Meet our team
David Janků
Founder and Project Manager
david.janku@effectivethesis.org David founded and manages Effective Thesis. He has a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Masaryk University, MSc in Organizational Psychology from the University of Leeds and works toward PhD in Sociology of Science at Charles University in Prague. He also works in the Czech Science Foundation in the development and analyses team, collaborated on a couple of academic research projects and helps organising international research symposium on academic inequalities and epistemic gaps in science funding.
Diwangna Kathuria
Marketing and Communications Director
diwangna.kathuria@effectivethesis.org Diwangna is the Marketing and Communications Director at Effective Thesis. She has a degree in Information Science Engineering and experience working across tech, travel and education brands. Previously, she has worked in International Education as a Marketing Advisor for Masters and PhD programs, particularly in STEM.
Sophie Kirkham
Content Manager
sophie.kirkham@effectivethesis.org Sophie is the content manager for Effective Thesis. They have a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Oxford and are currently studying a master’s in psychotherapy. Previously they worked in operations for an education startup and as a freelance editor.
Our Coaches
Apply for our coaching and the coach who is the best fit for you will support you in your journey towards an impactful research career.
Vorathep (Dev) Sachdev
Head of Coaching
Dev leads the management of the coaching services at Effective Thesis. He aims to ensure that the coaching services are helpful, nurturing and constructive for all students. Dev is currently a PhD Candidate (One Health Models of Disease) at the University of Edinburgh and is interested in global health and poverty, especially with a focus towards the global south. They also run a small startup providing coaching for undergraduate and graduate university applications and careers coaching (edDEVCoach) and spend their free time as a football/soccer coach.
Luisa Teixeira
Coach
Luisa Teixeira is supporting the coaching services at Effective Thesis, mostly by having interesting conversations with students! She identifies deeply with doing research for good and is eager to share knowledge and skillset on research, as well as her expertise and professional experience on environment, conservation, and technology.
Carmen Medina
Coach
Carmen has always had a deep passion for the art of interpersonal connections, as well as for creating a positive impact on the world. Being a coach at Effective Thesis allows her to combine exactly those two missions. She is excited to bring her best tools to her coaching, drawn from her education as a licensed psychomotor therapist and her work experience as a workshop facilitator, community builder, and volunteer researcher (in global mental health). In her free time, you might find her wrapped in aerial silks, writing dance reviews, or reading half-obscure contemporary novels.
Ruben Dieleman
Coach and Community Manager
Ruben Dieleman (NL/Swe) is an EA enthusiast with a background in political sciences. He loves to employ his knowledge and experience for good, helping students determine their professional and academic paths as a coach. He is also a community manager on the Effective Thesis community platform.
Silvana Hultsch
Advisor and Community Manager
Silvana led and developed the coaching services at Effective Thesis in the past and now supports the team in an advisory role as well as being a community manager on the ET community platform. She has a background in Philosophy, Economics and Management and currently studies a master's in Practical Philosophy at Stockholm University, with a focus on Global Priorities Research.
Opportunities Search Team
Adéla Novotná
Adéla helps with sharing relevant job opportunities to Effective Thesis student’s community. She has a background in Psychology and focuses mainly on Research in Social Psychology. She was one of the first students coached by Effective Thesis and wrote her Bachelor's thesis on the Influence of animal advocacy movies on meat consumption.
Theo Knopfer
Theo has a background in English Studies (history, literature and linguistics of the English world) and wrote his Master’s thesis on Anglo-European defence integration during the Cold War. His current research focus is on European policy in biodefence and military AI. He is also a volunteer at EA France and is currently managing its newsletter and organising introductory lectures on military AI.
Vivek Verma
Vivek is studying an Msc. Informatics at the University of Delhi and previously studied a Bsc. in Electronic Science. He began working on Machine Learning projects during his undergrad and is currently focused on learning software engineering and Machine Learning engineering. He is also exploring AI safety. Vivek is participant on the AGISF programme run by EA Cambridge.
Our Expert Network
We’ll connect you to researchers from our network of over 100 experts, who can help you find the most important open questions in your field.
Philip Trammel
Philip Trammel is a research affiliate at the Global Priorities Institute at Oxford University. He advises students on applications of economic theory to global priorities research.
Cassidy Nelson
Cassidy Nelson is Co-Lead of the Biosecurity Research Group at the Future of Humanity Institute. She advises students on health security, biosecurity and pandemic prevention.
Vanessa Kosoy
Vanessa is a research associate at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute. She advises students in mathematics, computer science and other quantitative degrees interested in human aligned artificial intelligence research.
David Denkenberger
David Denkenberger co-founded and directs the Alliance to Feed the Earth in Disasters (ALLFED). He has 65 peer-reviewed publications and is the third most prolific author in the field of existential and global catastrophic risk.
Maxime Stauffer
Maxime is a co-founder and chief executive officer of the Simon Institute for Longterm Governance. Max advises students in political science, behavioural sciences, mathematics and physics interested in improving political decision making.
Parendi Birdie
Parendi Birdie is the R&D Project Manager at Mission Barns. She advises students who are interested in both technical and non-technical areas of the field of cellular agriculture.
David Moss
David is the Principal Research Manager at Rethink Priorities and a research fellow at Canterbury Christ Church University. David advises students interested in moral psychology and empirical social science.
All others
There are many other researchers and collaborators for whose support we are very grateful.