Ruji Auethavornpipat is a PhD Candidate in the Department of International Relations at the Australian National University. His doctoral study examines the contestation of migrant worker rights norms in ASEAN. His research interests also include human trafficking and labour migration policies in Southeast Asia.

Ruji was previously an Asia Studies Fellow at the East-West Center in Washington, DC where he conducted research on ASEAN-US cooperation on human trafficking. He was also a Visiting Doctoral Fellow at the Bamberg Graduate School of Social Sciences in Germany.

Ruji holds both MA and BA (Honours) degrees from the University of Victoria, Canada.