Contact and meet the Summer School team

Meet the full Summer School team

On this page, you can learn more about the Quality Assurance Board and the Summer School team. You can find contact information at the bottom of the page.

The VU Amsterdam Summer School team consists of: Yota, Summer School Coordinator; Esther, the school’s International Officer; and Mark, an International Digital Marketer.

Over the past years we have received more than 2300 summer school students from over 70 different countries. We are looking forward to welcoming you next summer!

Our job is to make your experience at the school as comfortable as possible! We’re here to answer any questions you may have before, during, or even after the programme, so don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

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Yota

Summer & Winter School Coordinator
Yota (or Panagiota) Christidou (she/her) has been the Coordinator of the VU Amsterdam Summer School since January 2024. Originally from Greece, but calling the Netherlands home ever since 2018, when she moved for her MA studies in History, specialising in politics, cultural transfer, national and gender identities.
As an international student, Yota remained active in leading initiatives to improve the international student experience, the well-being of internationals and foster a stronger student community.
In her professional tracks, Yota has always being involved in higher-education, student affairs, plus event & branding management. As coordinator, she aims to continue offering via the VU Amsterdam Summer School a high-level selection of intense and innovative summer courses that promote VU's values, while elevating the study abroad experience in Amsterdam for an increasingly diverse group of curious participants.
Esther

Summer & Winter School Officer
Esther Fris joined the summer school team at VU Amsterdam as an international officer in 2024. She started working in international education in graduate school and holds a Master of Science in Sociology from the University of Amsterdam and a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from the University of Groningen.
Rüya

Summer & Winter School Officer
Rüya came to the Netherlands in 2018 as an international student. She has a Political Science BSc (University of Amsterdam) and an International Relations MA (Leiden University). Her experiences include organizing the UNISCA summer course, leading student entrepreneurship programmes and working as a Community Manager in an education technology non-profit. Now she’s part of the Summer School team!
Mark

Digital Marketer
Mark is an international digital marketer with many years of experience working in digital, primarily as a web analyst. Tech-savvy and curious, he now works in the International Office at VU Amsterdam.