Our Team
Our team of specialists provides tailored risk intelligence services of the highest quality.
Leadership
Filip J. Scherf
Research Director
Filip Scherf is a Co-founder & the Research Director of PRINCEPS Advisory. Prior to co-founding PRINCEPS, Filip worked on political risk consultancy assignments in multiple countries and institutions, from Columbia University’s Harriman Institute for Eurasian Studies in New York (US), the RAND Corporation in Cambridge (UK), Eurasia Group in London, and NATO PA in Brussels. Most recently, Filip supported European energy engineering projects in St Petersburg (Russia) and simultaneously contributed as a regional Correspondent to the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Filip holds a Master of Letters degree from St Andrews University in Scotland where he was placed on the Dean's List for academic excellence, and a master's degree in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). For his research, Columbia University awarded Filip with the Dasturdaza Dr. Jal Pavry Memorial Award for International Peace and Understanding. Filip was also a Harriman Junior Fellow, a member of the International Fellows Program, and a recipient of the Robert Legvold Fellowship. He has published on foreign policy in leading journals in the U.S., the UK, the Czech Republic, Russia, and Slovakia.
Petr Kaplan
Chief Business Officer
Petr is the Chief Business Officer of PRINCEPS Advisory. His work experience began parallel to his university studies in a goal-oriented airline service shared center, where he was gradually promoted to middle management and managed a team of 25 at the age of 25. His career then evolved further to responsibility for half the portfolio of a world-renown high-end car brand. Having started in product marketing, he then moved from business operations to communication marketing and was appointed as the first public relations manager of the Audi brand in the Czech Republic. Petr then went freelance and worked as a consultant on different projects in the public and private sectors, focusing strongly on bespoke client relations and outstanding analytical and communication skills.
Petr studied at the University of Hamburg and Charles University in Prague, where he obtained his Master’s degree Cum laude in Security studies. His master thesis concerned the dissolution of post-communist federations. His main academic specialisations were modern history, geopolitics and conflict resolution.
Martin Synkule
Co-founder & CEO
Martin Synkule is a Co-founder & CEO of PRINCEPS Advisory. Previously, Martin briefly freelanced on European political affairs and transnational European funding, leveraging his seven years of experience with European Development Agency in Prague, where served as managing director.
Martin has extensive experience in designing and supervising non-investing projects across EU member states on behalf of private companies, NGOs, and the public sectors, with the total value exceeding 100 mil. EUR.
Martin holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Durham University and a Master’s degree in European studies from Charles University in Prague. As a part of his academic affiliation with Charles University, Martin leads courses on Current Affairs and British far right in multiple programmes.
Martin is a proud member of Durham and Charles University alumni networks.
The Team
Dániel Cséfalvay
Chief Analyst
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Dániel Cséfalvay heads PRINCEPS Advisory's team of in-house and external analysts throughout the CEE region. Before joining PRINCEPS, Dániel interned at Oxford Analytica in New York, Horizon Intelligence, and London Politica where he worked on political risk reports, security forecasts and briefings, and in-depth intelligence analyses.
Dániel graduated from the Central European University with an MA in International Relations, focusing on conflicts and security. He also holds a BA in Political Science from the Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts. During his studies, he spent time abroad in the Netherlands, South Carolina, and New York. Dániel is particularly interested in Middle Eastern politics, especially in the Gulf region. Thanks to his studies in Vienna and Bratislava, he also harbours an interest in Central-Eastern European politics.
James Lewis
Research Analyst
James is a Research Analyst at PRINCEPS Advisory. He has almost a decade’s worth of private consulting experience in Japan and the USA, as well as research experience in Singapore and Nepal.
In May of 2022, James graduated with a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University, where he earned concentrations in both economics and security policy. There, he focused on subjects including combined arms, weapons technology, military-civil relations, and intelligence. During this time, he also led a team to the semi-finals in the Atlantic Council’s international cybersecurity wargame, Cyber 9/12. James has published writing on intelligence, military coups, and maritime security. He currently contributes briefings to the Japan Society’s Business and Policy Forum and is working on a book in contract with Trident Media Group.
Lenka Kocáková
Intern
Lenka Kocáková is an Intern at PRINCEPS Advisory.
She graduated from Charles University with a master's degree in Security Studies. In her diploma thesis, she focused on Turkish drones and their deployment in the MENA region. Lenka also holds a bachelor's degree in Foreign Languages and Cultures from the University of Economics in Bratislava, where she studied English and French. Lenka is primarily interested in insurgencies and conflicts in the MENA region.
Maria Fatima Penna
Intern
Maria Fatima Penna is an intern at PRINCEPS Advisory.
She holds a BA from Alma Mater Studiorum - Universitá di Bologna in Political, Social and International Sciences, with a thesis about Russian politics.She is now studying for an MA in International Relations at the University of Naples- Federico II. Simultaneously, she is completing an Executive Master’s in Leadership for International Relations.
Her main interests are politics, international relations and cooperation, and European affairs.
PRINCEPS Experts
In-house and in the field experienced subject-matter and country experts who collect and analyse the information our clients seek
We employ top experts in our field and utilize cutting-edge technology and tools necessary to deliver bespoke risk intelligence services.
With headquarters in Prague and specialized professionals operating throughout the region, we provide the answers in high-stakes situations within Central and Eastern Europe.
Emma Letham
Intelligence Specialist
Emma is an Intelligence Specialist at PRINCEPS and is responsible for curating the company blog. She holds a degree in Area Studies from the Charles University Institute of International Studies with a specialisation in American Studies. During her studies she published several opinion pieces on the Institute’s blog. One year of her degree was spent abroad at the University of St Andrews in Scotland studying International Relations where she was placed on the Dean’s List for academic excellence.
Before joining PRINCEPS Advisory, Emma successfully completed an internship with Transparency International Czech Republic, working on the open source database “Our Politicians” and the Czech Defence Companies Anti-Corruption Index as both a researcher and translator. In 2020 Emma was invited to take advantage of a scholarship and attended the Transparency International School on Integrity.
Adela Liana Muresan
Energy Industry Analyst
Adela is an Energy Industry Analyst collaborating with PRINCEPS on energy market analysis by contributing to reports on several European countries for the Economist Intelligence Unit. Before becoming a freelance macroeconomist, Adela spent 4 years as part of the Economic Research team at Moody’s Analytics, where she worked on a wide range of regional and macro economies around the world, focusing on forecasting, market analysis, macroeconomic indicators and policy implications, and helped develop first in-house climate change scenarios.
Adela holds a Master’s degree in International Development and a Bachelor's degree in International Affairs from Babes-Bolyai University in Romania. She has maintained an international focus throughout her work, be it in foreign real estate markets, overseas employee relocations or global economics, and a varied experience in the area of international collaboration through internships, volunteering and NGO work including planning, organising and funding local, national and international cultural events with a multicultural focus, participating in youth work and in EU-funded exchanges.
Petr Kříž
OSINT Analyst
Petr Kříž is an OSINT Analyst at PRINCEPS Advisory.
Petr is a cybersecurity and open-source research specialist. He is an expert on extensive IT system administration and security, and the holder of accreditations, including the ESET certificate. Petr is also an ECDL-accredited lecturer in informatics and cybersecurity. In PRINCEPS, Petr employs his experience with data collection and mining a wide range of OSINT sources. He employs high-end OSINT tools, as well as his own programmes for the gathering and analysis of open-source data.
David Rybák
Junior Analyst
David is a Junior Analyst at PRINCEPS Advisory.
He obtained his undergraduate degree in Area Studies from Charles University. He is currently pursuing a Master's degree in North American Studies, deepening his understanding of geopolitical dynamics and regional security issues in North America and the Indo-Pacific.
He spent a semester at Istanbul University, exploring Middle Eastern and Central Asian geopolitics. More recently, he studied abroad at North Carolina State University, diving into security issues and the dynamics between major powers in East Asia.
His specializations include security and foreign policy, hybrid warfare, and the US-Chinese power struggle.
