Welcome to our interview series with a twist — where researchers choose from a pool of questions which ones they want to answer. It’s a chance to get to know them and their work from a more personal angle.
Today in the spotlight: Ola Ali who is a PhD Candidate researching Human Migration at CSH. She’s excited about research that goes beyond the numbers—work that can directly impact people’s lives. When she’s not diving into migration data, she’s exploring Vienna’s museums or digging through vinyl records.
What are you currently working on, and why is it exciting to you?
I’m currently researching how migrants and refugees navigate different kinds of borders—not just country borders, but also the more invisible ones, like integration and access to rights. My work spans a wide range: from predicting how many people might migrate from one country to another, to understanding what motivates scientists to move—whether it’s personal ties or institutional opportunities—to analyzing how long it takes refugees to gain legal stability and what barriers they face along the way.
What excites me is that I get to combine models, data, and storytelling in a way that can directly impact people’s lives. By analyzing large datasets, I can trace the legal journeys of individuals and uncover patterns—like why some nationalities face years-long asylum processes while others are resolved in months. Ultimately, I hope this work helps us improve the systems we have and design new ones that better reflect both our values and needs.
What’s the most unexpected place your work has taken you—intellectually or geographically?
I never planned to work on refugees and integration. But it has deeply shaped how I see science: not just as a tool for analysis, but as a way to reflect our values and influence real lives.
Geographically, my work at the Complexity Science Hub has also taken me to many unexpected places, from Brazil to Turkey to India—each offering new perspectives and shaping the questions I ask in my research.
What’s your go-to strategy when you’re stuck on a problem?
I get frustrated quickly, so my strategy is to give myself time before declaring I’m stuck. Often, I’m not truly stuck—I just can’t see the progress yet. Waiting and revisiting the problem with fresh eyes usually helps.
What’s one concept in complexity science you think everyone should know – and why?
One concept worth knowing is emergence. It’s the idea that simple local interactions can lead to complex global patterns. A great example is the Vicsek model, in which particles aligning with neighbors produce coordinated motion—like flocks or crowds—without any central control.
What do you enjoy doing when you're not thinking about complexity?
I like cooking and collecting vinyl records.
What’s your favorite place in Vienna so far?
I love Vienna’s museums—there’s surely one for every taste. My favorites so far are the Weltmuseum, with its interesting exhibitions, and the Leopold Museum for its timeless pieces.
