınar Bedirhanoğlu was GTGC guest researcher in the month November 2022. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations at Middle East Technical University in Turkey. Her most recent research focus on the relationship among neoliberalism, financialization and the global crisis of democracy, political economy of corruption, and de- and re-politicization of economic management in Turkey. She has co-edited in 2020 Turkey’s New State in the Making: Transformations in Legality, Economy and Coercion published by ZED Books.

Sebahat Derin Atiskan PhD candidate in Transnational Governance at the Scuola Normale Superiore and the Sant Anna School of Advanced Studies in Italy

Sebahat Derin Atiskan was GTGC guest researcher during the period March-June 2022. She is a PhD candidate in Transnational Governance at the Scuola Normale Superiore and the Sant Anna School of Advanced Studies in Italy. She attained her M.A. in International Relations at Koc University and her B.A. in Political Science at Galatasaray University, with a year abroad at Sciences Po Paris (2014-2015). Her PhD research looks at the transfer of international gender equality norms in domestic contexts. She analyzes the impact of cooperative activities between international organizations (IOs) –mainly the UN– and civil society actors, specifically international and domestic NGOs, on the formation and the national implementation of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and CEDAW recommendations related to the women’s rights. 

Olivia Serrano Núñez PhD candidate at the University of Navarra in Spain

Olivia Serrano (Mexico City) was GTGC guest researcher during the period January-May 2022. She holds a BA in International Relations from Anahuac University (Mexico), a MA in Human Rights from the University of Navarra (Spain) and is currently a PhD candidate from the same University, where she is a recipient of the University of Navarra Grant for Young Researchers. Since 2015, she has directed Construye, Regional Observatory for Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, an NGO that advocates for women’s human rights in international organizations (UN & OAS). She has been the main representative of her organization to the UN since 2014, mainly for the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). She was part of the Official Delegation of Mexico for the 49th Commission on Population and Development and for the 61st and 62nd CSW at the UN. Her PhD research deals with the universality of the treaty bodies' interpretation on the right to health.

Rosalba Icaza Associate Professor, International Institute of Social Studies (ISS)

Dr Rosalba Icaza was GTGC guest researcher during the period January-April 2021. Her permanent position is as Full Professor in Global Politics, Gender, and Diversity at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her research is located at the intersections of Global Politics, Feminisms, and Decoloniality, with a particular focus on how place-based social resistance contributes to global epistemic justice. At GTGC Rosalba was affiliated with the project "Stories of Solidarity and Exchange through and with Food". More details on her work are available here.