The department is a lively community that is recognised internationally as one of the top centres for research and teaching in development studies.
Cathryn Costello is Andrew W Mellon Associate Professor of International Human Rights and Refugee Law, and a fellow of St Antony's College. From 2003-13, she was Francis Reynolds Fellow and Tutor in EU and Public Law at Worcester College, Oxford, during which time she also completed her DPhil studies on EU asylum and immigration law.
She has taught a range of public and EU law courses on the Oxford undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum. She began her academic career in 1998 as Lecturer in European Law at the Law School, Trinity College Dublin, and from 2000-03, she was also the Director of the Irish Centre for European Law. She has been a Visiting Professor at the University of San Francisco and a visiting research fellow at NYU School of Law and Melbourne Law School.
Cathryn has published widely on many aspects of EU and human rights law, including asylum and refugee law, immigration, EU Citizenship and third country national family members, family reunification and immigration detention. Her monograph The Human Rights of Migrants and Refugees in European Law was published by OUP at the end of 2015.
She also researches the intersections of immigration, asylum and labour law. Her work on this theme includes an edited collection (with Mark Freedland) Migrants at Work: Immigration and Vulnerability in Labour Law (Oxford University Press 2014) and a book chapter, 'Migrants and Forced Labour: A Labour Law Response' in A Bogg, C Costello, A Davies, J Prassl (eds) The Autonomy of Labour Law (Hart Publishing 2014).
Cathryn has undertaken research for UNHCR, the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. She is regularly invited to address diverse audiences, both academic and practical, such as the European Council of Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and International Association of Refugee Law Judges (IARLJ). She is also a Senior Research Associate of the Refugee Law Initiative of the University of London. She previously served on the boards of both the Irish Refugee Council and Immigrant Council of Ireland, and contributes to the policy work of ILPA.
Cathryn accepts outstanding doctoral students, seeking to research challenging issues in international refugee law, EU asylum and migration law, and the labour and human rights of migrants and refugees. Prospective doctoral students are advised to contact her directly to discuss research proposals well in advance of formally applying.
