dr Maciej Grześkowiak

Current scientific affiliation

European University Institute, Ghent University

Scientific biography and professional experience related to the Center’s activities

Maciej Grześkowiak is a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute and an incoming FWO Fellow at the Migration Law Research Group of Ghent University. He is also a Research Affiliate at the Refugee Law Initiative at the University of London.

Maciej holds a PhD from the University of Warsaw, awarded for the dissertation “The Gap Between the Principle of Temporary Refuge and Asylum: How the International Refugee Regime Perpetuates Emergencies.” The dissertation combines doctrinal research with the results of empirical fieldwork conducted in Lebanon and Uganda. In addition to work engaging with international refugee law, Maciej’s publication record includes research on the EU’s, Poland’s, and Uganda’s refugee protection frameworks. Maciej is the recipient of several grants and awards, including the PRELUDIUM grant awarded by the National Science Centre, Poland, and the START scholarship for outstanding early-career scholars awarded by the Foundation for Polish Science.

Maciej’s professional background also includes several years of humanitarian and human rights work. He spent over two years in the Lebanese–Syrian borderlands implementing humanitarian programmes with the Polish Centre for International Aid. Upon returning to Poland, he worked at the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights and, from 2022 to 2025, served as Chief Coordinator at the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights (Polish Ombudsman). In this capacity, he was closely involved in responding to the Polish–Belarusian border crisis and the situation of refugees from Ukraine. He is now an external advisor to the Commissioner on migrants’ rights and international human rights protection systems.