Maria Rast obtained the title Master of Law (summa cum laude) from the University of Bern, Switzerland, in 2014 and Master of Science (cum laude) in Sociology from VU Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 2017. From 2015-2017, she worked as a student fellow and student assistant at the Department of Sociology and as coordinator of the Migration and Diversity Centre at VU Amsterdam. During this time, she conducted research on community initiatives for and with refugees in Amsterdam.
Since January 2018, she has been working as a PhD candidate for the Engaged Scholarship and Narratives of Change research project and as lecturer at the Department of Sociology of VU Amsterdam. Her research is affiliated with the Refugee Academy and focuses on challenges and opportunities for promoting refugees’ social inclusion through engaged scholarship. In addition to her research activities, she also has teaching obligations within the Sociology bachelor and master.
‘My personal and professional ambition within the Refugee Academy is to promote refugees’ inclusion in Dutch society and to increase the impact scholars have on such endeavours.’
