Laura Vansina joined the Institute for European Studies as a PhD researcher in 2019. In the context of the Eutopia alliance, she carries out her research both at the IES and the University of Warwick. Her main research interests include memory and identity politics, the post-Soviet sphere and foreign policy. In her PhD project, she seeks to study the interaction of mnemonic politics, identity formation and foreign policy in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Her profound interest for Eastern Europe and Central Asia was sparked by her internship at the Security Policy Division of the FPS Foreign Affairs in 2015.

Laura completed her MA in History summa cum laude at the KU Leuven in 2018, focusing on contemporary history and Eastern Europe. She then proceeded to expand her horizons by completing an additional MSc cum laude in 2019, this time in Policy Economics.