About
Dr. Zvezda Vankova is an Associate Professor and Senior Researcher at the Law Faculty of Lund University. Her work examines the intersection of EU law, Public International Law, and empirical legal studies, focusing on human rights, migration, integration, and complementary pathways for refugees.
- PhD in Law, Maastricht University
- Principal Investigator, ‘Refugee protection or cherry picking?’ (2023–2026), funded by the Swedish Research Council
- Co-founder of the Øresund Migration Law Initiative (OMiLI)
- Co-convener of the working group ‘Active Refugee Admission Policies (ARAP)’
Her research explores how legal infrastructures governing human mobility impact the rights and trajectories of displaced populations. Recent work includes studies on refugee labor mobility, EU migration policy, and refugee finance mechanisms.
Dr. Vankova’s publications, such as the Open Access book Circular Migration and the Rights of Migrant Workers in Central and Eastern Europe, have garnered significant scholarly attention. She actively collaborates with international institutions like McGill University and Copenhagen University’s MOBILE Centre.
- Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation Travel Grant (2020)
- Seminar Grant (2020)
She supervises MA and PhD students at Lund and Maastricht Universities and contributes to networks including IMISCOE and the German Network of Forced Migration Studies.
