Alice Fill

Please tell us about your research project.

I am PhD candidate in International Law and International Relations at the École Normale Supérieure – PSL and Università degli Studi Roma Tre, affiliated with the Chair in Geopolitics of Risk and the Institut Convergences Migrations. My work bridges legal studies and international political sociology, with a focus on human mobility, border governance, and digital infrastructures. My research explores in particular the datafication of human mobility in West Africa. I investigate how legal frameworks and socio-technical infrastructures co-evolve in the governance of mobility, particularly at the intersection of migration governance, humanitarian action, and security. Drawing on extensive fieldwork across Mauritania, Senegal, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire, my project analyses how different data systems shape mobility experiences and legal regimes, including human rights, criminal law, and mobility law.

Adopting an infrastructural lens, I examine the entanglements of legal norms and digital infrastructures, paying close attention to the forms of power, agency, and contestation they enable. During my time in Oxford, I intend to deepen my focus on the legal and technological infrastructures operating along the Mauritania–Mali border. This critical phase of my research will allow me to refine my conceptual framework and advance the writing of my dissertation.

Could you please tell us a bit more about your scholarship/exchange programme?

My stay at the Maison Française d’Oxford is supported by a research fellowship awarded by ENS-PSL. This fellowship offers me a dedicated period from September to November 2025 to finalise my data analysis and advance the writing of my thesis. It also provides a unique opportunity to engage with the MFO’s vibrant intellectual environment and interdisciplinary research.

Alongside my residency, I am a Recognised Student at the Centre for Criminology (Faculty of Law). This affiliation is particularly significant to my project, as it enables dialogue between legal and sociological approaches to border infrastructures. I hope to make the most of this cross-institutional setting to consolidate my research, receive valuable feedback, and contribute actively to academic life at the MFO.

First impressions of Oxford/the University?

Oxford offers a uniquely stimulating environment, intellectually rich, inclusive, and remarkably open to spontaneous encounters. From the very first days, I have been impressed by the ease with which conversations and ideas emerge across disciplines, colleges, and research centres. The architecture of the University and the rhythm of the city both seem to encourage reflection and exchange.

At the MFO in particular, I have found a space of conviviality and genuine academic community. The atmosphere here is one of openness and shared curiosity – a perfect place to think, write, and engage critically with others. I look forward to the coming months as a time not only to focus on my own work, but also to contribute to ongoing discussions within and beyond the MFO.