Interview Özge Bilgili
Associate Professor at Interdisciplinary Social Science
What is your research (in brief) about and what is its (societal) importance?
My current research aims to understand how the changing political narratives around migration and the societal context in the Netherlands shape the experiences of international students. Do they find the Netherlands a welcoming country and how do they decide if they want to stay here or move elsewhere?
This topic is of great importance in a time when international student mobility has been problematized and politicized more than ever before. We need to understand the effects of the changing atmosphere for international students themselves, but also in terms of its implications for Dutch higher education, labour market and society in general.
How long have you been working at FSW?
I have been working at FSW since September 2017 as a migration scholar.
What do you like about working at FSW/UU? Why do you work here?
If you have a good idea, at FSW/UU you are immediately given opportunities to upscale your ideas through interdisciplinary collaborations, set up new initiatives and connect with not only academic partners but also stakeholders that are relevant.
For example, following upon the project that I recently started on international students, we recently established the Special Interest Group on International Student Mobility as part of the Migration and Societal Change Focus Area with colleagues from our faculty as well as other faculties. This initiative will help us bring forward the impact of our research.
How does the faculty contribute to your research, for example through collaboration with colleagues, support or facilities, among others?
The academic freedom the faculty provides is so refreshing - to generate ideas, to connect dots from different research lines, to try out new methods and to share and co-create insights in inclusive and diverse ways.
In your opinion, what distinguishes the Utrecht Faculty of Social Sciences (from other faculties of Social Sciences)?
There is a common denominator that connects all colleagues at our faculty – and when I say colleagues, I mean all of us, not only the academic staff: we all care deeply about the work we do, be it research, education or outreach. I think that’s quite exceptional.