Marie Hyland

Daphne Ahrendt is a senior research manager in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound. She is the coordinator of the survey management and development activity. In 2020, she initiated Eurofound’s Living and Working in the EU e-survey and now leads the 2026 European Quality of Life Survey, which she has worked on since the survey started in 2003. With over 30 years of experience in international survey research, she is also a member of the GESIS Scientific Advisory Board. Beyond surveys, her substantive research focuses on social cohesion, trust and the inclusion of persons with disabilities. Daphne started her career at the National Centre for Social Research in London where she worked on the International Social Survey Programme before moving to the Eurobarometer Unit at the European Commission. She holds a Master's degree in Criminal Justice Policies from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from San Francisco State University.

Marianna Baggio is a research officer in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound, working on aspects of the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS), as well as on the topics of gender pay transparency and informal care. Prior to joining Eurofound, she served as a policy analyst at the Competence Centre for Behavioural Insights of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. She has worked as a postdoc at the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele (Milan) and the University of Trento. She also brings extensive experience from a previous role as corporate social responsibility (CSR) officer in South Africa. Marianna holds a PhD in Economics and Management from the University of Trento, specialising in behavioural economics.

Javier Bernier is an administrative assistant in the Social Policies unit. He joined Eurofound in March 2001, having previously worked in the private sector in Ireland and Spain.

Michele Consolini works as a research officer in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound. He provides quantitative expertise on several issues, including social cohesion and trust, climate change and quality of life, convergence and survey management. His current research looks at the role of polarisation on social cohesion and trust, and the socioeconomic challenges of the transition to a carbon-neutral economy. He holds a BA in Sociology and Economics from the Alma Mater Studiorum in Bologna, Italy, and from Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, Netherlands. He completed a Research MSc in Political Communication from the University of Amsterdam, where he also worked as a teaching assistant and researcher in the field of political psychology.

Hans Dubois is a senior research manager in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound. His research topics include housing, over-indebtedness, healthcare, long-term care, social benefits, retirement, and quality of life in the local area. Prior to joining Eurofound, he was Assistant Professor at Kozminski University (Warsaw). He completed a PhD in Business Administration and Management at Bocconi University (Milan), after working as a research officer at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (Madrid).

Karel Fric is a research officer in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound. His work involves survey research, data analysis and project management, with a particular focus on working and living conditions, equality and discrimination. He previously worked as a researcher at the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in Vienna, Austria, and at Panteia, a research and consulting organisation based in Zoetermeer, the Netherlands. Karel holds a PhD in Social Sciences from Erasmus University Rotterdam and a Master’s degree in Economics from Utrecht University.

Massimiliano Mascherini has been Head of the Social Policies unit at Eurofound since October 2019. He joined Eurofound in 2009 as a research manager, designing and coordinating projects on youth employment, NEETs and their social inclusion, as well as on the labour market participation of women. In 2017, he became a senior research manager in the Social Policies unit where he spearheaded new research on monitoring convergence in the EU. In addition to work on the European Quality of Life Survey, he also leads the preparation and analysis of the COVID-19 e-surveys. Previously, he was scientific officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. He studied at the University of Florence, where he majored in actuarial and statistical sciences and attained a PhD in Applied Statistics. He has been visiting fellow at the University of Sydney and at Aalborg University and visiting professor at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

Daniel Molinuevo is Senior Research Manager in the Social Policies unit, having joined Eurofound in 2010. His research on health and social care has focused on the quality and accessibility of services, their digital transformation and the working conditions of staff. His work has mainly focused on services for children, both at Eurofound and at UNICEF, where he worked in 2021 supporting the preparation of the European Child Guarantee. He is a member of the Young Ireland Advisory Council and the EU Working Group on early childhood education and care. He was also a member of the EU Working Group that contributed to the review of the European targets for participation in childcare that took place as part of the European Care Strategy. He studied sociology in Salamanca, Spain and at the Humboldt University in Berlin. He has an MA in European Political and Administrative Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges and an MSc in European Social Policy from the London School of Economics, where he also worked as a researcher.

Sanna Nivakoski is a research officer in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound. Before joining Eurofound in 2021, she worked as a post-doctoral researcher at University College Dublin's Geary Institute for Public Policy, the Economic and Social Research Institute in Dublin, and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She has worked in many research areas in microeconomics, including retirement income and wealth, pension saving, intergenerational transfers and the financial impact of widowhood. Sanna holds a PhD in Economics from Trinity College Dublin.

Eleonora Peruffo is a research officer in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound. She works on topics related to upward convergence and social cohesion in Europe. During 2021–2022, she provided data analysis for the European Working Conditions Telephone Survey (EWCTS). She joined Eurofound in 2014 and has worked on topics related to restructuring, employment and digitalisation. She holds an MA in Diplomatic Sciences and International Relations awarded by the University of Trieste and an MSc in Computer Science - Data Analytics from the National College of Ireland.

Eszter Sandor is a senior research manager in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound. She has extensive experience in survey management, including questionnaire design and scripting, data preparation (processing, cleaning, weighting), and statistical analysis using R. She manages Eurofound’s e-survey (Living and working in the EU) and contributes to the preparation and management of the European Quality of Life Survey. Her research focuses on the quality of life of young people and families, including subjective well-being, mental well-being and living conditions.
Before joining Eurofound, she worked as an economic consultant in Scotland, specialising in economic impact assessments, evaluations, and input-output analysis. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Budapest University of Economics and Business and a Master’s degree in Economics and International Relations from Corvinus University of Budapest.