Siegel, Melissa

Dr. Melissa Siegel is a Professor of Migration Studies and Head of Migration Studies at the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance and UNU-MERIT where she manages several migration research projects, coordinates the Migration Studies Specialization as part of the Master’s Program in Public Policy and Human Development and heads the Migration Management Diploma Program.

She is Co-Director and heads the Migration and Development research theme of the Maastricht Center for Citizenship, Migration and Development (MACIMIDE). She currently holds the Chair of the UNU Migration Network and positions as a Research Associate at the Center on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) and an Associated Researchers at the International Migration Institute (IMI) at the University of Oxford.

She is also on the board of the Hague Process on Refugees and Migration. She has done visiting research fellowships at Harvard University, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the University of Oxford.

She has advised, worked on or headed projects for the Dutch Government, Swiss Development Cooperation, German Development Cooperation, the IOM, UNHCR, ILO, UNDP, ICMPD, World Bank, OECD and others.

She is also regularly involved in migration-related trainings for governments and organizations (i.e. UNICEF, UNRWA, EIPA, Dutch Government, Iranian Government, Turkish Government) and teaching at the Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD level as well as teaching in the United States, Malaysia, Mozambique, Afghanistan, Georgia and Suriname. She has also given advice at the United Nations and European Commission on migration issues.

Her main research interest lies in the causes and consequences of migration with a strong emphasis on the linkages between migration and development.

Research Interests: Migration on children and elderly left behind, Linkages between different forms of migration and multi-dimensional poverty, Linkages between migration (including return) and development, Remittance, effects, usage and channels, Migration policy and practice, Migration and corruption, and Migration and health