Martha Frederiks (1965) studied theology and Islamic studies at Utrecht University and at the Duncan Black MacDonald Institute in Hartford, CT.  From 1993-1999 she lived and worked in West Africa in the field of Christian Muslim Relations. Since 1999 she works at Utrecht University, where she obtained her Ph.D. (2003, cum laude) at Utrecht University with a study about Christianity in The Gambia. From 2007-2014 she was associate professor of Missiology: World Christianity and Interreligious Dialogue. Since 2014 she is professor of the Study of World Christianity. Between 2013-2019 she was head of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. Currently she serves as vice-dean of Education (undergraduate programs). Since 2021 she also serves as an extraordinary professor at the University of Pretoria.

In her research, she focuses on both historical and more recent developments in Christianity in Africa. She was part of the European Norface research project Recognising Christianity. How African Immigrants redefine the European Religious Heritage (2008-2011). 

Currently, she is involved in Christian Muslim Relations, a bibliographical history 1500-1900 (2013-2022) and the Madina Project.