Maria Nikijuluw is a PhD student at Ghent University, specializing in discourse studies, applied linguistics, and sociolinguistics. She obtained her bachelor's degree from Pattimura University, Indonesia, in 2000 and her Master’s in Sociolinguistics and German Studies from Bern University, Switzerland, in 2014. Maria completed her Master of Advanced Studies in Comparative Linguistics at Ghent University, Belgium, from September 2023 to 2024. Throughout her academic career as a German lecturer since 2005, Maria has served as the Secretary of International Office (2007-2010, 2014- early 2020) and Director of Language Studies Centre at Pattimura University (2016-2023).
Her research focuses on discourse studies related to forgiveness in the colonial and post-colonial context of the Maluku islands. Maria aims to use linguistics as a tool to explore Indonesians' perceptions of historical state apologies, particularly Dutch apologies to Indonesians.