Asian Studies alumni event 2025

We’re happy to welcome Mirjam Ait, Rahel Maloverjan, Isabel Gibert, and Maaike van der Burg and as speakers in this November alumni event.

Mirjam Ait is an Estonian diplomat currently posted to Estonia’s Permanent Representation to the EU, where she represents her country in working groups responsible for the European Union's relations with Asia and Oceania, and human rights. Prior to this, she was the Political Counsellor at the Estonian Embassy in Beijing. Since joining the Estonian Foreign Service in 2021, Mirjam has contributed to developing Estonia’s foreign policy positions and bilateral and multilateral relations with East Asian, South East Asian, and South Asian countries. A sinologist by training, Mirjam has worked in various positions related to international cooperation with China. Mirjam graduated from the programme in 2021.

Rahel Maloverjan has been working for the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the past 5 years and has been a diplomat for over 2 years. Her current position is China desk at the Department for Asia and the Pacific, Middle East and Africa. As China desk, her work focuses on bilateral relations between Estonia and China, as well as broader political topics. On a practical level, her work includes writing reports, analysis and background materials, organizing high-level meetings and visits to China and coordinating policy recommendations. Previously, Rahel worked in the Ministry’s Information Monitoring department, where her responsibilities included news and crisis monitoring, as well as providing emergency consular assistance. Rahel graduated from the programme in 2021.

Isabel Gibert is currently, based in Malmö working in a corporate role as Business & Training Coordinator for FLSmidth in Copenhagen, overseeing service delivery and training operations across the EMEA region. Alongside this, she remains actively engaged in international trade with Korea through her consultancy Korea Business Connection (KBC) which she founded to support European-Korean business collaboration. She continues to work as a freelance consultant for institutions such as Ivace and various Chambers of Commerce and institutions helping companies enter the Korean market and vice versa as well as manage export strategies. Isabel graduated from the programme in 2019.

Maaike van der Burg is a doctoral research fellow at the University of Oslo in Norway. Her interdisciplinary research investigates how Japanese universities are involved in producing knowledge on the category of religion through deploying anti-cult measures. She previously worked in Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher on the JET Programme. Maaike graduated from the programme in 2024.

• Link to the zoom event