I was born on a sunny Thursday in Antwerp on the 25th of September 1986. At the time, my father was an expat in Indonesia, and that’s where my name “Iskander” comes from. I’ve moved around a lot, but Antwerp is still my hometown.In the summer of 2003, I took on a student job at an Italian restaurant. This turned out to be the best career decision of my life: I met my amazing wife there. We now have three kids together. When they’re not occupied with their own hobbies, I sometimes take them to the “Bosuil,” the football stadium of Royal Antwerp FC. I’m a devoted fan. Along with watching sports, I like to practice them myself. I enjoy biking, hiking, and I try to run 30 km each week. All of these activities help balance out my love for food. My family and I fell in love with Tuscan food and culture when we lived in Florence back in 2018.
Studies
I completed a Master’s in Political Communication at the University of Antwerp, which allowed me to combine my interests in communication, media, and politics. I graduated cum laude in 2011. Initially, I had aspirations of becoming a journalist, like my grandfather. However, during an internship at the University of Antwerp, I caught the research “bug.” My master’s thesis won the Thesis Prize in Political Communication, and as a result, I was offered a PhD position in Political Science (2011 – 2015). The research project I worked on focused on EU lobbying, a field with little academic attention from a media and communication perspective at the time. I developed this perspective in my PhD thesis titled David and Goliath in Brussels: Lobbying Strategies and Success in the EU. In collaboration with Aaron McLoughlin, I summarized the key insights of my thesis into a practice-oriented article. This article has been translated into several European languages and is now widely used to train public affairs professionals.
Professional
After completing my PhD at the University of Antwerp, I have been affiliated with several universities across Europe, including the University of Aarhus, the University of Amsterdam, and the European University Institute in Florence. Currently, I serve as an Associate Professor in EU Politics and Policy at Maastricht University. My research examines the relationship between lobbyists, citizens, and politicians, particularly how this dynamic is shaped by contemporary challenges such as COVID-19, the influence of money in politics, and the rise of populism. You can find a list of my popular and academic publications on this website. I am currently leading the research project ACCESS4ALL: How Access is Biased Towards Certain Individual Lobbyists and Why, working with a team that includes one postdoc and two PhD students. In addition to my research, I serve as the Program Director for the Master’s in European Public Affairs. From time to time, I engage in advisory work or participate as a speaker at events organized by civil society organizations, public affairs consultancies, and think tanks.