Forschungsschwerpunkt

• Sociology, politics and history of migration
• Migration processes and subjectivity vs. migration control and the state
• Discourse theory and analytics
• Border theory and border studies
• EU, Ukraine, Turkey

Current projects

• I-Claim (EU-HORIZON Programm)
• BRIDGES(EU-HORIZON 2020 Programm) -  Bridges to assess the production and impact of migration narratives
• Research monograph: Borders Revisited – Changing Meanings in a Global Age of Migration
• EU-Project: MIGRARE -  Impacts of Refugee Flows to Territorial Development in Europe
• Conceptualisations and Typologies of Migration in late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages – A View from Sociological Theory

Doctocal students

• Diego Caballero Vélez (in collaboration with the University of Pisa/Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies)
  Title of the doctoral thesis: Member States contribution to refugee protection provision in the EU: a public goods perspective
• Moritz Fischer (in collaboration with the University of Tübingen)
  Title of the doctoral thesis: Bedrohung und Diversität im urbanen Kontext. Ein länder-übergreifender Vergleich von ethnisch heterogenen und ungleichen Stadtteilen
• Thea Schmollinger (in collaboration with the University of Osnabrück)
  Working title of the doctoral thesis: Junge geflüchtete Care Leaver im Übergangsprozess – Soziale Netzwerke als Lern- und Aneignunsräume für informelle Lernprozesse
• Robert Westermann (in collaboration with the University of Hildesheim)
  Title of the doctoral thesis: Macht und Regulierung in Migrationssystemen - Eine kritisch-empirische Analyse der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Werdegang

Prof. Dr. Bastian Ambrosius Vollmer graduated with a MPhil from the University of Cambridge and received his doctorate from the University of Amsterdam. For almost 10 years he was a Fellow at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford, where he conducted research and taught in the MSc Migration Studies. In 2013, he was awarded a Leverhulme Fellowship. In 2016, he was invited by the University of Tübingen for a post as Senior Research Fellow. He is author and co-editor of several books and he has published in a range of academic journals such as Mobilities, Geopolitics, Critical Social Policy or Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. His most recent book is entitled Ukrainian Migration and the European Union - Dynamics, Subjectivity, and Politics published by Palgrave Macmillan. In 2018, he has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) in recognition of his academic contributions. In 2020, he was appointed co-editor of Migration Studies.

Appointments

• Co-editor of Migration Studies at Oxford University Press
• Director of International Affairs and co-director of the Institute of Applied Research and International Relations (ifb) at the KHM
• Course director of the International Bachelor Degree “Social Sciences: Migration and Integration” at the KHM  

Previous appointments

• From September 2017: Professor of Social Sciences at the Catholic University Mainz
• Since 2016: Research Affiliate at the University of Oxford, Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS)
• 2016/2017: Senior Research Fellow by invitation at the University of Tübingen, DFG Collaborative Research Centre "Threatened Orders” and the DFG Center for Advanced Studies “Migration and Mobility”
• 2016: Research Grant ‘Research Excellence Return to Germany’ from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
• 2007-2016: Research Fellow and Leverhulme Fellow at the University of Oxford, Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS); part-time lecturer at the European University Viadrina (Frankfurt Oder) (2013-2016)
• Since 2009: Director and Member of MigrationWork CIC, London
• 2005-2009: Ph.D. in Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Studies
• 2004-2005: M.Phil. in International Relations at the University of Cambridge
• 2002-2004: Researcher at the Berlin Institute for Comparative Social Research

Gremien

• Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA)
• Rat für Migration (RfM), Co-chair of the section “Migration, Refuge and European Border Regime
• Research Affiliate at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford
• Member of the Netzwerk Flüchtlingsforschung
• Deutsche Vereinigung für Politikwissenschaft (DVPW), Member of the section "Migration and Politics”
• Member of the Deutscher Hochschulverband

Veröffentlichungen

Peer reviewed books and edited volumes

• Vollmer, B. (2021) Borders Revisited – Discourses on the UK Border. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ⇒ External Link
• Vollmer, B. (2016) Ukrainian Migration and the European Union – Dynamics, Subjectivity, and Politics. Basingstoke & New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ⇒ External Link
• Vollmer, B. & S. Heyne (2015) Innovation und Persuasion in der Presse – Eine komparative Korpusanalyse (Innovation and Persuasion in the Press – A comparative Corpus Analysis). Wiesbaden: Springer VS. ⇒ External Link
• Vollmer, B., Sert. D. & A. Icduygu (eds.) (2015) EU Migration Legacies – Perspectives from Sending Countries. Special Issue in Migration and Development 4(2): 232-310. ⇒ External Link
• Vollmer, B. (2014) Policy Discourses on Irregular Migration in Germany and the United Kingdom. Basingstoke & New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ⇒ External Link
• Vollmer, B. & J. Blaschke (eds.) (2004) Employment Strategies for Immigrants in the European Union. Berlin: Edition Parabolis.

Selected peer reviewed journal articles

• Vollmer, B. (2021) Public Discourses and Politics on Migration: A Precarious Situation and Dismal Outlook? Zeitschrift für Migrationsforschung, 1(2), Online First ⇒ External Link
• Vollmer, B. (2021) Categories, Practices and the Self – Reflections on Bordering, Ordering and Othering. Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie, 112 (1): 4-10 (open access). ⇒ External Link
• Vollmer, B. (2019) The paradox of border security – an example from the UK. Political Geography 71(1): 1-19. (open access article) ⇒ External Link
• Vollmer, B. & S. Karakayali (2018) The volatility of the discourse on refugees in Germany, Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies 16 (1-2): 118-139. ⇒ External Link
• Vollmer, B. and Allen, W. (2017) Clean skins: Making the e-Border security assemblage. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space Space 36(1): 23-39. (open access article) ⇒ External Link
• Vollmer, B. (2017) Security or Insecurity? Representations of the UK Border in Public and Policy Discourses. Mobilities 12(3): 295-310. ⇒ External Link
• Vollmer, B. (2017). ‘Orest T. Martynowych. Ukrainians in Canada: The Interwar Years, Book 1: Social Structure, Religious Institutions, and Mass Organizations’. The American Historical Review 122, (5): 1602–1603. ⇒ External Link 
• Vollmer, B. (2017) The Continuing Shame of Europe: Discourses on migration policy in Germany and the UK. Migration Studies 5(1): 49-64. ⇒ External Link 
• Vollmer, B. (2017) A Hermeneutical Approach to European Bordering. Journal of Contemporary European Studies 25(1): 1-15. ⇒ External Link 
• Vollmer, B. (2016) New narratives from the EU external border – humane refoulement? Geopolitics 21(3): 717-41. ⇒ External Link
• Vollmer, B., Güntner, S. Lukes, S. & J. Wilding (2016) Bordering practices in the UK welfare system. Critical Social Policy 36(3): 391-411. ⇒ External Link 
• Vollmer, B. (2015) Deliberation – Eine empirische Analyse der Trialogreihe “Energiewende”. Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft 25(1): 53-85. 
• Vollmer, B., Sert. D. & A. Icduygu (2015) Introduction: Eurocentrism and the field of migration research. Migration and Development 4(2): 232-36. ⇒ External Link
• Vollmer, B. (2014) Territoriality and Migration in the E.U. Neighbourhood - Spilling over the Wall. European Planning Studies 22(7): 1544-46.
• Vollmer, B. (2012) Making Light of Borders – The Case of the External EU Border. Migration Letters 9(2): 131‐40.
• Vollmer, B. (2011) Policy Discourses on Irregular Migration in the EU – ‘Number Games’ and ‘Political Games. European Journal of Migration and Law 13(3): 317-39.
• Vollmer, B., Düvell, F. & A. Triandafyllidou (2010) Ethical Issues in Irregular Migration Research in Europe. Population, Space and Place 16(3): 227-39. ⇒ External Link 

Selected book chapters

• Vollmer, B. (2021). Border: Meanings, practices and fields in academia,
  politics, and public domains. In Zapata-Barrero, R., Jacobs, D., & R. Kastoryano (eds.) Contested Concepts in Migration Studies. New York: Routledge. 
• Vollmer, B. & F. Düvell, (2020) Grenzen und Migration – eine dynamische Interdependenz. In Gerst, D., Klessmann, M. & H. Krämer (eds.) Grenzforschung. Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Studium. Baden-Baden: Nomos ⇒ External Link 
• Vollmer, B. & O. Malynovska (2016) Research on Ukrainian Migration – before and after the year 1991’. In Kindler M. & O. Fedyuk (eds.) Ukrainian Migration to the European Union – Lessons from Migration Studies. New York: Springer VS.
• Vollmer, B. & F. Düvell (2014) United Kingdom. In Triandafyllidou, A. & R. Gropas (eds.) European Immigration - A Sourcebook. Aldershot: Ashgate
• Vollmer, B. (2014) Enforcement. In Anderson, B. & M. Keith (eds.) Migration: The COMPAS Anthology. Oxford: Centre on Migration, Policy and Society.
• Vollmer, B. (2013) Ukraine, Modern Era Migrations. In Ness, I. & M. Schrover (eds.) Encyclopaedia of Global Human Migration. New York: Wiley‐Blackwell.
• Vollmer, B. (2010) Irregular Migration in the UK – Dichotomised Discourses and Changing Landscapes. In Triandafyllidou, A. (ed.) Irregular Migration in Europe: Myths and Realities. Aldershot: Ashgate.
• Vollmer, B. & A. Lindley (2010) Globalisation and Migration. In Fagan, H. & R. Muck (eds.) Globalisation and Security. Washington D.C.: Praeger.
• Vollmer, B., Vogel, D., McDonald, W.F., Jordan, B., Düvell, F. and V. Kovacheva (2009) Police Cooperation in Internal Enforcement of Immigration Control: Learning from International Comparison. In McDonald, W.F. (ed.) Immigration, Crime and Justice. Bingley: Emerald.
• Vollmer, B. (2005) The Policies of Integration in Sweden. In Blaschke, J. (ed.) Integration Policies in the European Union. Berlin: Edition Parabolis.
• Vollmer, B. (2005) Refugee Protection and Asylum Policies in Sweden. In Blaschke, J. (ed.) Refugee Protection and Asylum Policies in the European Union. Berlin: Edition Parabolis.
• Vollmer, B. (2005) Immigration Policies in Sweden. In Blaschke, J. (ed.) Immigration Policies in the European Union. Berlin: Edition Parabolis.
• Vollmer, B. (2004) Introduction. In Blaschke, J. & B. Vollmer (eds.) Employment Strategies for Immigrants in the European Union. Berlin: Edition Parabolis.
• Vollmer, B. (2004) Restrictive Access – Austrian Employment Measures towards Immigrants. In Blaschke, J. & B. Vollmer (eds.) Employment Strategies for Immigrants in the European Union. Berlin: Edition Parabolis.
• Vollmer, B. (2004) German Employment Strategies towards Immigrants and Ethnic Minorities. In Blaschke, J. & B. Vollmer (eds.) Employment Strategies for Immigrants in the European Union. Berlin: Edition Parabolis.
• Vollmer, B. (2004) National Action Plans on Employment in Finland. In Blaschke, J. & B. Vollmer  (eds.) Employment Strategies for Immigrants in the European Union. Berlin: Edition Parabolis.

Selected other publications

• Vollmer, B. (2016) Understanding Migration. COMPAS Blog, University of Oxford, available at:⇒ External Link 
• Vollmer, B. (2015) Tough but humane? Some new hypocritical features of migration control in the UK and beyond. Reviews and Critical Commentary (Council for European Studies), available at: ⇒ External Link 
• Vollmer, B. (2014) The Floating Label of ‘The Migrant’. Politics in Spires, available at: ⇒ External Link 
• Vollmer, B. (2013) On Borders and a Wicked Bird. COMPAS Blog, University of Oxford
• Vollmer, B. (2013) Taking Popularity Seriously. COMPAS Blog, University of Oxford, available at: ⇒ External Link 
• Vollmer, B. (2012), Elections in Ukraine: Former Migrants and Boxer Turned Politician. COMPAS Blog, University of Oxford, available at: ⇒ External Link
• Vollmer, B. (2012) Governing Irregular Migration: No Power Politics but Deliberation. Atlantic Community, available at: ⇒ External Link 
• Vollmer, B. (2011) Education. In Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) (ed.) Fundamental Rights Situation of Irregular Immigrants in the European Union. Vienna: FRA, available at: ⇒ External Link 
• Vollmer, B. & F. Düvell (2011) European Security Challenges – EU-US Immigration Systems. San Domenico di Fiesole: European University Institute/Robert-Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, available at: ⇒ External Link 
• Vollmer, B. (2011) Irregular Migration in the UK: Definitions, Pathways and Scale. Migration Observatory Briefing: Migration Observatory, University of Oxford, available at: ⇒ External Link 
• Vollmer, B. (2009) Political Discourses on irregular migration in the EU – Comparative Policy Briefing. Oxford: Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford, available at: ⇒ External Link 
• Vollmer, B. et al. (2009) Irregular Migrants – The urgent need foe a new approach. London: Migrants’ Rights Network, available at: ⇒ External Link