Simona Vezzoli is a Postdoctoral Researcher and Leader of the PACES Project* at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University in The Hague, The Netherlands. She received her PhD from the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance at Maastricht University. Between 2008 and 2015, she was a Research Officer at the International Migration Institute (IMI) at the University of Oxford. From 2015 to 2020, Simona worked at the University of Amsterdam as Postdoctoral Researcher and Coordinator of the Migration as Development (MADE) Project. Her research focused on exploring the social transformation that took place in Italy since the 19^th century and its role in shaping historical Italian emigration and immigration patterns. Simona also led the research in the frontier town of Caracaraí, Roraima, northern Brazil, where she explored the town’s migration history as well as today’s migration aspirations among young people who are largely descendants of internal migrants. Before joining ISS, Simona was a Research Officer at the LDE Centre Governance of Migration and Diversity (2020-2023), where she promoted collaborative migration and diversity research at three Dutch universities: University of Leiden, TU Delft and Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Simona adopts an interdisciplinary approach to studying migration, which she researches both from a macro- and a micro-level perspective. She has researched postcolonial migrations across independence and changes in border regimes with a focus on the Caribbean region. Her latest research seeks to combine a deep-rooted understanding of the societal drivers of migration with individual-level processes of migration decision-making. Simona has conducted research in the Caribbean and South America – in the three Guianas and Brazil – and Italy. She has been part of groups conducting research on African migrations. With the PACES Project, her research will focus on Algeria, Ethiopia and Nigeria.

Simona’s research interests include migration decision-making, migration policies, the role of the state in migration, aspirations to migrate/stay, well-being and a good life, hope, and spatial-temporal analytical frameworks.

* EU Horizon Europe, grant agreement N 101094279