Julia Mourão Permoser receives ERC Consolidator Grant

Prof. Dr. Julia Mourão Permoser, political scientist at the Department for Migration and Globalisation at the University for Continuing Education Krems, has been awarded the prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant for her research project "Ethics in Action: Navigating Ethical Dilemmas of Solidarity with Immigrants" (MIGSOL). The global comparative study is one of a total of nine projects selected for funding in Austria in 2025 and aims to provide theoretical foundations for decision-making processes related to ethical dilemmas in migration policy.

People acting in the fields of migration and forced displacement are frequently confronted with difficult moral decisions, often having to choose between courses of action that each involve problematic consequences. To date, there has been a lack of systematic comparative research into how such decisions are made and which political and societal factors are decisive in shaping them.

MIGSOL addresses this research gap by focusing on political and civil society actors who support irregular migrants and promote their social participation - for example through regularization campaigns, trade union support measures, or humanitarian assistance. Given the high degree of politicization surrounding irregular migration, the project assumes that these actors, in particular, are confronted with especially complex ethical tensions.

The project's objective is to develop a theory that explains decision-making processes in dealing with ethical dilemmas in migration policy. Using qualitative methods, the project team will conduct field research in ten countries across the Global North and the Global South. MIGSOL is thus the first global comparative study to systematically examine ethical dilemmas in migration policy.

At the center of the project are questions of how political and civil society actors navigate ethical dilemmas, which factors influence their decisions, and how these decisions affect their political identities. MIGSOL departs from dominant approaches that locate value conflicts exclusively between differing moral positions and instead focuses on internal contradictions within the same moral orientation. The project is theoretically situated at the intersection of political science, sociology, and ethics.

Mixed-methods approach
These questions will be examined through a comprehensive global comparative study conducted at ten research sites. The interdisciplinary project team will employ a mixed-methods approach combining ethnographic observation, qualitative interviews, and visual methodologies. Up to 400 interviews are planned with representatives from five groups of actors: national and local political decision-makers, trade unions, religious organizations, and civil society networks engaged in supporting migrants. The research findings will also be made accessible to a broader public, including through a curated artistic exhibition.

Through its innovative research questions, interdisciplinary theoretical framework, and the global scope of its empirical work, MIGSOL will make a significant contribution to international migration research. Above all, the project will generate new insights into how political and civil society actors make ethical decisions in migration contexts, thereby helping to better understand and address future challenges in migration policy.

About the researcher
Julia Mourão Permoser is Professor of Migration and Integration at the Department of Migration and Globalization at the University for Continuing Education Krems, where she also directs the PhD Program in Migration Studies. She studied at Georgetown University (BA in Foreign Service), the Vienna School of International Studies (MA in International Studies), and earned her PhD in Political Science from the University of Vienna. Her research focuses on the democratic and ethical challenges of migration governance.

In addition to the new project, she leads the FWF-funded project "Migration as Moral Politics" and is co-coordinator of the research initiative "The Ethics of Migration Policy Dilemmas" at the European University Institute in Florence. Mourão Permoser serves as Associate Editor of the journal Comparative Migration Studies and as Senior Editorial Fellow at Migration Politics. Her work is internationally recognized and widely cited.

About the grant
The European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant supports outstanding researchers in implementing visionary, investigator-driven projects with a duration of up to five years and their own research teams. The funding is thematically open and awarded solely on the basis of scientific excellence. With this grant, Mourão Permoser becomes the third researcher at the Department for Migration and Globalisation to receive an ERC grant within three years - a strong signal of the relevance of research on migration and asylum and of the sustained contribution the University for Continuing Education Krems makes to academic and societal debate.

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