Virtual Routes is pleased to welcome Gijs van Loon to the team as a Policy Researcher on Cyber and Emerging Technologies, and Karolina Gruzel as the Communications Officer. 

Prior to joining Virtual Routes, Gijs was an Academy Programme Fellow at the Clingendael Institute, where he developed and implemented training programmes on cybersecurity and cyber diplomacy for international professionals. In this role, Gijs trained diverse groups from African, Asian, and European countries, facilitating knowledge exchange on critical topics including UN cyber norms debates, cyber attribution and diplomatic responses, and the international cyber threat landscape.

From 2018-2021, Gijs worked as a policy evaluator at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he assessed the effectiveness of Dutch international cyber policies. His research culminated in the publication of the evaluation report “Improve the Connection” (2021).

Prior to her current position, Karolina worked part-time at the University of Groningen in several roles, including Project Assistant at the Center for Information Technology, Project Manager and Research Assistant for the Cyber Attribution Project in the Transboundary Legal Studies Department, Social Media Manager for the Honours College, and Research Assistant for the Public Law Department.

Karolina holds an LLB in European and International Law (with an exchange at the University of Edinburgh) and a BA in Philosophy of a Specific Discipline (Political Science) from the University of Groningen. She is currently finalizing an MS in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics and an LLM in European Law in a Global Context.

“We are excited to welcome Gijs and Karolina to our growing team,” said Max Smeets, Co-Director of Virtual Routes. “Their skills and enthusiasm will be great assets to our organization. We look forward to working with them.”