Congrats to Amanda Gray Meral who started her part-time doctorate in law exploring how international law narratives on the right to work reflect, or include the lived experiences of refugees, including understanding their experience of work and how they navigate legal constraints to labour markets.

The scholarship will allow Amanda to complete a part-time doctorate in law during which she will explore how international law narratives on the right to work reflect or include the lived experiences of refugees, including understanding their experience of work and how they navigate legal constraints to labour markets. Given the overwhelmingly urban and protracted nature of displacement, there is a renewed focus on achieving ‘self-reliance’ for the forcibly displaced, for which access to labour markets is key. Yet in most countries, refugees face significant constraints in accessing formal work.

Amanda is delighted to have won this AHRC studentship adding, “I have wanted to explore this area of law more deeply for many years, having seen the impact it has on refugees’ ability to rebuild their lives after displacement. The scholarship will fund my PhD and support me in developing rigorous academic scrutiny to my research as well as allowing me to take advantage of additional training opportunities the Northern Bridge programme provides, supporting my research leadership and professional development and supporting me in building linkages between the research and key stakeholders for policy impact.”

Amanda’s supervisors are QUB Law’s Professor Colin Harvey and Dr Amanda Kramer along with Professor Rory O’Connell from the School of Law, Ulster University.

Speaking about Amanda’s PhD, Professor Harvey says:

“I am very much looking forward to working with Amanda on this significant new research project. The focus on the relationship between the human right to work and the lived experiences of refugees is vital and this research initiative will make a substantial contribution to existing debates.”

We welcome PhD applications from prospective students. Further details on how to apply can be found at https://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofLaw/study/postgraduate-research/