Olga Burlyuk is Assistant Professor of Europe’s external relations at the Department of Political Science (PETGOV research programme) and an affiliate of the Amsterdam Center for European Studies (ACES), the Amsterdam Research Centre for Migration (ARC-M) and the Amsterdam Centre for Conflict Studies (ACCS). She teaches courses in BSc and MSc minors “European Politics and External Relations” (EPER).  Prior to joining the University of Amsterdam, Olga was a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) at Ghent University (BE) and worked as a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Kent (UK) and the College of Europe (campus Bruges). In 2019, she spent a semester at Harvard University (USA) as a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard’s Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI). In 2017, she taught in the University Immersion Programme at the Sichuan University (China).

Olga holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of Kent (UK), an MA in European Studies from the University of Maastricht (NL), and Master and Bachelor in Law degrees from the National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” (UA).

Expertise and research fields

•    International relations 
•    European (Union) politics and external relations 
•    Eastern Europe, post-soviet states, Ukraine
•    Politics of knowledge production 
•    Academic mobility and precarity

Administrative roles

•    Minor coordinator – BSc in Political Science minor “European Politics and Global Change” 
•    Track coordinator – MSc in Political Science track “European Politics and External Relations” 

Olga does research on Europe’s external relations with a focus on EU efforts to transform third states and societies through the promotion of democracy, the rule of law and human rights, trade, development cooperation and cultural interactions. While her work is rooted in IR and European studies, it is also situated within development studies, legal studies, cultural policy studies and area studies – Eastern Europe, post-Soviet states and specifically Ukraine and Russia being the geographic area of her interest and expertise. 

Latest projects

•    Special Forum “The Responsibility to Remain Silent? On the Politics of Knowledge Production, Expertise and (Self-)Reflection in Russia’s War against Ukraine” (co-editor with Vjosa Musliu, Journal of International Relations and Development 2023)
•    Global Digital Cultures project “Data Publics and the Information Front: An Analysis of Open Source Cultures Investigating Russia’s War on Ukraine” (research collaborator with Lonneke van der Velden, Guillén Torres Sepulveda and Johana Kotišová, 2022-2024)
•    Special Issue and edited book “Unintended Consequences of EU External Action” (co-editor with Gergana Noutcheva, The International Spectator 2019  and Routledge 2020 
•    Edited book “Civil  Society in Post-Euromaidan Ukraine” (co-editor with Natalia Shapovalova, Columbia University Press/Ibidem Verlag 2019) 
•    Special Issue “Civil Society in Post-Euromaidan Ukraine” (co-editor with Natalia Shapovalova and Kateryna Zarembo, Kyiv-Mohyla Law and Politics Journal 2017)

She has published articles in leading journals in her field and contributed to numerous edited volumes. See “Publications” tab below. 

Olga’s work on migration, internationalization and coloniality in/of knowledge in academia constitutes an additional research cluster. Following the publication of her autoethnographic essay “Fending off a triple inferiority complex in academia” (Journal of Narrative Politics 2019), she has co-edited a book “Migrant Academics’ Narratives of Precarity and Resilience in Europe” (with Ladan Rahbari, Open Book Publishers 2023) and is currently working on the follow-up volume. 

Olga is also writing an (auto)ethnographic book on motherhood, featuring 30+ anonymous first-hand accounts by highly-educated working immigrant mothers in Europe alongside her own narrative.

Current PhD supervision

Olga Burlyuk is currently a co-supervisor on two PhD projects: 

•    Leevi Saari – “EU AI regulation and Transatlantic standard setting” – co-supervisor with Prof. Daniel Mügge within the REGULAITE Project (UvA)
•    Louise Amoris – “The agency of the shared neighbourhood in-between Russia and the EU” – co-supervisor with Dr. Fabienne Bossuyt (Ghent University) and Dr. Laure Delcour (Sorbonne Nouvelle)

Completed PhD projects

She has co-supervised to completion two PhD projects: 

•    Domenico Valenza – “Foreign policy onstage. Identities and affect in Russian and EU cultural diplomacy in Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus” – co-supervisor with Dr. Fabienne Bossuyt at Ghent University (defended in October 2023) 
•    Marjolein Derous – “European performance revisited: EU external policy ‘making’ in Singapore, Malaysia and Laos” – co-supervisor with Prof. Jan Orbie at Ghent University (defended in September 2019)

Doctoral Advisory Committee and Examination Board

Olga also serves / has served as a member of the Doctoral Advisory Committee and Examination Board for the following PhD projects: 

•    Serafine Dinkel – “The impact of autocratic third powers in the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership on EU democratic conditionality” – a GEM-DIAMONDS project at Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Warwick University and University of Amsterdam (ongoing) 
•    Laura Luciani – “Decentring EU human rights promotion. Three civil society struggles and the geo-politics of the EU’s interventions in the South Caucasus” – Ghent University (defended in November 2022)  
•    Dmytro Panchuk – “EU transgovernmental cooperation through Twinning in the Eastern Neighbourhood: Democratic substance, role of Member States, and effectiveness” – Ghent University (defended in January 2017) 
•    Bruno Vandecasteele – “The Influence of the Rotating Council Presidency on the European Union’s External Policies: An Analysis of the Hungarian, Polish and Lithuanian Council Presidencies in 2011 and 2013 and Their Influence on the EU’s Policies towards the Eastern Partnership Countries” – Ghent University (defended in May 2015)

Olga is the coordinator of the BSc in Political Science minor “European Politics and Global Change” and the MSc in Political Science track “European Politics and External Relations”.

Together with Dr. Dimitris Bouris (as Chairholder), Olga (as Senior Researcher) works on the ATHENA Jean Monnet Chair on the EU’s role as a global actor. ATHENA addresses the subject through interdisciplinary policy and research-based activities and courses that complement teaching, research and dissemination activities. Some of the best theses, research papers and policy work by students are published on ATHENA website.

Current teaching

At the University of Amsterdam, Olga teaches elective courses in BSc and MSc minors “European Politics and External Relations” (EPER):

• Introduction to European Politics and External Relations (BSc)
• The EU and the politics of Central and Eastern Europe (BSc)
• The EU and post-Soviet space (MSc)
• Cultural diplomacy in Europe and beyond (MSc)

Previous teaching courses

She has previously taught the following courses and seminars at other universities:

• EU Politics and Governance (MA, University of Kent)
• Foreign Policy Analysis (MA, University of Kent)
• EU Cultural Diplomacy (MA, the College of Europe)
• European Union’s Neighbourhood Policies (MA/BA, Ghent University)
• MOOC: Russia between East and West (MA/BA, Ghent University)
• EU Migration Policy (MA, Ghent University)
• The EU and Brexit (MA, Ghent University)
• The EU and the Ukraine crisis (MA, Ghent University)
• Research seminar in EU studies (MA, Ghent University)
• Master thesis workshop (Ghent University)
• European Union Neighbourhood Policy (BA, Sichuan University)
• European Union in the World (MA, University of Kent)
• Fundamentals, Dissertation and Research (MA, University of Kent)