Katja Swider

Dr. Katja Swider is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, Department of Migration Law, and the Kooijmans Institute at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her research focuses on citizenship, statelessness, and legal frameworks addressing these issues. She holds a PhD from the University of Amsterdam (2018) on A Rights-Based Approach to Statelessness, funded by an NWO grant. Dr. Swider teaches courses including Global Migration Governance and Human Rights and Citizenship, emphasizing flipped classroom and blended learning strategies.

Her research interests include statelessness prevention, nationality law reforms, LGBTQ+ family rights in surrogacy contexts, and EU legal frameworks. She has contributed to legislative reforms in the Netherlands and maintains an active profile in academic activities, including peer reviews and conference presentations. Notable outputs include analyses of Dutch statelessness legislation and a landmark case study on Hoti v Croatia.

Dr. Swider’s work bridges legal theory and practice, with a focus on policy implications and human rights protection. She is affiliated with the Amsterdam Center for Migration and Refugee Law and actively collaborates on projects such as the Statelessness Case Law Database. Her grants include primary funding from NWO for her doctoral research.