Catalina is a PhD candidate in European Studies and International Relations at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), focusing on the role of national and international actors in conflict resolution. Since 2018, Catalina has been researching issues related to migration, civil society and good governance, founding together with Andra-Lucia Martinescu, The Diaspora Initiative (TDI), a non-profit and independent research project (recently registered in Luxembourg). Previously, Catalina led the Survey of International Organisations,  at the American College Program. From 2012-2014 she was research coordinator at the Luxembourg Institute for European and International Studies, overseeing the implementation of international projects and organizing high-level academic conferences. Catalina maintained close liaison with the Permanent Representation of the European Commission in Luxembourg as well as with other diplomatic missions. In 2011 she was awarded a Government Excellence Scholarship by the Swiss Federal Government. Catalina is  UN Network on Migration’s Migration Network Hub and EUDiF (EU Global Diaspora Facility) affiliated expert, and since last year, she has been coordinating humanitarian operations for a consortium of civil organisations in the UK.