Manon Osseweijer studied Cultural Anthropology (with a research focus on Indonesia) at Leiden University.  Her doctoral research concerned the management of coastal resources in the Aru Islands (Moluccas), which she carried out at the Centre of Environmental Science, resulting in a PhD at Leiden University in 2001. After a post-doc research project at the KITLV, she held functions of Coordinator of Academic Affairs and Deputy Director at the International Institute for Asian Studies (Leiden University), Head of Research Support Office at the School of Economics and Management, and Head of the department Strategy and Policy  (Tilburg University).