PRINCIPLE INVESTIGATOR (PI)
Dr. Nick Gill
Dr. Gill is a political geographer, and Professor of Human Geography at the University of Exeter. He has conducted ground-breaking research on asylum adjudication in the UK. His previous research and methodology forms the foundation of ASYFAIR.
Email: N.M.Gill@exeter.ac.uk
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW
Dr. Nicole Hoellerer (Lead Researcher)
Dr. Hoellerer is an anthropologist, with extensive research experience in migration and refugee studies. Her PhD ethnography on refugee resettlement in the UK laid bare the practice-policy gap in the UK’s migration service provision. She was the lead researcher for the ASYFAIR research project. As a native German speaker, she was responsible for research conducted in Germany and Austria, and analysing the collected data.
Since the completion of the project, Nicole is working as a Senior Research Associate at the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies at the University of Bristol, researching post-Brexit partner migration from the EU (EEA and Switzerland) for the Brexit Couples Project.
Email: N.Hoellerer@exeter.ac.uk or Nicole.Hoellerer@bristol.ac.uk
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
Dr. Daniel Fisher
Dr. Fisher is a political geographer with an interest in borders, processes of asylum determination and refugee integration. Prior to working on ASYFAIR, his PhD research consisted of multi-sited ethnographic work in the UK, Poland, mainland Spain and Ceuta – where he was interested in the everyday use of border control technologies. As a Flemish and French speaker, Dan conducted observations in Belgium for ASYFAIR, and was responsible for analysing previously-collected data from the UK.
Dan is currently a Research Associate at the University of Glasgow (Centre for Public Policy). His recent work explores the governance practices of refugee integration and the decision-making processes of forced migrants. As part of his previous role with the UNESCO Chair for Refugee Integration through the Languages and the Arts, Dan’s work directly influenced the development of Scotland’s ‘New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy’ which was published in 2024.
Email: dan.fisher@glasgow.ac.uk
RESEARCH FELLOW
Dr. Jessica Hambly
Dr. Hambly has a background in law. Her PhD was a socio-legal study of UK asylum appeals, with a specific focus on the work of lawyers. Prior to working with the ASYFAIR team, Jess volunteered for a number of years with refugee advocacy and solidarity groups, including on the Greek islands of Lesvos and Samos. As a French speaker, she was responsible for the ASYFAIR research conducted in France. She also conducted research interviews for ASYFAIR in Greece.
Since leaving ASYFAIR, Jessica is working as a Senior Lecturer and Director of Law Reform and Social Justice at the College of Law at the Australian National University (ANU).
Email: jessica.hambly@anu.edu.au
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
Dr. Lorenzo Vianelli
Dr. Vianelli holds a PhD in Politics and International Studies, and he has an extensive experience in the field of asylum reception and procedure, which he acquired through scientific research, work experiences and voluntary work. His research cuts across political geography, politics and anthropology, and focuses on the failure of the EU attempts to govern asylum seekers through the Common European Asylum System. In the ASYFAIR research project, he was responsible for research conducted in Italy.
Since leaving ASYFAIR Lorenzo was working as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Geography and Spatial Planning of the University of Luxembourg. He was the principal investigator of the CONDISOBS project, funded by a H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship, and has since moved on to the University of Bologna, working as a Junior Assistant Professor in political geography, and critical border and migration studies.
Email: lorenzo.vianelli2@unibo.it
Research Collaborators:
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Dr. Amanda Schmid-Scott
Amanda was a PhD candidate in Human Geography at the University of Exeter, researching the seemingly banal administrative systems that govern daily life for those seeking asylum in Britain. Her work focused on those geospatial controls imposed on asylum seekers, in the form of immigration detention and reporting practices, inhered within many people’s experiences of seeking asylum. Prior to her PhD studies, Amanda worked with Somali refugees in Ethiopia, and with Praxis, a charity working with vulnerable migrants in east London. Amanda’s role in the ASYFAIR team included the analysis and coding of UK data.
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Dr. Laura Scheinert
Laura was a PhD candidate in Human Geography at the University of Exeter. Her project aimed to investigate the training of judges who work in refugee status determination. Before joining the University of Exeter in September 2018, Laura worked as an evaluator at the German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval) in Bonn, Germany. She is a sociologist by training (BA University of Mannheim, MA Newcastle University). Laura’s role in the ASYFAIR team included statistical analysis of the UK data, as well as discourse analysis of asylum determination decisions.
Email: l.scheinert@exeter.ac.uk
ASYFAIR 