Dr Zana Vathi

Profile

Biography

Zana specialises in migration studies and has been conducting interdisciplinary research in this field since 2005. Prior to moving to Edge Hill University, she worked as researcher and tutor at the University of Sussex at Brighton. She was part of the Sussex Centre for Migration Research in 2005-12 where she conducted research on the integration of the second generation migrants in Europe as part of the TIES EU-funded project.

Her doctoral research consisted of a comparative qualitative research with children of migrants, first-generation migrants, and key informants in three different sites: London (UK), Thessaloniki (Greece) and Florence (Italy). This research was awarded the 2012 IMISCOE Maria Ioannis Baganha Prize as the best PhD project in migration studies in Europe. 

In Edge Hill University she has founded and directs the Migration Working Group North West which brings together academics and other stakeholders in the field of migration interested or based in the north west of the UK. 

Within the broad field of migration studies, Zana’s research has explored four interrelated research fields:

1. International migration in Europe and mobilities towards receiving countries and return to the country of origin.

2. Cross-generational comparative research at the intersection of (ethnic) identity, transnational ties and integration.

3. Urban space, aesthetics of the physical environment and belongingness.

4. Migration policies, migrants’ trajectories and psychosocial wellbeing.

 

Zana welcomes PhD student applications in these areas.

 

Zana’s research has been funded by the Marie Curie Actions of the European Commission and the British Academy. She has served as international expert in the field of migration for organizations such as MPC/EUI, Terre des Hommes, World Bank, GIZ and the IOM. Zana is Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

 

Research projects

2019 – Revisiting Return Migration in Shifting Geopolitics. IMISCOE-funded research initiative, Coordinator 

2018 – Supporting the Effective Reintegration of Roma Returnees in the Western Balkans. World Bank, International Research Consultant

2017 – EU Migrants of the North-West: Continuations and Disruptions in the post-Brexit Era. Edge Hill University Research Framework Excellence Fund, Principal Investigator

2016 – Situation Analysis of Migration and Development issues in Albania. Terre des Hommes, Lead Researcher

2015 – Bringing the aesthetics in: migrants’ relationship with urban space in Toxteth. British Academy, Principal Investigator

2015 – Supporting the Western Balkans countries in Efficiently responding to the challenges posed by migration of Unaccompanied Minors. IOM, Lead Researcher

2014 – Mario Project: Joint action to protect Central and South East European migrant children from abuse, exploitation and trafficking in Europe. Terre des Hommes, International Expert

2013 – The return to and (re)integration of Albanian migrants and their children in Albania: implications for policy-making. Edge Hill University Research Framework Excellence Fund, Principal Investigator

2012 – INTERACT, MPC-EUI, Country Correspondent

2007 – The Integration of the European Second Generation (TIES-RTN). Marie Curie Actions of the European Commission. Early Stage Researcher in a Marie Curie Research Network