Reflections

Curiosity is what keeps research alive.

Here I collect notes, observations and articles on migration, rights and inclusion: the things I come across that are worth telling outside a paper.

Elisa Gamba listening during a conference, with notes and a notebook on the desk

Written for this site

The green leaflet of the exhibition Lines, Loops, Leaks, held in one hand

Art and rightsAn interconnected world, stupidly divided5 min read

Articles published elsewhere

Women's rights8 March. Women, academia and freedom: a conversation with an Iranian studentA conversation with Aida, an Iranian PhD candidate at an Arqus university, about studying, leaving, the long history of educated Persian women, and why “victim” is the wrong word for those who keep resisting.Arqus European University Alliance8 March 2026Read the article →UkraineListening Beyond Words: The Quiet Strength of Young Ukrainians Fleeing WarThe voices of young Ukrainians displaced to Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, gathered by the YoU Decide project: identity, hobbies, work and the search for a home when the emergency becomes everyday life.Human Rights Centre, University of Padua4 December 2025Read the article →Students at risk10 years of Norwegian supports for students at riskA trip to Norway to meet HK-Dir and SAIH, the organisations behind the StAR programme: how it works ten years on, the student activists it protects, and where it could go further.Human Rights Centre, University of Padua13 February 2025Read the article →Art and rights“Becoming Who You Are — Studying Despite Displacement” exhibition in BerlinA UNHCR exhibition in Berlin gathering the portraits and stories of 20 refugee students in 10 host countries, and what it says about the goal of 15% of refugees in higher education by 2030.Human Rights Centre, University of Padua1 October 2024Read the article →Inclusion“Di-segni di Pace”: reflecting about peace with refugee studentsSix months of monthly meetings between refugee and local students at the University of Padua, on peace and human rights, ending in a mural painted together.Human Rights Centre, University of Padua6 August 2024Read the article →Higher educationRefugees in the higher education system: overcoming the challenges of inclusionWhy only 7% of refugees reach university against a global average of 42%, what university corridors and the University of Padua are doing about it, and why enrolment is where inclusion begins rather than ends.Human Rights Centre, University of Padua3 July 2024Read the article →

Interviews and conversations

Conversations where I have been asked to explain this work: what students at risk means, why admission is only the beginning, and what belonging asks of a university.

SET Europe — Student Engagement Team22 June 2026

Supporting Students at Risk in Higher Education. An interview with Elisa Gamba.

Interview by Irina Samson

“Admission and scholarships measure entry, not inclusion. Real inclusion is measured by whether students can progress, complete, and feel they belong, not by whether they were let in.”

Read the full interview →

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