Life after the Migration PhD: Working in International Organizations and NGOs

Exploring possible career paths outside of academia in professional fields of migration and beyond

Registration website

What can your working life look like after graduating? With the support of IMES, the ACES Migration Network, and the AISSR, we launch a new hybrid seminar series titled “Life after the Migration PhD”. The series targets PhD researchers who work on migration or related topics and connects them to post-PhD professionals who have moved onto careers outside of academia. The seminars offer insight into a range of non-university working areas and function as a networking environment.

This is the second event of the series, focusing on the professional field of working in International Organizations and Non-governmental Organizations, featuring Pia Oberoi and Davide Gnes.

About the Speakers

Pia Oberoi is currently working as a Senior Advisor for Migration and Human Rights for the UN in Bangkok and has extensive international experience working for various International Organization and as a freelance consultant. She obtained a PhD in International Relations from St Antony’s College, Oxford University, writing on refugees and state policy in South Asia

Davide Gnes previously worked as a policy and advisor officer in the field of migration and development for Caritas International and currently holds a Postdoc position at the University of Amsterdam. He earned a PhD in Political Science and Migration Studies (University of Amsterdam), focusing on the  emergence and development of a number of migrant advocacy organizations in Los Angeles, California, between the late 1980s and the early 2010s.

About the series

At university, PhD candidates are trained to become independent researchers in university environments. However, a majority of PhD graduates move to jobs outside of university at some point in their career. This seminar series aims to inform early career migration researchers about their non-university job options. In each session, professionals are invited to talk about their PhD experience, future career development and current work, followed by a Q&A. How did they experience transitioning to non-university environments? And what advice do they have to prepare ourselves for future career options?

During three monthly sessions from October to December 2021, we learn more about different working trajectories by talking to professionals in three fields: (1) research institutes outside of university (think-tanks, foundations);  (2) international advocacy (NGOs, IOs) and (3) diplomacy and government institutions. The seminars are interactive. We invite participants to bring their own career-related questions, and provide opportunities for networking during and after each session.

The series is organized in a hybrid format. We kindly invite those who can come to Amsterdam to attend in-person at the UvA and to join the informal networking at CREA after the seminar. For on-site participation we can accommodate a maximum of thirty people. It is also possible to attend digitally via Zoom, where we will stream the seminars. Please indicate your preference on the registration form.