Lilian Tsourdi (E.)

i) 

Principal Investigator 

European Research Council Starting Grant Soften (2025-2029)

project full title "Soft Enforcement of EU Migration Policies"

SoftEn conceptualizes soft enforcement and unlocks the black box of its operationalisation in the context of migration. It brings together theoretical insights from legal and political science on governance, enforcement, and accountability, combining legal analysis with empirical qualitative methods.

(co)-Principal Investigator 

WP Leader in the EU Horizon project ENSURED (2023-2026)

project full title "Transforming and Defending Multilateralism: European Union Support for more Robust, Effective and Democratic Global Governance”

The Horizon research project ENSURED examines how the EU and its members can transform and defend global governance to make it more robust, effective and democratic. It is coordinated by Maastricht University and includes 14 universities, think tanks and a civil society partner from Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands as well as Brazil, China, India, South Africa and the United States.

NWO Hestia project leader with Nasrat Sayed as laureate (2021-2023)

for the project: ‘External Financial Governance: Migration Management and Solidarity with Non-EU Countries through EU Funding’.

Responsibility sharing remains elusive in the global refugee protection regime, while EU funding is increasingly used to pursue migration management objectives in non-EU countries. Using an original combination of legal and empirical analysis, this project examines why, advances knowledge on governance and global responsibility sharing, and formulates proposals for reform.

NWO VENI grantee (2019-2023)

Financial Governance: Policy Implementation and Solidarity through EU funding

Effective implementation and inter-state solidarity remain elusive in migration. EU migration funding could contribute in addressing these problems but is ill-designed. Using an original combination of legal and empirical analysis, this project analyses why, advances knowledge on the multi-level nature of the European administrative system, and formulates proposals for reform.  

Marie Skłodowska-Curie IF Principal Investigator 2018 round (award)

Financial Governance: Policy Implementation and Solidarity through EU funding, awarded by the European Union/Horizon 2020 Program; host organisation: University of Maastricht/MCEL (not implemented due to the concurrent award of a VENI grant) 

One of two Principal Investigators of a ‘UNHCR Small Grant’ (CONS-0000004103), awarded by the Policy Development and Evaluation Service (PDES) of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2011)

II) Scientific Collaborator and core member of the bidding team

‘LIMA Project’- Personal Aspirations and Processes of Adaptation: How the Legal Framework Impacts on Migrants’ Agency (2015) (fund: Actions de Recherche Concertée; Wallonia Research Council; award close to 900.000 EUR) implemented at the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) 

 ‘MADE REAL Project’-Making Alternatives to Detention in Europe a Reality by Exchanges, Advocacy and Learning (2014) HOME/2012/ERFX/CA/4020 (European Refugee Fund/DG HOME, award close to 500.000 EUR) implemented at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)

III) Core member of the bidding team

‘OMNIA Project’-Odysseus Monnet Network for Immigration and Asylum, 565754-EPP-1-2015-1-BEEPPJMO-NETWORK (fund: Erasmus + program, Jean Monnet actions/DG Education and Culture, award close to 300.000 EUR) implemented at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)