Dr. Ilyas Saliba is a freelance researcher, consultant, educator, and policy advisor with more than 13 years of experience in consulting, teaching, research, policy advisory, and advocacy, working with government institutions, civil society organizations, research institutes, and universities. Based in Berlin, he focuses on shrinking civic space, academic freedom, fieldwork safety, human rights, democratization, and authoritarianism. In 2025, he joined the Team of Prof. Sophia Hoffmann at the University of Erfurt as an Associate Research Fellow, researching shrinking civic space and civil society resilience in Western Asia and North Africa.

• Since 2019, he has worked with the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) team on projects related to Human Rights and Democracy. At the GPPi, he co-developed the Academic Freedom Index (AFi) and consulted a.o. the German Federal Foreign Office.
• In 2023, he joined the Center for Applied Research in partnership with the Orient in Bonn (CARPO) as an associate fellow. Consulting at the Federal German Ministry for Development Cooperation (BMZ) and the German International Cooperation Society (GIZ).
• In 2024, he joined the Centre for Fundamental Rights as an associate and adjunct lecturer at the Hertie School of Governance. Teaching on fieldwork methods, human rights, and authoritarianism.