Jill Ahrens is a Lecturer and Senior Researcher in the Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science (ISS) at Utrecht University and a Visiting Researcher at the Radboud University Network on Migrant Inclusion (RUNOMI). In addition, she serves as a Board Member of the Standing Committee on Migrant Transnationalism (MITRA) within the largest European network of scholars in the area of migration and integration (IMISCOE). Her broad research interests include youth, education and employment; the interactions between integration and transnationalim; migration wellbeing and development; and onward migration. She held visiting positions at universities in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the United Arab Emirates. Jill also is a co-creator and intercultural companion of Migrantour Utrecht.
Jill is involved in the following ongoing projects:
- REFAIR - Regulating the Grey Zone: Fairness, Informality, and the Boundaries of Work (2026-2030)
- Ken je mij: Migrantour Guided Walking Tour in Kanaleneiland pilot with MBO Utrecht (2026)
- ANCRES - Corridors, Infrastructures and Trajectories for Attracting and Retaining High-Skilled Talent in Europe - IOS seed funding (2025-2026)
- Migrantour Utrecht - a Sustainable Tourism Initiative and Guided Walking Tour (2021 - present)
She also contributed to these concluded projects:
- MIRREM - Measuring Irregular Migration and Related Policies (2021-2025)
- Mieux+ - Holistic Approach to the Integration of Migrants and Refugees (2024)
- RE-WIRING - Realising Girls' and Women's Inclusion, Representation and Empowerment (2021-2022)
- EduHubMig - Knowledge Migration Flows in Education Hubs: Mobile Students enrolled in Indian and British Branch campuses in the United Arab Emirates (2017-2020)
- INTEGRIM - Integration and International Migration: Pathways and Integration Policies (2014-2015)
- International Student Mobility Literature and Statistical Review (2010)
- MAFE - Migrations between Africa and Europe (2009-2010)
- Motivations and Experiences of UK Students to Study Abroad (2008-2009)