Lena Laube is Scientific Manager of the Forum Internationale Wissenschaft (FIW) at University od Bonn. Together with the Acting Director, Prof. Dr. Adrian Hermann, she enganges in strengthening international cooperations, transdisciplinary research as well as the scientific profile of the Forum.

Lena Laube is a political sociologist and works as senior researcher in the Department for Research on Democracies. Since July 2022, she is principal investigator of the research group "ZivDem" based at FIW and the University of Münster (funded by Gerda Henkel Foundation), which studies the involvement of civil actors in the Mediterranean border regime. Her research focuses on migration and borders in contemporary Europe and the Mediterranean. Her work has been published by international journals such as Journal for Ethnic and Migration Studies, Comparative Migration Studies, Journal of Borderland Studies, Leviathan – Berliner Zeitschrift für Sozialwissenschaften und Historical Social Research. As co-founder of the Bonn Platform Forced Migration Studies, she has been committed to the co-production of knowledge through the exchange between political, civil society and academic actors in Bonn since 2022.

LinkedIn-Profile

Projects:

"Zivile Seenotrettung als Kristallisationspunkt des Streits um Demokratie", Research group funded by Gerda Henkel Stiftung (2022-2026), Co-principal investigator together with DR. Mareike Gebhardt (University of Münster), research assistants: Maria Ullrich (Postdoc, FIW) and Sarah Spasiano (Doctoral researcher, FIW). Read more...

"Reflexivity in (Forced) Migration Studies - reflecting together on migration research", duration Jan-Dec 2024, project management together with Conrad Schetter (BICC) and Maria Ullrich (FIW). We organise roundtables on topics of transdisciplinary migration studies in Bonn. If you are interested, you can find more information here.

Recent publications:

Judith Kohlenberger / Paula Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik / Lena Laube / Bernd Parusel / Daniele Saracino (2025): Instrumentalisation of migration: Europe needs a strong and lawful response. Link.

Maria Ullrich / Lena Laube (forthcomong): NGO Rescue Ships in the Eyes of their Supporters: Overcoming Inaction and Standing Up for Democratic Values. In: Movements, Issue 2025.

Lena Laube (2024): Umstrittene Externalisierung. Was folgt aus der Notwendigkeitzu Kooperation mit Drittstaaten und der Duldung tödlicher Rechtsbrüche an den EU-Außengrenzen? In: Ulrike Krause / Christiane Fröhlich (Ed.) Externalizing Asylum. A Compendium of Scientific Knowledge. Published online, 28.06.2024.

Lena Laube / Maria Ullrich (2023): Search and Rescue NGOs as a focal point in debates on the reception of refugees in the EU: Research essay on an Italian and German case study. In: Culture, Practice, Europeanization 2023 (2): 166-182. Link.