Salvatore Nicolosi

Dr. Salvatore Nicolosi is an Associate Professor in International and European Law at Utrecht University School of Law. He holds multiple leadership positions including founder and co-leader of the Migration Law (MiLa) Research Platform, leader of the Citizenship and Migration Building Block within RENFORCE, and coordinator of the LL.M. program in European Law. He is also a Fellow at the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM) and active in the Utrecht Center for Global Challenges.

Dr. Nicolosi earned his PhD from La Sapienza University of Rome. His educational background combines European law, international human rights law, and international refugee law expertise. His research focuses on the development of the Common European Asylum System and the relationship between EU asylum legislation and international human rights instruments.

His primary research interests include EU constitutional law, EU citizenship, free movement and fundamental rights, institutional matters in the EU and international organizations, and interactions between international law and the EU legal order. He examines EU institutional, law-making and enforcement dynamics in the context of Asylum and migration, with particular attention to vulnerable groups and human rights protection. His work demonstrates a strong commitment to bridging theoretical legal frameworks with practical implementation challenges.

Dr. Nicolosi's extensive publication record reveals a consistent evolution in focus from foundational EU law concepts toward increasingly specialized areas of migration governance. Recent work shows growing emphasis on gender-based asylum, externalization of migration controls, and accountability mechanisms for EU border agencies like FRONTEX. His scholarship consistently addresses the tension between migration control objectives and human rights protection within the European legal framework.

His notable honors include:

• EU Fulbright-Schuman Fellowship
• Michigan Grotius Research Scholar position at the Center for International and Comparative Law

Dr. Nicolosi actively supervises PhD students, currently co-supervising three projects in EU law and human rights. He has participated in numerous research initiatives including the SHARED project on 'Shared Responsibility' for Integrated Border Management and the MIGROBAL project. His professional activities extend to organizing conferences such as 'The Admission and Integration of Refugees in Europe' and 'Same Old? Debating the New European Pact on Migration and Asylum.'

He maintains significant institutional connections through his role as Senior Research Associate at Ghent University's Program for Studies on Human Rights in Context, Research Affiliate of the Refugee Law Initiative at the University of London, and inclusion in the List of legal experts of the EU Agency for Asylum. His work bridges academic research with practical policy implementation across multiple European and international contexts.