Can you tell us a little bit about your background and what brought you to UEA?
Having studied in England as a postgraduate student, I first moved to Scotland as a lecturer. While having a great time in the North, I also hoped to return to England one day, so I looked for a position in a good university, making the move meaningful professionally. The UEA and the East of England ticked all the right boxes, so I have now been here for close to a decade!
What are you passionate about outside of economics?
The outdoors, skiing, gardening, friends and family of course.
What inspired you to pursue a career in economics?
I grew up in a command economy and experienced the major upheavals of the economic system after 1989 in Europe. That, along with a passion for academic rigour and the formal framework of economics got me hooked to the subject.
What excites you the most about economics at the moment?
The insights it can provide into everyday issues and developments, and the growing availability of data towards empirical exploration of topical questions in our economies and societies.
What modules do you teach on?
European economy, for its variety and insights. Labour economics, for its relevance to areas of my research interest, from migration to inequality, and its ability to inform the discussion on gender differences in the labour market and beyond. Econometrics, which allows you to officially play on the computer and is just fun.
What are you researching at the moment?
At the moment i’m researching the way in which refugee flows are interacting with economic decisions. It is challenging the dichotomy of refugees versus economic migrants and questions notions of what might be viewed as more or less ‘admissible migrants’.
Have you ever worked with organisations outside of academia in your research/work?
As part of the Migration Research Network which I have convened at the UEA we are in an ongoing dialogue with community partners. I have also worked with the Romanian Embassy in the past and represented Romania as honorary consul in Scotland. I worked in the beginning of my career for a regional economic development agency, as well as being an intern of the European Commission looking into employment questions in other community policies. In all these cases, my academic and personal background informed my work, and most importantly, these experiences grounded my research interests in real issues faced by individuals and the society alike.
What do you enjoy most about the School of Economics at UEA?
The friendly atmosphere and the possibility to challenge and be challenged by young minds around us.
What are you reading at the moment?
‘Sharing the Work: What My Family and Career Taught Me about Breaking Through (and Holding the Door Open for Others)’ by Myra Strober and John Donahoe and ‘A thousand splendind suns’, by Khaled Hosseini
What is your favourite place in Norwich?
Shiki, the sushi restaurant, by The Cathedral – which I also love.