Tomáš Hrustič, PhD., is senior researcher at the Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (IESA SAV) in Bratislava (continuously since 2009). He graduated in Ethnology and Religious Studies (2002) at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava and absolved a part of his PhD studies at University College London (2005). In addition, he is also active in National Democratic Institute, where he led the Roma Political Participation Programme (2006-2017) and currently leads a programme focused on the promotion of religious freedom in Central Europe. He is the author of more than thirty scholarly studies and publications on various topics related to the position of Roma in society.