Dr. Stępka holds master’s degrees in European studies (2009 - Jagiellonian University) and Political science (2011 - University of Amsterdam). He obtained his PhD in security studies, with a specialisation in international relations from University of Warsaw (2019) defending a doctoral dissertation on securitisation of the "migration crisis" in the EU. Has participated in many international academic exchange programmes in such institutions as Matej Bel University in Banska Bystrica (2014), École française d'Athènes (2015), Utrecht University (2016) and the University of Amsterdam (2017). He is a laureate of awards for the best doctoral thesis from the Polish Society of International Studies and the Polish Society of European Studies (2022), as well as the PTNP (Polish Political Science Association) award in honor of Prof. Michał Cezary Roztworowski for the best monograph (2023). Since 2012, he has been a part of the Institute of European Studies of the Jagiellonian University, conducting lectures and seminars on the EU institutional system, European integration, security theory, and critical security studies.
Dr. Stępka’s research interests focus on a critical approach to security and public policies, migration-security nexus, the internal and external dimension of EU security, crisis response research, resilience and preparedness.