Federica Zardo

Dr. Federica Zardo

Scientific Staff - Department for Migration and Globalisation - Center for Migration and Globalisation Research

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Functions

Federica Zardo is Senior Researcher at the Department for Migration and Globalisation since March 2021.

Her specific research interests include:

  • European Union migration governance and policy: EU-level decision-making processes and regulatory frameworks for migration and asylum
  • EU external relations and migration cooperation: EU’s partnerships with non-EU countries (North of Africa and the Middle East).
  • Migration policy instruments and impacts: tools such as funding, mobility partnerships, and their political and socio-economic consequences

Find out more about Federica's latest research on her profile on Google Scolar and BlueSky.

About the person

Dr Federica Zardo is a political scientist. Her work sits at the intersection of International Relations and Public Policy, with an empirical focus on the European Union’s external relations and migration policy. Zardo earned her Ph.D. in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Turin in 2015 with a doctoral thesis on EU–Tunisia cooperation agreements. From 2016 to 2021 she was an Assistant Professor at the University of Vienna’s Centre for European Integration Research. 

In these roles she has been exploring how the EU migration and asylum policy intersects with foreign policy, development and security. She examines how the EU formulates and implements migration and asylum policies, both internally and through its partnerships with other countries and regions.

Federica has led and contributed to several international research projects on EU migration and asylum policy and collaborates with networks focused on European integration, EU foreign policy, and migration governance. She teaches courses and supervises graduate and undergraduate research on the European Union, EU migration policy and EU external relations.

Projects (Extract Research Database)

Running projects

Analysing change in EU funding for migration and asylum

Duration: 01/02/2023–31/08/2026
Principle investigator for the project (University for Continuing Education Krems): Federica Zardo
Funding: FWF

Completed projects

Bridging Migration and International Relations

Duration: 01/01/2022–31/12/2024
Principle investigator for the project (University for Continuing Education Krems): Mathias Czaika

SERENY

Duration: 15/10/2021–14/10/2023
Principle investigator for the project (University for Continuing Education Krems): Manfred Zentner
Funding: EU

Quantifying Migration Scenarios for Better Policy

Duration: 01/02/2020–31/07/2023
Principle investigator for the project (University for Continuing Education Krems): Mathias Czaika
Funding: EU

Enabling immigrants to easily know and exercise their rights

Duration: 01/01/2020–30/11/2022
Principle investigator for the project (University for Continuing Education Krems): Federica Zardo
Funding: EU

Publications (Extract Research Database)

Carta, C.; Zardo, F.; Sguazzini, M. (2025). Beyond the Internal-External Policy Divide: How the EU Communicates on Migration. Geopolitics, 2025: 1-30

Tsourdi, L.; Zardo, F. (2025). Migration Governance Through Funding: Theoretical, Normative, and Empirical Perspectives. Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, 2025: https://doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2024.2407584

Zardo, F. (2025). Following AENEAS’ Route: Unpacking Two Decades ofMigration-Related Measures in EU Development Funds. Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, 2025: doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2024.2424163

Zardo, F.; Slominski, P. (2025). Governing the area of freedom, security, and justice. In Handbook of European Union Governance. In: Handbook of European Union Governance: 114-126, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK

Czaika, M.; Bohnet, H.; Zardo, F. (2024). Categorical and spatial interlinkages within the European migration policy mix. European Union Politcs, Volume 25(1): 173-196

Czaika, M.; Bohnet, H.; Zardo, F.; Bijak, J. (2024). European migration governance in the context of uncertainty. International Migration, 26 July 2024: https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.13308

Wolff. S.; Zardo, F. (2024). The role of sub-national actors in coordinative Europeanisation: insights from the digitalisation of asylum services. Comparative European Politics, online: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41295-024-00389-1

Czaika, M.; Bohnet, H.; Zardo, F.; Bijak, J. (2024). Sources of uncertainty in migration scenarios. In: Bijak, J., From Uncertainty to Policy: A Guide to Migration Scenarios: 23ff, Edward Elgar Publishing, Southampton, UK

Hadj-Abdou, L.; Zardo, F. (2024). Migrant categories and the politics of labelling. In: Research Handbook on the Sociology of Migration: https://doi.org/10., Edward Elgar Publishing, Northampton, US

Bohnet, H.; Zardo, F.; Binder, C.; Dalkiran, M.; Günay, C.; Pisoiu, D.; Dzihic V.; Reichelt, S. (2024). The Impact of Migration on International Relations: Power Relations, Security, and Migration Diplomacy Reexamined.

Rössl, L.; Zardo, F.; Khoury, C. (2024). Blurred vision: potential and challenges of co-creation approaches for migrants’ visibility. In: In/Visibility of Flight: 87-114, De Gruyter, Bielefeld

Zardo, F.; Tservenis, D. R. (2024). Two decades of EU funds for migration and asylum : the MigFund dataset. EUI Working Paper, 32: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/77186

Czaika, M.; Bohnet, H.; Zardo, F. (2023). Categorical and spatial interlinkages within the European migration policy mix. European Union Politics, Online First: https://doi.org/10.1177/14651165231209941

Zardo, F.; Rössl, L.; Khoury, C. (2023). Adapting to Crisis: The Governance of Public Services for Migrants and Refugees during COVID-19 in Four European Cities. social sciences, 2023, 12(4): 213 ff.

Zardo, F. (2023). Map traps: the spatiality of EU migration policy instruments in the Southern Neighbourhood. In: Di Peri,R.; Meier, D. (eds.), Mediterranean in dis/order. Space, Power and Politics: Chapter 5, Michigan University Press, Michigan

Czaika, M.; Bohnet, H.; Zardo, F.; Bijak, J. (2023). European migration governance in the context of uncertainty.

Tsourdi, E.; Zardo, F.; Sayed N. (2023). Funding the EU’s external migration policy: ‘Same old’ or potential for sustainable collaboration?

Deters, H.; Zardo F. (2022). The european commission in Covid-19 vaccine cooperation: leadership vs coronationalism? Journal of European Public Policy, online: 1-21

Seeberg, P.; Zardo F. (2022). From Mobility Partnerships to Migration Compacts: security implications of EU-Jordan relations and the informalization of migration governance. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 6/48: 1345-1362

Zardo, F. (2022). The EU Trust Fund for Africa: Geopolitical space making through migration policy instruments. Geopolitics, 27/2: 584-603

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Lectures (Extract Research Database)

European migration governance ad uncertainty: a bi-directional relationship

Shifting grounds: Rethinking and navigating the uncertainty of migration trajectories, governance regimes, and research, 08/10/2025

Venti anni di fondi europei per la migrazione: tra controllo, protezione e sviluppo

Memorie e luoghi dell’esilio. Tracce, solidarietà, violazione ESCAPES, 11/09/2025

The EU´s institutional communication on migration policies

European Union in International Affairs, 21/05/2025

The EU Green Deal and the negotiation of Climate-Migration Linkages in EU-Mediterranean Relations

Evolving Politics of the European Green Deal using Text as Data approaches, 24/03/2025

? Sliding Doors in Human Mobility: Legal Pathways and Border (Im)permeability

International Studies Association General Conference, 02/02/2025

EUTF Legacy

Evaluation of the EU Trust Fund for Africa, 10/12/2024

Migration as a driver of EU-Neighbourhood relations? 

Old and New Leverages in EU-Neighbourhood Relations, 12/09/2024

Following AENEAS' route: unpacking two decades of migration-related measures in EU development funds

ECPR Standing Group on the European Union Conference, 21/06/2024

Round Table: Sliding Doors to the EU: Complementary Pathways and Border (Im)permeability

ECPR Standing Group on the European Union Conference, 20/06/2024

The Evolution of the Internal-External Nexus in EU Migration Policy: A Relational Analysis of the Role of the EEAS

ECPR Standing Group on the European Union Conference, 19/06/2024

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