Experts Database

Mathis Osburg is a Research and Development Specialist at the European Migration Network (EMN) at the University of Luxembourg. Previously, Mathis worked in the Horizon2020 project MIMY (EMpowerment through liquid Integration of Migrant Youth in vulnerable conditions), which examines the integration of young vulnerable migrants across nine European countries. Before joining the University of Luxembourg, Mathis was a researcher in the MADE project (Migration as Development) at the International Migration Institute (University of Amsterdam); and a research assistant at the CNRS (Centre National de Recherche Scientifique) in Cayenne (French Guiana). Mathis also worked with various NGOs in the field of forced migration in Turkey, Serbia, Mexico and Belgium. He speaks English, French, German, Turkish and intermediate Spanish. Mathis holds a BA in Political Science from the University Lumière Lyon II and an MSc (Cum Laude) in Sociology with a specialisation in Migration and Ethnic Studies from the University of Amsterdam. His research interests focus on the drivers of human migration, the relation between developmental processes and migratory behaviour, the effect and efficiency of migration policies, and the integration of migrants in host societies.

Laura Oso is Full Professor (Catedrática de Universidad) at the Faculty of Sociology, Universidade da Coruña. She is the coordinator of ESOMI (Societies in Movement Research Team). Her research has focused on the study of gender and migration, the integration of female immigrants into the labour market (domestic service, sexual work, ethnic entrepreneurship), transnational families, development and intergenerational relations.

She is Vice-president for International Affairs of the Spanish Federation of Sociology (FES) and Member of the Executive Committee at the International Sociological Association (ISA).

Other studies are also remarkable among her research lines, such as the Spanish emigration in France (female domestic workers and female caretakers, second generation) and the analysis of migrations from the perspective of intergenerational strategies and trajectories for social mobility. She equally works on the gender nexus linking gender, migration and development.
She partakes in competitive International Research Networks. She is an associated member since 2007 of the IMISCOE- International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion network, being also a member since 2013 of its Board of Directors. She es also a member of the Board of the RN27 - Regional Network Southern European Societies at the European Sociological Association. She has also been a member of COST Action (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Postpol (IS1209) “Comparing European Prostitution Policies: Understanding Scales and Cultures of Governance”(2013-2017). She has taken part of European projects (H2020-Welcoming Spaces- 870952, H2020- Cross Migration- 770121, Equal Convive Mais”-European Social Fund, SERD-2002-00119-European Commission, Research Directorate General, H2020-Proposal number : 691004-2015-2019) and INCASI ( International Network for Comparative Analysis of Social Inequalities) H2020-Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE). Project Number: 691004.

Berfin Nur Osso is a doctoral candidate at the University of Helsinki, the Faculty of Law, and Project Researcher at the Academy of Finland as part of the University of Eastern Finland, Law School. Osso's doctoral research project investigates the interplay between externalization and the rights claims of migrants in irregular circumstances, particularly in the Greek-Turkish context, focusing on the intersections of international refugee law, legal and political theory, and the EU asylum law and policy. She received a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree and a minor degree in International Relations from Koç University (Istanbul, Turkey) in 2017, and a Master of Social Sciences (MSocSc) degree in International Relations and Political Science from Tampere University (Finland) in 2019. Osso is also enthusiastic as a political cartoonist about reflecting the contemporary phenomena within the realm of law and society, such as human rights issues, inequalities, and injustices, in her editorial cartoons.

Nik Ostrand is a postdoc at the ARENA Centre for European Studies on the Deporting Foreigners: Contested Norms in International Practice (NORMS) project. She is also a research fellow at the Sussex Centre for Migration Research and an editorial assistant for the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Her current research is on Frontex and how norms on deportation are negotiated and contested at the street-level. She previously focused on the UK’s extraterritorial migration governance, especially overseas immigration liaison personnel. Nik received a PhD in Migration Studies from the University of Sussex, UK and an MA in Human Rights from Mahidol University, Thailand. Previously, she was a project coordinator for the Strengthening Human Rights for Rohingya Project. She was also a consultant at the Centre for Migration Studies of New York, where she wrote about the US and Europe’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis, stateless Rohingya in Thailand and Australia’s extraterritorial controls.

Nik's research interests include: immigration and asylum policy, extraterritorial migration governance, overseas immigration liaison networks, the UK Home Office, inequalities in access to mobility, immigration-related detention, Frontex, deportation and street-level learning

Ildiko Otova holds a PhD in Political sciences from New Bulgarian University, a laureate of the Mozer Scholarship for excellence in the study of Political science and civil courage. She works as researcher in various national and international projects on migration and refugee issues, integration, urban policies and citizenship, populism and extremism. Ildiko Otova teaches European Migration Policy at Sofia University, Euroepean Studies Department. She has many publications in English, French and Bulgarian.