PhD Network

Thesis title: Multiculturalism and Education: A Study of Early Childhood Education and Care in South Korea
Supervisors: Professor Paul Morris and Dr Diana Sousa
Bio: Gayoung is a doctoral candidate at UCL, IOE. She researches multiculturalism in early childhood education in South Korea, examining policy documents and school enactments in an ethnically homogenous context. Previously, she taught in South Korea and the UK.

Thesis title: Identity and Resilience Among Unaccompanied Migrant Minors in Transit Through Mexico
Supervisors: Dr Delan Devakumar and Dr Rochelle Burgess
Bio: Susanna is a UCL PhD student and a medical doctor. She uses ethnography to study identity and resilience in unaccompanied migrant minors in Mexico, with a focus on child health and forced migration. She previously researched age assessment in minors in Milan and worked on the Lifepath birth cohort.

Thesis title: “Understanding the health needs of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children living in the UK using the ECHILD database: a mixed methods study” 
Supervisors: Prof. Pia Hardelid, Dr Kate Lewis, and Dr Veena Meetoo
Bio: Rebecca is an MRC-funded PhD candidate with a background in social anthropology and data science, specialising in mixed methods research to understand the health needs of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. She is passionate about inclusion health and social justice.

Bio: Areej is a UCL PhD student researching identity and belonging among South Asian migrant families in Saudi Arabia. Her study examines how parents and children articulate their identity amid restrictive citizenship policies and explores the impact of recent socio-economic changes on their future aspirations.

Thesis title: Accessing justice in a super-diverse city? The experiences of undocumented female migrants in London
Supervisors: Professor Mette Berg (primary) and Dr Agnieszka Kubal (secondary)
Bio: Louisa is a UCL PhD student at TCRU. She explores undocumented female migrants’ experiences of accessing justice in London, focusing on how gender, immigration status, and “illegality” shape encounters with the legal system. Her research uses ethnographic methods and fieldwork at a migrant support serv

Thesis title: Life in the “Shadow Nation”: Networks of Care and Resilience Among Asylum-Seeking Women in the UK
Supervisors: Professor Rebecca Empson and Associate Professor Ammara Maqsood
Bio: Amandas is a UCL Anthropology PhD student researching networks of care among asylum-seeking women in community education. She is also a features journalist with grants from National Geographic and IWMF, focusing on women’s rights and migration, and has published with Al Jazeera, The Guardian and Bloomberg.

Bio: Michael is a UCL PhD student researching the links between internal forced migration and climate change, focusing on rural-to-urban flows of Afro-Colombians amid the Colombian armed conflict. He examines social vulnerability, resilience, and adaptation strategies. Previously, he worked with UNHCR, ICRC, NGOs, and academia, and holds degrees in political science and international law.

Research title: Exploring refugees’ bordering, belonging, and presencing in urban Amman through co-creating visual art
Supervisors: Dr Caroline Oliver and Dr Tom Western
Bio: Jessica is a UCL PhD student in Education, Practice, and Society. She studies how infrastructure and service access shape belonging for refugees in Amman, using interviews, ethnography, and co-creative visual arts workshops. She also teaches on the MSc Migration, Politics and Society course.

Research title: Barriers and facilitators to access preventative health services among Ethiopian refugee women with limited literacy
Supervisors: Dr Brad Blitz and Dr Amy North
Bio: Makda is a UCL PhD student studying how Ethiopian refugee women with limited literacy access preventative healthcare in Seattle. Her research explores strategies these women use, barriers they face, and the role of English language programs in improving navigation of the healthcare system.

Bio: Roghieh is a UCL Wellcome Clinical Research Fellow and NHS GP. She researches moral injury and mental health in Iranian refugee torture survivors in the UK, focusing on the health of marginalised populations. Since 2012, her work has examined torture survivors’ mental health, guided by a commitment to epistemic justice and health equity.