Roberta

Perna

Roberta holds a PhD in Sociology and Political Science from the University of Turin (2017). Since January 2024, she has been a Tenured Scientist (científica titular) at the Institute for Public Goods and Policies (IPP-CSIC), where she is a member of the Social Policies and Welfare State Research Group (POSEB) and leads the Migration and Diversity Research Cluster. Prior to joining IPP, Roberta held various positions at national and international research institutes and universities ('Juan de la Cierva - Incorporación', Complutense University of Madrid, 2022-2023; Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellow, University of Liège, 2021-2022; ‘Juan de la Cierva-Formación’, IPP-CSIC, 2019-2021; FIERI, 2018).

Her research lies at the intersection of sociology and political science, focusing on the analysis of the nexus between social policy and other areas of public action—particularly migration and mobility governance and, more recently, climate change mitigation—with a strong comparative and multilevel perspective. She has participated in numerous projects funded by competitive national and international programmes. Among others, she is currently involved in the Horizon Europe project “Learning from Long-Term Care Practices for the European Care Strategy (LeTs-Care)”, where she coordinates two WP tasks, and in the project “The Welfare-Environmental-Economic nexus in public policies for deep Transitions (TWEET)”, which she co-leads with Christoph Kiefer.

In addition, Roberta has collaborated with leading international centres in the fields of social policy and migration studies, including the Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration, the Collaborative Research Centre “Global Dynamics of Social Policy” at the University of Bremen, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), and the Centre for Health and Migration in Austria. She has also been an active member of international scientific networks and organisations, such as the COST Action “Adapting European Health Systems to Diversity” (ADAPT), the Standing Committee “Families, Welfare, Care and the Life Course” of the International Migration Research Network (IMISCOE), and the Standing Group “Migration and Ethnicity” of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR).

This trajectory has resulted in a sustained body of scholarly work, including peer-reviewed articles in leading international journals in the fields of Political Science,  Sociology and Migration Studies, including South European Society and Politics, Public Administration, Social Policy & Administration, Health Policy, Social Science & Medicine, Comparative Migration Studies, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, and Ethnic & Racial Studies.

Alongside her research activities, Roberta has maintained a strong commitment to knowledge transfer and science communication. Notable examples include her contribution to the assessment and proposal of the Framework for a European Child Guarantee Action Plan in Spain (approved by the Council of Ministers in June 2022), as well as her current involvement in the design of the intervention and monitoring and evaluation system for Measure 13.3, “Promoting the Social and Labour Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups,” within the Doñana Action Framework (Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration).