Jana Araji is a PhD Candidate in the Law and Anthropology Department of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle. She is a part of the Cultural and Religious Diversity under State Law across Europe (CUREDI) research group. Her current research focuses on the issues arising from the non-recognition of personal status or family relations that have been established abroad, and their impact on the concerned individuals and families in Europe.

She holds a Bachelor of Laws from Paris Descartes University (Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi), a Master 1 in International Law from the University of Strasbourg, and a joint LLM/Master 2 in Comparitive and European Private International Law from the University of Dundee and Toulouse I Capitole University. As a law student, she interned for several law firms in the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon, focusing on commercial law and intellectual property law. After graduating, she joined the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) as an intern on the team focusing on cross-border family law issues as well as developments relating to digital economy.