Leila is currently an associate lecturer and researcher at the Department of Political Science, at the University of Vienna. This summer term she teaches a class on Social Movements and Migration (see https://ufind.univie.ac.at/de/course.html?lv=210074&semester=2017S). Previously to coming to Vienna she was a Fellow at the University of Sheffield working with Andrew Geddes on his ERC project MIGPROSP on migration governance. Before joining the research team of Prof. Geddes, she was a Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations (CTR) at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington D.C. Leila obtained her Ph.D. in 2013 from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. She has published on a wide array of topics including: Muslim mobilization, international migration, multiculturalism and cities, managing religion in Europe, politics of recognition, politics of belonging, and populist right-wing parties.

Her latest publication include: Migration and Refugees in the Mediterranean. In: Volpi, Frederic and Gillespie, Richard (eds.). Handbook on Mediterranean Politics. Routledge 2017 (with Sarah Wolff); Gender nationalism. New (old) politics of belonging. Austrian Journal of Political Science 2017, 46(1); The religious conversion of the Austrian populist right. In: Roy, O., McDonnell D. and Mazouki N. Saving the People: How Populists Hijack Religion. Hurst 2016.

Research interests: Muslim mobilization, international migration, multiculturalism and cities, and managing religion in Europe