This year’s Mariella Carrino Grant -in memoriam was awarded to KM Rakibul Islam, a PhD candidate of the Doctoral Programme in Sociology of the State, Law and Justice at the Centre for Social Studies and the Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, for his research proposal “Beyond Borders, Beneath Roofs: Sociolegal Conflict, Housing Rights, and Migrant Precarity in Portuguese Agricultural Regions”.

His work lies at the intersection of socio-legal studies, migration governance, the housing crisis and human rights, focusing on South Asian migrant communities in Southern Europe.

The Mariella Carrino Grant - in memoriam is an award given by the International Institute for the Sociology of Law of Oñati (IISL), in Spain. It is a socio-legal research grant established in memory of Mariella Carrino, designed to support research projects carried out at the Institute.

About the awardee

KM Rakibul Islam is a Bangladeshi researcher based in Portugal, currently pursuing a PhD in Sociology of the State, Law and Justice at the University of Coimbra. His research focuses on the experiences of South Asian migrant agricultural workers in peripheral regions of Portugal (Odemira and Almeirim), addressing issues such as legal exclusion, informal work and housing insecurity.

His academic background includes master’s degrees from Sweden (Lund and Umeå) and a combined bachelor’s and master’s degree in Law from the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. His doctoral research has been recognised with two grants in 2025 - from FCT and the Oriente Foundation - and now with the Mariella Carrino Grant.

In addition to his academic work, he has been practising Law at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh since 2014, representing clients in vulnerable situations, and also works as a university lecturer.

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