COSMIN GABRIEL MARIAN - Department Director
Full Professor
Cosmin Gabriel Marian is a professor at the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. He specializes in comparative politics, research methods, and data modeling in the social sciences. His research over the past decade positions him as an academic particularly interested in the study of the effects of political rules. His approach is grounded in theories and methods from the fields of comparative politics and formal political rules, with applications in institutional design. He is the author and co-author of a series of articles published in journals such as Electoral Studies, East European Politics and Societies, Communist and Post-Communist Studies, International Journal of the Commons, European Political Science, Journal of Politics and Law. Some of his recent work explores a specific dilemma in the governance of common property known as the “anticommons.”
GABRIEL BĂDESCU
Full Professor
Gabriel Bădescu is a professor of political science, director of the Center for the Study of Democracy, and head of the Doctoral School in Political and Communication Sciences at Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania. He has been a recipient of a Fulbright Research Fellowship, an International Fellowship from the Open Society Institute, and a UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report Fellowship. His research interests include democratic transitions, civil society, educational policy, inequalities, and research methodology. He served as President of the Romanian Government’s Agency for Government Strategies (2009–2010), was a member of the National Council for Higher Education Statistics and Forecasting (2016–2018), and is currently a member of the Romanian National Research Council.
LEVENTE SALAT
Profesor Universitar
Levente Salat is an associate professor specializing in normative political philosophy, with a focus on: the political consequences of diversity, multiculturalism, ethnopolitics, intercultural communication, interethnic relations, and Romanian–Hungarian relations. He has authored four books and edited or co-edited 15 collective volumes published in Romanian, English, and Hungarian. Since 2013, he has been an external member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
RADU IOANID
Associate Professor
Radu Ioanid is the Ambassador of Romania to Israel. Previously, he served as Director of the International Archival Programs Division at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. He is the author of several books on the history of Romania and the Holocaust, including The Holocaust in Romania and The Ransom of the Jews: The Story of the Extraordinary Secret Bargain Between Romania and Israel. He holds a PhD in Philosophy from Babeș-Bolyai University and a PhD in History from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, France. Between 2003 and 2004, he was Vice-Chairman of the International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania, led by Elie Wiesel. In 2006, he was awarded the Order of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture.
Zoltán Bretter
Associate Professor
Zoltán Bretter was born on January 6, 1958, in Cluj-Napoca. He attended school there (currently Báthory István High School) and studied philosophy and history at Babeș-Bolyai University for three years. He edited the Hungarian-language section of a trilingual avant-garde student magazine, led a literary circle, and took part in Cluj’s intellectual life in the late 1970s. In 1982, he emigrated to Hungary and completed his studies in Philosophy (1984) and Sociology (1987) at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. He established connections with the emerging democratic opposition. His dissertation on the legal regulation of private life and “moral legislation” was published by Kalligram in 2004 under the title Politics at the Limits. He has taught political philosophy, policy theory, and public policy at the University of Pécs since 1987. From 1990 to 1998, he was a Member of the Hungarian National Assembly during the post-communist transition. Between 2008–2012, he served as Director of the Hungarian Institute in Bucharest. He is currently working on a collection of essays exploring the parallels between Romanian and Hungarian intellectual history.
JEFFREY SOMMERS
Visiting Professor
Jeffrey Sommers is a professor of political economy and public policy at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM). He is also a Senior Fellow at UWM’s Institute of World Affairs. He has received multiple Fulbright Fellowships from the U.S. Department of State for work in Eastern Europe. In addition, he has served as a guest expert for new U.S. ambassadors accredited by the State Department in Washington, D.C. He has worked with investors, ministerial and government leaders, including at the prime minister level. In addition to his academic work, he has published in outlets such as the Financial Times, The New York Times, Project Syndicate, The Guardian, The Nation, Social Europe, and others.
EMIL BOC
Associate Professor
Emil Boc is a founding member of the Faculty of Political, Administrative, and Communication Sciences. He holds degrees in Law and Philosophy from Babeș-Bolyai University, a PhD in Philosophy, and an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Michigan State University, East Lansing. His academic interests and published works focus on constitutional law and political institutions, comparative constitutional law, good governance, and local governance. He teaches courses on the Romanian Political System, Constitutional Law and Political Institutions (undergraduate level), and Electoral and Legislative Procedures in Romania (master’s level). Emil Boc served as Prime Minister of Romania (2008–2012), Mayor of Cluj-Napoca (2004–2008, and again since 2012), Member of the Romanian Parliament (2000–2004), and President of the Democratic Liberal Party (2005–2012). He is currently the Mayor of Cluj-Napoca.
PETRUȚA TEAMPĂU
Lecturer
Petruța is a lecturer at FSPAC since 2009. She holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology (2008), and currently teaches courses in political anthropology, qualitative methodology, and political sociology. Her research interests include: collective memory and urban narratives, formal and informal education in Romania, body and gender discourses, women’s citizenship in communist Romania, and women and labor.
BOGDAN RADU
Lecturer
Bogdan Radu is the coordinator of the Master’s program in International Development. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine, and a master’s degree in European Politics from the University of Manchester. His research interests center on political culture in post-communist countries, the role of public opinion in international relations, and the role of religion in emerging democracies. He has been the principal investigator for multiple national research projects focused on democratization and the formation of democratic values among youth.
CYNTHIA CARMEN DEACONESCU
Lecturer
Her main areas of academic interest and published work fall within constitutional law, political institutions, public rights and liberties, and public integrity. She currently teaches courses such as Romanian Political System, Public Rights and Liberties in Romania, Constitutional System and Political Institutions, and Public Integrity: The Constitutional Regime of Incompatibilities and Conflicts of Interest, both in Romanian and English. In addition to her academic work, she is a fully qualified lawyer at the Cluj Bar Association. In recent years, she has held public office in central administration, including positions such as Subprefect, State Counselor, Consul General, President of the National Integrity Council, and Government Inspector.
GEORGE JIGLĂU
Lecturer
George Jiglău is a lecturer with a PhD in Political Science (2013) from Babeș-Bolyai University. He holds a BA in Political Science from UBB Cluj (2006), an MA in Political Science from CEU Budapest (2007), and an MA in Communication and Multicultural Studies from UBB (2009). He has authored and edited several volumes and articles in Romanian and international journals on topics such as elections and electoral systems, political parties and party systems, interethnic relations, and the European Union and Europeanization processes. He contributes to outlets like Adevărul and Contributors.ro and frequently appears in local and national media.
IRINA ANA KANTOR
Lecturer
Irina Ana Kantor has been a lecturer in the Department of Political Science since 1996. She earned her PhD in Philosophy in 2000, specializing in modern and contemporary political philosophy. Within the department, she teaches courses in political philosophy, democratic theory and ideologies, transition and democratization in Central and Eastern Europe, human rights, and discourse analysis—at both undergraduate and graduate levels. She coordinates the Master’s program in Political Organization Management. As a Fulbright Scholar in 2009, she conducted comparative research on political representation and participation of minorities in Romania and the United States. In 2013, as a research fellow with Foundation Research Eastern Europe in the Netherlands, her focus was on the development of citizenship institutions in modern Romania. Her most recent research examines democratic governance and human rights in the context of the refugee and migration crisis in Europe.
DANIEL POP
Lecturer
Daniel is a lecturer at FSPAC, Babeș-Bolyai University. Previously, he worked as a Public Policy Expert at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, educational advisor with the Open Society Foundations, and President of the Center for Public Policies in Romania. He earned a BA in Political Science from UBB, a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Denver’s Graduate School of International Studies, and a PhD in Political Science from Central European University. His research and publications focus on regulatory governance, welfare markets, and policy analysis.
KINGA-KORETTA SATA
Lecturer
Kinga-Koretta Sata’s research interests include the history of political thought—particularly in 19th-century Central and Eastern Europe—modern and contemporary political theory, and democratic theory.
ZOLTÁN PÁLFY
Lecturer
His research interests include the modern political history of Central Europe, the historical sociology of higher education, negotiation techniques, nationalism, and the history of ethnic minorities.
TOMA BUREAN
Lecturer
Toma Burean earned his PhD in 2014 from the Graduate School for Social Research at the Polish Academy of Sciences. He holds a Master’s in Political Science from Central European University, Budapest. His main research interests include political representation, political behavior, youth political attitudes, and migration.
BORBÁLA KOVÁCS
Lecturer
Borbála is a lecturer in the Department of Political Science. She teaches Public Policy, Academic Writing, and Introduction to Research Methods. Before joining UBB, she was a postdoctoral researcher at Aarhus University (Denmark, 2018–2022) and taught at Central European University (Hungary, 2013–2018). She earned her PhD in Social Policy from the University of Oxford (UK) in 2013. Her research focuses on early childhood care, post-socialist family policies, informal social services, welfare regimes, post-socialist tax systems, and, more recently, trust and street-level bureaucracy in a comparative context. She has published in journals like Journal of European Social Policy, Social Policy and Society, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, and European Societies. Her monograph, Family Policy and the Organisation of Childcare, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2018.
SORANA CONSTANTINESCU
Lecturer
Sorana teaches in the Political Science Department and the Social Data Science program. Since 2020, she holds a PhD in Sociology with the dissertation titled An Oppression of Their Own. Empirical Evidence on Internalized Misogyny, and Its Connection to Homophobia and Racism. Her research interests include gender studies, education, and media studies.
ANCA SINEA
Lecturer
Anca Sinea holds a PhD and is a researcher at the Center for International Studies, where she studies Romania’s regional role in European energy policy. She holds dual Bachelor’s degrees in International Relations (SNSPA, Bucharest) and Political Science (Université Paris X), and a Master’s in International Relations from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna and the University of Vienna. Her areas of interest include resource policies, energy diplomacy, diplomatic protocol, and geopolitics.
Andreea Vornicu
Associate Professor
Andreea Vornicu holds a PhD in Political Science and International Development. She combines academic interest in sustainable development with applied research in energy poverty. In recent years, she has participated in numerous research and policy projects, conducting fieldwork across various regions and gaining expertise in policy development. Her recent interests include carbon pricing mechanisms, just transition processes, and their impact on vulnerable households.
DANIELA ANGI
Researcher III
Daniela Angi is a researcher in the Department of Political Science at FSPAC and a member of the Center for the Study of Democracy. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology – Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw. Daniela is involved in various research projects centered on democratic citizenship, social capital, and civil society. Her additional research interests include civic education, educational inequality, and the social dynamics shaped by migration.
FLORIN FEȘNIC
Researcher III
Florin Feșnic is a researcher at the Center for the Study of Democracy within the Department of Political Science at UBB Cluj. His research interests include civic education, democratization, institutional design, political sociology, electoral behavior, political parties and party systems, the political consequences of modernization, political paradoxes, and scientometrics.
OVIDIU OLTEAN
Teaching Assistant
Ovidiu Oltean holds a PhD in Sociology, with a dissertation on migration, ethnic identity, and social change in Romania, obtained from Babeș-Bolyai University in 2021. His research focuses on migration, identity shifts, inclusion and integration policies, transnational political participation, and economic transformation. He teaches seminars and courses on participatory citizenship, inequality and human development, introduction to research methods, political sociology, and electoral behavior.
MELANIA LEȘE
PhD Candidate
Melania Leșe is an associate lecturer in the Department of Political Science at Babeș-Bolyai University, holding degrees in Law and Political Science. She is the Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Democracy and participates in several of its research projects. Her research interests include civil society, civic rights and freedoms, energy poverty, and just transition. With extensive experience in entrepreneurship and master’s degrees in international business and business law, Melania is passionate about shaping fair public policies that improve political systems and facilitate just transitions in key societal domains.
ALEX IVAN
PhD Candidate
He is a first-year PhD candidate at the Doctoral School of Political and Communication Sciences at Babeș-Bolyai University. He holds a BA in Political Science and an MA in International Development from the Faculty of Political, Administrative, and Communication Sciences. His research focuses on political participation, innovative democratic policies, civic engagement, and participatory budgeting. His interests also include gender studies, extremism, and far-right radicalization.
MARIA OLARIU
PhD Candidate
Maria Olariu is a PhD candidate in Political Science at Babeș-Bolyai University. She holds a BA in Communication from the West University of Timișoara and an MA in Research Design and Data Analysis from FSPAC. With solid expertise in qualitative research, Maria works as a research assistant in the Department of Political Science, contributing to projects on energy poverty, social equity, migration, healthcare, discrimination, and public communication. She also manages content creation for the website and social media of the Center for the Study of Democracy.
Fernando Varga
PhD Candidate
Fernando Varga is a doctoral candidate at the Doctoral School of Sociology at Babeș-Bolyai University. He earned his BA in Political Science in 2019 and his MA in Research Design and Data Analysis in 2021. His PhD research focuses on the pathways of Roma students in Romania as they enter and complete higher education. His main interests include children’s rights, racial equality, ethnopolitics, Roma community integration, access to education for Roma youth, poverty alleviation, and combating prejudice and discrimination.
Claudiu Vasilei
PhD Candidate
Claudiu is a PhD candidate with two years of experience in research and data analysis. He currently works as a research assistant within the Takepart project. A graduate in Political Science, with a master’s degree in European Affairs and Project Management, he is currently pursuing his doctoral studies at the Doctoral School of Political and Communication Sciences. His dissertation focuses primarily on social movements in digital environments.
