KRISTINA KIRONSKA (柯蓉卡) is an Assistant Professor at the Palacky University in Olomouc, co-coordinating the EU-funded project "The EU in the volatile Indo-Pacific" (EUVIP). At the same time, she is also the Co-Director at the think-tank Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS), and a Board Member of the European Association of Taiwan Studies (EATS). She studied at the National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU) in Kaohsiung, and later lectured at University of Taipei and organized monthly public human rights talks at Amnesty International Taiwan. Her research focuses on East and Southeast Asia, international relations, and human rights.
ALFRED GERSTL is an Associate Professor at Palacky University Olomouc and head of the EU-funded projects “The EU in the volatile Indo-Pacific” (EUVIP) and “European-Southeast Asian relations: their current state and future prospect” (EUSEAR). Being an International Relations scholar, his research interests include traditional and non-traditional security in the Indo-Pacific, regional cooperation (ASEAN, AUKUS, Quad), hedging strategies, and infrastructure and connectivity collaboration (the Belt and Road and the Global Gateway Initiative). Alfred taught at various universities in Australia, Austria, Czechia, Germany, Japan, and Russia.
MARINA SVENSSON is Professor of Modern China and Director of the Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies at Lund University. She also leads the Centre’s PhD programme and the Swedish Graduate School in Asian Studies. Marina has secured grants from several Swedish funding agencies and has experience in leading interdisciplinary research projects. Her research explores human rights, digital media, civil society, youth culture, and academic freedom in China. In the EU-funded project EUVIP, she coordinates training for junior scholars and provides specialized expertise on China.
FRIEDRICH EDELMAYER is a Professor at the Department of History at the University of Vienna. His research focuses on Global History and Insular Studies. Additionally, he is a member of the consortium of the Erasmus Mundus program: Global Studies (EMGS, funded by the European Union). His research interests include the impacts of the globalization process on society and the environment, the relations between the Philippines and the Americas in the era of Spanish Colonialism, and Taiwan’s indigenous population. In the Indo-Pacific region, he is interested in the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking societies as well as in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Australia.
ROSALIE CHEN is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Dominican University of California. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on ideology in East Asian contexts, national identity in cross-strait relations, and the role of culture-specific emotions in international conflict. Previously, she taught at Colgate University and earned her Ph.D. from National Taiwan University.
ELIZABETH ALLYN WOOCK is an Assistant Professor at Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic, in the Department of English and American Studies. As a researcher, illustrator, and public science communicator, she combines her training in the arts with the fields of cultural analysis, narratology, and history to explore new directions in the study of popular media. In addition to teaching and experimenting with arts-based research methodologies, she organizes interdisciplinary and international opportunities for collaboration and seeks to build bridges across specializations.
PETR JANDA currently holds a position of an assistant professor at the Palacký University Olomouc. Graduated from Charles University with an MA thesis on oral literature of the Tsou group in Taiwan’s Alishan region. Afterwards continued with Palacký University with a PhD research on modernization processes in indigenous communities in Taidong County. His main research interests are Taiwanese Austronesian peoples, in particular modernity and interactions between various ethnic groups. Besides research in social sciences Petr Janda also engages in translation of Taiwanese literary works, such as e.g. Liao Hongji, Walis Nokan, etc.
SUSANNE WEIGELIN-SCHWIEDRZIK is a Sinologist specializing in contemporary Chinese history and politics. She served as Professor of Sinology at the University of Vienna until her retirement in 2020, now continuing in teaching activities. She currently holds the position of Vice-President of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW). Her academic work focuses on Chinese historiography, international relations, and China's role in the global order. Throughout her career, she has held various academic and leadership roles, including Vice-Rector at Heidelberg University and the University of Vienna, and contributed significantly to Sinological research and scholarship internationally.
JULIE YU-WEN CHEN is Professor of Chinese Studies and Asian Studies Coordinator at the University of Helsinki. She is an editor for the Journal of Chinese Political Science and a board member of the Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS). Chen leads research in the EU-funded project "The EU in the Volatile Indo-Pacific Region" (EUVIP) and the Mercator Stiftung-sponsored project "Order in the Indo-Pacific." Previously, she held positions at universities in the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Ireland, and Taiwan, and was Editor-in-Chief of Asian Ethnicity and chair of the Nordic Association of China Studies (NACS).
TEREZA MOTALOVÁ works as a research data methodologist at the Research Support and Policy Office and as a research data manager within Horizon Europe projects at Palacký University Olomouc. Tereza is responsible for good and effective practice in research data management throughout the whole research life cycle. In addition, she also manages open access publishing strategy and other open science practices.
DAVID BROUL is a doctoral student at the Department of Politics and European Studies, Palacký University Olomouc. His research focuses on the internal functioning of the European Union and its external relations with third countries. He is a researcher in the EUVIP project (The EU in the Volatile Indo-Pacific).
RENATA WESTLAKE is a graduate of Chinese philology at the Department of Asian Studies at Palacky University. She is currently enrolled at the doctorate program where she focus on political discourse, media, and soft power. She takes an interest in China’s image abroad and the discourse of political figures on various issues related to China.