Katie Kuschminder (PhD) is an Associate Professor at Maastricht Graduate School of Governance/ UNU-Merit. Katie has been working in research for over ten years and has taught at the undergraduate, masters and professional level, as well as leading trainings for policy makers such as the European Court of Auditors, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Government’s of Kosovo and Rwanda. In 2016 she was awarded a Rubicon Research Grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and completed a two-year fellowship at the European University Institute.
Katie teaches in the MSc in Public Policy and Human Development and coordinates the Migration Studies course at the University College Maastricht. She is the Understanding Cultures Global Challenges Working Group Representative to the World Universities Network (WUN) for Maastricht University.
Katie’s research focuses on the following key themes:
Return Migration and Reintegration– This includes return decision making factors, assisted voluntary return, repatriation after conflict, diaspora return and knowledge transfer and defining and measuring reintegration. Katie has developed the reintegration strategies approach to understand how migrants reintegrate upon return and separate to this a return and reintegration index to measure levels of reintegration and sustainable return.
Irregular Migration Journeys– Katie’s work examines the drivers, flows, processes, experiences and decision making factors involved in irregular migration. Recently she has published on the situation of Eritreans in Libya.
Migration and Development– Through her work Katie examines the relationship between migration and development. This includes how diaspora returnees contribute to knowledge transfer and capacity building for development in their countries of origin, and an examination of diaspora engagement policies. During her PhD Katie worked with Ethiopian domestic workers that had returned from the Middle East.
Email: Katie.kuschminder@maastrichtuniversity.nl