Ania SKRZYPEK, (Skrzypek-Claassens), PhD, is Director for Research and Training at FEPS. She obtained her Ph.D. cum laude in political sciences from the University of Warsaw, her thesis ‘Cooperation of the socialist and social democratic parties in uniting Europe. From Liaison Bureau to PES. 1957 – 2007‘. (also published in book format in 2010).

Before joining FEPS in 2009, A. Skrzypek worked as a PhD researcher and taught at the Faculty of Journalism and Political Sciences at the University of Warsaw (2003 – 2009). In parallel, she served as twice consecutively elected Secretary General of Young European Socialists (ECOSY, 2005-2009).  She was a a co-founder of the united youth organisation FMS (in 2001) and was a co-host of the TV studio of SLD-Unia Pracy 2004 European election campaign.

She is an author of over 100 published pamphlets, papers and articles, available in English, German, French, Spanish, Bulgarian, and Polish. She is an academic reviewer for “Przeglad Europejski” of Warsaw University and regularly appears on the radio (TOK FM) as the expert on EU affairs. She is also a member of the High-Level Advisory Board on international affairs for Nowa Lewica in Poland, which committee is chaired by Aleksander Kwasniewski, former President of Poland.

Within FEPS, her prior responsibilities include the Next Left Research Programme (together with the Oxford Symposia); the subthemes connected with Political Union (transnational politics) and democracy; alongside with the FEPS Training Pillar (newly founded OPU, and the well-established FEPS Young Academics Network, Ones to Watch, Autumn Academy). She leads FEPS European Progressive Observatory; and is a co-editor of the Progressive Yearbook and FEPS Primer Series. She represents FEPS at the PES Coordination Team and is in charge of the quarterly meetings between FEPS and S&D Group colleagues.

As a Director, she also supports the work of the respective FEPS colleagues: on defending and deepening democracy; in the international field (regarding Ukraine, Russia, Middle East, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand), on migration: on enlargement, neighbourhood policies and Western Balkans; and also in the dimension of gender equality portfolio that concerns questions of political participation.