Dr Lamis Saleh is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Oxford, where her work focuses on illicit trafficking across borders and contested spaces, and its implications for governance, security, and socio-economic dynamics. Her broader research lies at the intersection of conflict, violence, migration, and global security, with a focus on how patterns of insecurity, governance, and socio-economic conditions shape individual and collective behaviour in fragile and conflict-affected settings.

Methodologically, her work combines quantitative approaches with experimental and survey-based methods to analyse behavioural responses under conditions of institutional fragility. She has designed and implemented large-scale data collection efforts, including survey and panel studies, frequently integrating experimental components to capture decision-making processes. Her research draws on extensive empirical experience across Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, enabling comparative insights into how conflict, insecurity, and governance shape perceptions and behaviour  across diverse contexts. Her research further connects micro-level behavioural evidence with broader socio-economic and political dynamics.

Her research has been published in leading interdisciplinary and field journals, including Journal of Population Economics, Journal of Economic Psychology, Journal of Behavioural and Experimental Economics, Journal of Refugee Studies, and International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction.

Before joining the University of Oxford, she worked as a Senior Researcher at the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC), where she conducted empirical research on small arms and light weapons, disarmament processes, and cross-border security dynamics, as well as on return migration and reintegration within large-scale international research projects. Her work combined academic research with policy-oriented analysis and direct engagement with governmental and international stakeholders, contributing to evidence-based discussions at the interface of research and policy. She has also worked on experimental research with displaced refugee populations in multiple international contexts.

Lamis holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Hamburg, where her research focused on behavioural and experimental approaches to understanding the impact of violence and displacement on socio-economic behaviour. She also holds a Master’s degree in Economics with a minor in Political Science from the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg.