Rick Wolff studied political science at Amsterdam's VU, and from 1994 to 2009 worked as a researcher for the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies (IMES) of the University of Amsterdam (UvA). He has worked as a Senior Researcher for Risbo since 1 May 2009. The largest part of Rick's research is focused on academic success at higher professional and university levels. In his work he considers the characteristics of students related to academic success, and studies regarding educational factors that can reduce the academic success differences between groups of students. In November 2013 he obtained his Phd with research into social aid sources and the learning environment as academic success factors for non-Western immigrant students in Dutch higher education over the period 1997-2010. From May 2014 to the end of 2015 Rick worked as a teacher/minor coordinator for the Public Administration programme at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam.