Sibel TOP

Sibel Top is the Director of the Fundamental Rights in a Changing World Lab (FRCL) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the Project Management Officer (PMO) for the LSTS Large Research Group and the DATAUNION project, led by Prof. Rocco Bellanova. In her role at LSTS, she works closely with the group’s Director, Prof. Gloria González Fuster, to support the group’s activities in communications, finances, mobility and onboarding, while acting as a bridge between the group and the university’s central services. For DATAUNION, she supports the project’s administrative and financial management.

Sibel joined VUB in 2017 and has since worked on several interdisciplinary, EU-funded research projects addressing topics such as human trafficking, the fight against online child sexual abuse and exploitation, and the promotion and enhancement of fundamental rights protection. She currently leads the Belgian national research for the multidisciplinary research network (FRANET) of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.

She holds a PhD in Law from VUB, funded by a scholarship from the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO). Her doctoral research explored the legal relevance and application of the political offence exception, drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of the state to examine shifts in the protection of political crimes. She also holds two Master’s degrees in European Interdisciplinary Studies, one from the College of Europe and another from the Institute for European Studies at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), where she also obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Anthropology. Prior to her doctoral studies, she completed internships with several international and European institutions, including the International Labour Organization, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, and the European Economic and Social Committee.