Centre for Fundamental Rights welcomes new Director Violeta Moreno-Lax

The Hertie School is delighted to announce the appointment of Violeta Moreno-Lax, a world-leading expert in international and EU law, as the inaugural Wübben Foundation Professor of International Law and the Director of the Centre for Fundamental Rights. 

As the new Centre Director, Moreno-Lax will concentrate on value conflicts and their influence on international law and policy, further enriching the centre's research agenda. She will present her plans for the centre and contribute to a panel discussion on “The State of International Law in the 21st Century” at the Opening Ceremony of the Hertie School’s 2025–2026 Academic Year on 10 September.

“With fundamental rights under pressure worldwide, scholarship and practice urgently need advocates who can both defend and advance human rights with new perspectives and innovative solutions,” says Hertie School President Cornelia Woll. “We are proud to welcome Professor Moreno-Lax, a distinguished figure in the field of international law, who will play a crucial role in advancing the mission of our Centre for Fundamental Rights with her extensive expertise. Her research will deepen our understanding of the complex dynamics between competing legal, moral and political values, offering critical insights for the protection of fundamental rights on a global scale.”

Moreno-Lax to spearhead work on “one of the key global challenges of our time” 

As head of the Centre for Fundamental Rights, Professor Moreno-Lax will lead research on value conflicts at the international level. “The clash of values is one of the key global challenges of our time: values influence political discourse, can determine election outcomes, and reshape political systems,” states Moreno-Lax. 

Through the research project "Collisions", Moreno-Lax will explore these conflicts from legal, political and ethical perspectives. “Value collisions are particularly visible in highly politicised and polarising subjects, like war and security, climate change, and migration,” explains Moreno-Lax. “The purpose of the project is to understand which values matter and why, which function do they play in law and policy at the international level, and how can and should clashes between them be reconciled.”

About her appointment at the Hertie School, Professor Moreno-Lax states: “I am thrilled to join the Hertie School and its buzzing academic community. As the new Director of the Centre for Fundamental Rights, I am eager to foster a culture of innovative, transformative and impactful interdisciplinary research in collaboration with outstanding colleagues, contributing to cementing its position as a global leader in the field.”

Moreno-Lax’s professorship supported by Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft

The appointment of Professor Moreno-Lax at the Centre for Fundamental Rights is supported by the foundation Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft. Marion Mueller from the foundation’s Management Board comments: “Violeta Moreno-Lax exemplifies what Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft aims to fund: academic excellence grounded in a truly international perspective. Her work on international and EU law shapes global discourse on fundamental rights far beyond national boundaries.”

About Professor Moreno-Lax

Before joining the Hertie School, Moreno-Lax held the ICREA Research Professorship in International and European Law at the University of Barcelona. She was also a Full Professor of Law at Queen Mary University of London, where she served as inaugural Director of the (B)OrderS Centre for the Legal Study of Borders, Migration and Displacement. In addition, she is a Visiting Professor of the College of Europe and legal adviser and founding member of the de:border // migration justice collective, leading on strategic litigation. 

Previously, Moreno-Lax held positions at NYU, the University of Oxford, and The Hague Academy of International Law, among others. Her past research, cited by leading courts, including the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Belgian Conseil d’État, has been supported by prestigious grants and awards, such as the Ramón y Cajal grant by the Spanish government, the Emile Noël programme of NYU School of Law, a Fernand Braudel Senior Research Fellowship at the EUI, the Jean Monnet and H2020 programmes of the European Commission, as well as the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust. She serves on the Editorial Boards of the European Journal of Migration and Law and the International Journal of Refugee Law, and has published extensively on border violence, migration and security, and human rights, areas on which she regularly advises UN agencies, the EU institutions, national governments, and non-governmental organisations. 

About the Centre for Fundamental Rights

Founded in 2020 by its inaugural Director, Professor Başak Çalı, and inspired by the vision of the late Hertie School President Professor Henrik Enderlein, the Centre for Fundamental Rights advances research, teaching and public engagement on contemporary and emerging challenges to the protection of fundamental and human rights in domestic, regional and global law and governance. The centre approaches these challenges drawing on critical, interdisciplinary and practice-informed perspectives. Its research spans a wide array of pressing issues, including: AI, technology, and digitalisation; armed conflict and security; asylum, migration, and borders; democratic backsliding, political repression, and authoritarianism; economic justice, wealth, and inequality; equality and non-discrimination; gender and LGBTQI+ rights; health, care, and social protection; institutions and accountability; and the climate crisis. 

About Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft

Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft is a private grant-making foundation based in Berlin. It aims to help strengthen Germany as an excellent, internationally visible, and competitive science and research hub. Outstanding international academics at various career stages are at the heart of its funding activities.

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