The 7,500 euro prize is named after Klaus J. Bade, a pioneer in the field, and is awarded annually to early-career researchers for outstanding achievements in migration research and the communication of their findings to the public.
The jury, chaired by Prof. Dr G?k?e Yurdakul, highlighted the courage and commitment of Dr Laura Lambert, who uses the example of Niger in West Africa to investigate the complexity of asylum regimes and migration dynamics and their impact on local conditions - and who is constantly on the ground herself. According to G?k?e Yurdakul, Lambert's work helps to understand what international norms mean for everyday life: "Lambert's work shows that behind every statistic there are people with a story."
Dr. Lambert completed her doctorate at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle (Saale) on asylum in Niger in the context of externalised EU migration control policies. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the ERC project "Doing Digital Identities" at Leuphana University Lüneburg. She says: "For me, this award means that my research on the borders between Europe and Africa is valued. It is an encouragement, and I am very happy about that. As far as migration is concerned, we in Europe have arrived in a narrow discursive space. I think there are many voices on the African continent that can give us a new perspective."