Irina Pichler is a native of Vienna, where she grew up and has lived nearly all of her life with her family. After her university education in humanities (which was a long time ago) she worked as a librarian in Vienna. After maternity leave, she spent several years working in business management and in the field of university, education and science institutions. 

She gained experience in the administration of educational institutions in Austria. Her organizational skills were applied to many different events, symposia and congresses in the academic field. She served in both long-established and newly-founded institutions and was part of a project team developing a new private university in Lower Austria. 

Her work experience in project assistance and her interest in languages and education led her to Fulbright Austria, where she started supporting the team in November 2017.