Sonja Fransen

Sonja is a research fellow at the Maastricht School of Governance. She completed a Master degree in Clinical Health Psychology at Tilburg University, a pre-master year of Development Studies at Radboud University, and a Research Master in Social Cultural Sciences at Radboud University.

In September 2009 Sonja joined the migration research group at Maastricht Graduate School of Governance (MGSoG), Maastricht University, to do her PhD research that was part of the Migration and Development: A World in Motion project.

After this, Sonja worked as a postdoctoral researcher on several projects related to (forced) migration at MGSoG, in collaboration with the Centre for Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford. Currently, Sonja works as a postdoctoral researcher on the Migration as Development (MADE) project at the University of Amsterdam. Sonja’s research interests include (forced) migration, return migration, (post-conflict) development, and remittances.

She has extensive, both quantitative and qualitative, fieldwork experience in various countries, and is particularly specialized in migration and development in the African Great Lakes region. Sonja has also done various consultancies for NGOs and international organizations, including UNHCR and the World Bank. She has published several academic articles, book chapters, policy briefs, and reports in the area of (forced) migration studies and development.