People
Steering committee
The Steering Committee members provide overall strategic guidance to the Myanmar Research Network, as well as managing day-to-day activities of the network such as collaborative research endeavours, engagement, events, and so on.
Dr Michael G Breen
Michael’s research focuses on federalism in Asia, and the management of ethnic diversity. He is the author of ‘The Road to Federalism in Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka: Finding the Middle Ground’ (2018, Routledge) and has contributed to Nepal’s constitution-making process that established it as a federal democratic republic. Michael’s research also explores the role of deliberative democracy and the use of deliberative polling in constitution-making and conflict management. Prior to academia, Michael was a policy maker, negotiator and project manager in various government departments in Australia and international organisations including the United Nations Development Programme. His professional background is in Indigenous rights and native title, political inclusion and environmental conservation.
School of Social and Political Sciences | McKenzie Research Fellow
Federalism and Ethnic Politics in Asia – Deliberative Democracy – Comparative Politics – Constitutional Design
Dr Anne Décobert
Anne is a development studies scholar and anthropologist whose research focuses broadly on the intersections between conflict, development, aid systems, processes of state formation, and the rights of and struggles for self-determination of Indigenous and marginalised peoples. Strongly committed to ethically engaged research, Anne is particularly interested in approaches to addressing inequities and injustices faced by Indigenous and marginalised communities whose lives are shaped by structural violence and conflict. Myanmar is her main country specialisation, but Anne has also worked elsewhere in Asia and with Indigenous communities in Australia. In addition to her academic research, Anne previously worked as a development practitioner and consultant with local and international aid agencies in Myanmar, Thailand and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Anne’s publications include The Politics of Aid to Burma: A Humanitarian Struggle on the Thai-Burmese Border (Routledge, 2016).
School of Social and Political Sciences | Anthropology and Development Studies | Lecturer
Development – International Humanitarian Law
Dr Tamas Wells, Research Coordinator and Editor of PK Forum
Tamas Wells is a Research Fellow in the School of Social and Political Sciences. His research focuses on meanings of democracy, governance and accountability in Southeast Asia and the role of international aid agencies and “civil society. His doctoral dissertation examined the Burmese opposition movement in the lead up to the historic 2015 elections in Myanmar and diverging narratives of democracy within the movement, and amongst its international supporters. Before beginning his doctoral studies in 2012, he worked as an aid and development adviser and consultant with various NGOs including Save the Children and Oxfam, including seven years living and working in Myanmar. Tamas has been active in developing stronger connections between academics and practitioners and policymakers in the field of aid and development and is the editor of the PK Forum, an online discussion forum on aid and development in Myanmar.
School of Social and Political Sciences | Research Fellow
Democracy in Myanmar – Civil Society – Politics of International Aid
Dr Matt Schissler
Matt Schissler is an anthropologist and historian studying religion, technology, and violence. As lecturer in Buddhist Studies at the University of Melbourne, Matt teaches subjects on Buddhism and is conducting research on Buddhism and the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar. Matt has worked in and the country for nearly two decades, including eight years as a member of local human rights and other civil society organisations from both central and eastern Myanmar.
Pyae Phyo Maung
Pyae Phyo Maung is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne’s School of Social and Political Sciences. His research focuses on community resilience in relation to Myanmar’s complex humanitarian crisis. He has over 14 years of experience as a medical doctor and program evaluation practitioner across Myanmar’s humanitarian, community development, and civil society strengthening sectors.
Soe Htet
Soe Htet is a PhD candidate in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on nation-building, federalism, and the political history of Myanmar. He has over nine years of professional experience as a civic educator. He has taught in the online Social Research Skills Programs offered by Myanmar Research Network (MRN) at the University of Melbourne and the Regional Centre for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD) at Chiang Mai University. His recent work on the genealogy of federal discourse in Myanmar was published in the edited volume Federal Design in Myanmar: A Pathway for Unity, Stability, and Inclusivity (2026).
Chit Sandi Kyaw
Chit Sandi Kyaw is a development practitioner with a background in medicine, public health, and development studies. She holds a Master of Development Studies from the University of Melbourne and currently works as a Research Assistant with the Myanmar Research Network. Her research interests include migration and development, diaspora engagement, social remittances, humanitarianism, public health, and health equity. As a member of the MRN Steering Committee, she contributes to communication, student engagement, research dissemination, events, bilingual knowledge translation, and engagement with researchers and community partners.
Fellows
The Myanmar Research Network has for many years held a place for fellowships.