Biography
Wojciech Gędek earned his PhD in political science at the University of Warsaw (2025). Before joining the EUI, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Labour and Social Studies, a research institute operating under the Polish Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy.
With a background in comparative social policy, his research interests lie at the intersection of welfare state politics, preventive policymaking, and political behaviour, particularly at local and regional levels. His thesis examined the political and structural conditions that shape local prevention, while his other publications explored trust-building in the delivery of social benefits. As a Max Weber Fellow, Wojciech aims to explore whether changes in mortality, particularly those associated with deaths of despair – suicide, alcohol abuse, and drug overdose – contribute to regional and local support for right-wing illiberal parties in Poland and Czechia.
He is the recipient of Poland’s National Science Centre (NCN) PRELUDIUM grant and has contributed to several national and international research projects, including the Horizon 2020 project Enlightened Trust in Governance (EnTrust). As a contract lecturer at the University of Warsaw, Wojciech has taught several courses on social research methods and policy theories at the undergraduate and graduate levels. During his doctoral studies, he was also a visiting student at the University of Oxford (2023).