A/ProfOlga Oleinikova

Dr Olga Oleinikova’s research examines how states and institutions govern human mobility in times of political, environmental and social change. Her work spans migration governance, climate mobility, forced displacement and humanitarian protection, migration from crisis regimes, democracy and democratic change, diaspora and cross-border politics, and emerging forms of human mobility. Her current research focuses particularly on climate mobility governance: how governments anticipate, enable, constrain, redirect or prevent movement in response to climate change, and how these choices shape mobility, immobility, inequality and regional resilience. Her books include New Eastern European Migration to Australia: From Czech Republic, Hungary and Ukraine to Sydney and Beyond (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023), Life Strategies of Migrants from Crisis Regimes: Achiever or Survivor? (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), and Democracy, Diaspora, Territory: Europe and Cross-Border Politics (Routledge, 2019).

Climate mobility and migration governance

Dr Oleinikova’s current research examines how states govern climate-related mobility across the Asia-Pacific, with a particular focus on policy design, adaptation, displacement, relocation, migration and settlement. She leads the DFAT-funded project Contrasting Futures and Australia’s Regional Role: Climate Migration in Resource-Rich Brunei and Emerging Vietnam (2026–2027), which examines how governments with different resources, migration systems and institutional capacities respond to climate-related mobility. Her UTS-funded project Governing Mobility Futures in the Philippines (2026) extends this research to the Philippines. She is also developing research with AMES Australia and the University of Ottawa, in partnership with the Canadian Government, on settlement support for Tuvaluan communities affected by climate change. Together, this work develops a comparative research agenda on climate mobility governance and Australia’s role in shaping regional responses to emerging mobility futures.

Forced displacement and migration governance

Dr Oleinikova’s research examines how states and regional institutions govern forced and voluntary displacement, with particular attention to policy design, settlement outcomes and the experiences of migrants and displaced communities. Her work includes research on refugee employment, higher-education outcomes for refugees and asylum seekers, humanitarian migration and war-related displacement. Funded projects include Refugee Employment in Sydney: The Role of Multinational Corporations (City of Sydney Council, 2023–2024) and Developing an Indicator of Graduate Outcomes for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (UTS Social Impact Grant, 2024–2025). Her research on Ukrainian displacement includes the Curtin University-funded pilot Language, Agency, and Displacement: Ukrainian War Refugees in Australia (2022) and forthcoming work on forced migration trajectories and humanitarian settlement in Australia.

Migration from crisis regimes, democracy and transnational politics

For over a decade, Dr Oleinikova has investigated how political instability, conflict and authoritarianism shape migrants’ life strategies, settlement experiences and transnational practices. This work is captured in Life Strategies of Migrants from Crisis Regimes: Achiever or Survivor? (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), New Eastern European Migration to Australia (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023), and the co-edited Democracy, Diaspora, Territory: Europe and Cross-Border Politics (Routledge, 2019). Her research also examines democratisation, democratic backsliding, diaspora politics and cross-border political engagement in crisis-affected states.

Emerging human mobilities

Dr Oleinikova is the Founding Director of the Global Institute of Emerging Human Mobilities (GIEHM) at UTS, which brings together research on new and emerging forms of human mobility. GIEHM’s research agenda connects climate mobility with other emerging mobility processes, including reproductive mobility, displacement, immobility and changing forms of transnational movement. Through GIEHM, Dr Oleinikova leads an international research network examining how environmental, political, demographic and technological transformations are reshaping who moves, who stays, and under what conditions.

Funded Research Projects (in addition to the listed below):

• UTS FDS Research Support Funding (2026) - To support research on the topic "Governing Mobility Futures in the Philippines: A Manila Pilot on Climate Migration Governance"
• UTS Social Impact Grant Fund (2024) – To support research on the topic “Developing an indicator of graduate outcomes for refugees and asylum seekers students supported by the Humanitarian Scholarship Program
• Ukrainian Studies Foundation in Australia Grant, Australia (2023) - To support Visiting Research Fellowship Program for Ukrainians at the University of Technology Sydney
• UTS SOC Small/Seeding Research Grant (2023) - To conduct pilot research “Refugee Employment in Sydney: The Role of Multinational Corporations”
• Curtin University Research Grant - Humanities Development Fund (2022) - To conduct pilot research in preparation for ARC Linkage grant “Language, agency, and displacement: Ukrainian war refugees in Australia”
• UTS Research Re-Establishment Grant (2021) - To support research project “The New East Europeans on The Move: From Czech Republic, Hungary and Ukraine to Australia”.
• The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) grant (2018) - To organise and conduct a panel discussion within the European Forum Alpbach "War and Democracy in Ukraine"