Maarten van Melis started his position as a research assistant at the Center for International Relations in February 2025. Previously, he worked in a similar function at the Research Center for Societal Cohesion in Frankfurt am Main.

Maarten graduated in Political Science and Sociology from Goethe University Frankfurt and is currently enrolled in the Master's program in Political Science at the Free University of Berlin.

His academic interests lie in International Relations and political extremism, specifically focussing on foreign policy strategies of populist and extremist actors, as well as their impact on international organisations.

At the center of international Relations, Marten mainly supports a research project on exits from regional organisations.

Maarten van Melis (2024): Geostrategische Sandkastenspiele im Vorfeld der AfD: Europabilder von rechts. DISS-Journal Nr. 48, November 2024, pp. 16–20.