Contact and Meet the team

During her International Business study Bianca had the chance to study abroad and learn the importance of internationalisation. After travelling for several month per year her mind was set on working for the International Office of VU Amsterdam where she has happily been working since October 2017.

“In my opinion internationalisation is truly important for an individual’s personal development, global cooperation, and solidarity. Moving our winter school online makes the programme even more accessible. The programme does not only provide life long learning but it also brings people together from all over the world. It is my utmost pleasure to be a part of this''

During her Erasmus Mundus Master's Degree in Euroculture Celia studied in Germany, France and Mexico, where she discovered the value of intercultural exchange. After graduation Celia did a traineeship at the Academic Cooperation Association in Brussels and developed her curiosity for internationalization. In 2021 she started to work for the VU as a Summer and Winter School Officer. 

“From my own experiences I have learned that studying abroad can be a life changing experience. That is why I always encourage students to go abroad and challenge themselves in a new environment, making new friends and learning from all different kinds of people and cultures”

During her bachelor's degree in English literature and linguistics, she developed her curiosity for culture and people. She went on to complete an exchange in Edinburgh University where she spent a year studying amongst many other international students and discovered first-hand the value of working in an international environment. After graduation, Helena became interested in education and worked as an English teacher for a few years before completing her master’s in Education. She has managed to combine her two passions: education and internationalisation, and has been working the VU Summer and Winter School team since 2021.

Meike Morren is an Assistant Professor in Marketing at VU since 2012, after she obtained her PhD in Method and Statistics from Tilburg University. Her research evolves around sustainability issues in which she likes to use advanced modelling approaches to discover patterns in environmentally friendly behaviour. Recently, she has synthesized survey findings in cross-cultural meta-analysis, and conducted an intervention on food choices. At the moment, she applies Natural Language Processing methods to analyse text data. 

Frans Boumans has been lecturing in various other countries for over 20 years. After graduating from Erasmus University Rotterdam’s Business Economics in 1981, Boumans obtained an Executive MBA from the University of Rochester/William E. Simon School of Management in 1988. Frans worked for a number of different banks for a period of 25 years, including Bank Mees & Hope, MeesPierson and ING Bank. In addition, he has been a speaker at various international conferences and published a range of articles and books. 

Helena has worked in the Summer and Winter Schools since 2021. She holds a bachelor's degree in English literature and linguistics and a master's in education. Before she started working at VU, she was an English teacher in different language schools and high schools. She taught students of many different levels; from children to professionals.