Personal profile
Curriculum
Stephan Scheel is Professor of Political Sociology at Leuphana University Lüneburg. His research interests lie at the intersection of border and migration studies, citizenship studies, critical security studies, and science and technology studies. He is an expert in the field of biometric border control.
Academic Career
- since 2022: Professor of Political Sociology at Leuphana
- 2019-2022: Junior professor at the Institute of Sociology, University of Duisburg-Essen (Transnational Cooperation and Migration Research)
- 2017-2018: Post-Doc in the research project "Processing Citizenship" at the University of Twente, Netherlands
- 2014-2017: Post-Doc in the research project "ARITHMUS - How Data Make a People" at Goldsmith College, University of London
- 2014: PhD in Political and International Studies at the Open University in Milton Keynes, UK
- 2010: Magister Artium in Political Science at the University of Hamburg, Germany
Selected Awards
- 2023: ERC Starting Grant "Doing Digital Identities (DigID)“
Keywords
- Sociology
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities -
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
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Research collaborations from the last five years
Projects
- 2 Active
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EU COST Action on "Data Matters: Sociotechnical Challenges of European Migration and Border Control (DATAMIG)”
Scheel, S. (Project manager, academic)
28.09.23 → 27.09.27
Project: Research
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DigID: Doing Digital Identities
Scheel, S. (Project manager, academic), El-Kahil, S. (Project staff), O'Brien, O. (Project staff), Lambert, L. (Project staff) & Hargyono, S. (Project staff)
European Research Council (ERC)
01.02.23 → 31.01.28
Project: Research
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Research output
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Migrant struggles and moral economies of subversion: mimicry and opacity
Scheel, S., 05.2025, In: Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. 51, 10, p. 2648-2667 20 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile5 Citations (Scopus) -
Playing dirty: The shady governance and reproduction of migrant illegality
Scheel, S., 2025, In: Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. 51, 2, p. 464-482 19 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile8 Citations (Scopus) -
Re-bordering life and labor during the COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives from Latin America and the Caribbean
Álvarez Velasco, S., De Genova, N. & Scheel, S., 27.09.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space. 17 p., 23996544251383734.Research output: Journal contributions › Other (editorial matter etc.) › Research
Open AccessFile -
Regimes of Proof: On Contested Identities in Border and Migration Control
Bescherer, K. & Scheel, S., 11.10.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: International Migration. 63, 6, 12 p., e70099.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
The Deportation Gap as a Statistical Chimera: How Nonknowledge Informs Migration Policies
Scheel, S., 04.2025, In: Geopolitics. 30, 3, p. 1028-1050 23 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile
Activities
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DigID Advisory Board Meeting
Scheel, S. (Organiser), Lambert, L. (Organiser) & Hargyono, S. (Organiser)
08.10.2025 → 10.10.2025Activity: Participating in or organising an academic or articstic event › Conferences › Research
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The Autonomy of Citizenship – Learning from the appropriation of national ID cards in Malawi’s borderlands
Scheel, S. (Speaker)
23.09.2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Conference Presentations › Research
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The Autonomy of Citizenship - Learning from the appropriation of national ID cards in the Malawian borderlands
Scheel, S. (Speaker)
26.06.2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Conference Presentations › Research
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Vis-à-Vis
Scheel, S. (Speaker)
31.03.2025Activity: Participating in or organising an academic or articstic event › artistic events › Research
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Deferred Citizenship: obligatory passage points, disrupted infrastructures, surrogate papers and cruel optimism in digitized birth registration in Sierra Leone
Scheel, S. (Speaker)
11.07.2024Activity: Talk or presentation › talk or presentation in privat or public events › Research
Prizes
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Elected Member of the Global Young Faculty VII (MERCUR foundation)
Scheel, S. (Recipient), 2019
Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Transfer
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Michael Nicholson Thesis Prize of the British International Studies Association (BISA)
Scheel, S. (Recipient), 2015
Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research
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PhD-scholarship
Scheel, S. (Recipient), 01.10.2010
Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Education
Press/Media
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Big Data, Big Promises: Revisiting Migration Statistics in Context of the Datafication of Everything
Scheel, S. & Ustek-Spilda, F.
01.06.18
1 Media contribution
Press/Media