Dagmar Schiek remains a honory professor at QUB after her change to University College Cork in December 2020. While at QUB, she directed the Centre of European and Transnational Studies (CETS), which comprises Queen's University Belfast's Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (JMCE). The JMCE' 3 year research programme "Tensions at the Fringes of the European Union" (TREUP) was funded by the European Commission until  August 2018, and is continued through CETS. 

Her research in European Union Law and Comparative Law with specific expertise in labour law focuses on a critical legal studies perspective on the EU’s unique socio-economic model, its impact on global governance and the interrelation of economic integration within the EU and Europe’s societies, and encompasses research on European Union antidiscrimination law and policy.

From 2016, she has also contributed to the "Brexit debate", with a focus on how the EU should react to the UK's decision to withdraw from the European Union, in particular with a view to the position of Northern Ireland. 

Professor Schiek’s unique contribution to EU socio-economic law consists on the one hand in redefining the EU’s constitutional law in ways that enable the Union to meet the challenges of economic and social integration, and on the other hand in promoting transnational social governance as a concept adding to the institutional governance (of the EU)  In deriving those concepts she uses interdisciplinary methods, including empirical and discursive analysis of case law, in particular the Court of Justice of the European Union.

In the field of European and international anti-discrimination law, Professor Schiek focuses on intersectional inequalities, for example by convening two European Conferences on Multidimensional Equality Law (Oldenburg 2007, Leeds 2009) and by contributing to the third “Equal is Not Enough” conference in Antwerp (February 2015) and leading a mentoring project for a research consortium investigating intersectional inequalities and welfare provision in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia (2014-2015).

From 2008, she has held two consecutive research grants on the EU’s socio-economic constitutionalism (2008-2010, 2011-2014), and has led a research study for the European Parliament on EU social and labour rights under internal market law, in cooperation with colleagues from CERIC (Leeds). 

 Her first English monograph, “Economic and Social Integration - the Challenge for EU Constitutional Law” (2012), is based on the discursive analysis of case law; and her latest edited collection investigates “The EU Economic and Social Model after the Global Crisis: interdisciplinary perspectives” (Ashgate, 2013). She is committed to publish the fourth edition of her "European Labour Law" (in German, last edition of 2007) in 2020, to author a new edition of "A Critical Introduction to European Law" with Cambridge University Press (last edition of 2009, co-author Ian Ward) and also holds a book contract for "EU Anti-Discrimination Law and Policy - A Critical Appraisal" (Edward Elgar). A full list of publications is part of the extended cv, which can be found here

When first coming to QUB, Dagmar acquired funding for two PhD projects investigating the effective combat of intersectional inequalities through implementation of EU anti-discrimination law in countries which pursue so-called consociationalism in their political constitutions (Biljana Kotevska compared 3 countries of the former Yugoslavia, and Clare Rice compared Belgium and Northern Ireland, Clare passed her viva on 10 January 2020, and Biljana on 24 March 2020). Intersectionality is also one of the theoretical underpinnings of the PhD research conducted by Soibi Goodwin-Clark (funded by the Nigerian government). Soibi investigates the challenges of implementing international law protection of mentally disabled children in a state in which federal and state laws compete with customary laws, focusing on inequalities at the intersection of childhood (age) and disability.

Professor Schiek continues PhD supervision as a honorary professor. Aislinn Fanning, whose MRes and subseqyent PhD are funded by the ESRC, researcher the future of Anti-Discrimination Law in Northern Ireland after "Brexit", and is co-supervised by Prof Schiek and Prof Mallinder, with Prof O'Donohughe (University of Durham) as external supervisor. Dylan Wilkinson (first supervisor Dr Melo Araujo) works on "Northern Ireland's hybrid status" between the EU and the UK after "Brexit", in a project funded by the DfE.

Dagmar Schiek is active in the University Association of Contemporary European Studies, an individual member of the IUS COMMUNE research school and affiliated to Euro-CEFG, and a member of the journal advisory boards of the Maastricht Journal of Comparative and European Law, and Kritische Justiz (Critical Legal Studies, Germany).

Dagmar Schiek has held a number of visiting faculty positions at various institutions including London School of Economics, Maastricht University (Faculty of Law – METRO), University of Hamburg and Ulster University, lastly (2081/19) at the law faculty of European University Viadrina in Frankfurt a.d. Oder (Germany). 

She also held a number of expert roles. For example, she was an International Scholar under the Higher Education Support Program by the Open Society Institute Budapest, advising Kyiv Mohyla Academy Law School in the Ukraine on the structure of their academic programmes at all levels, and offering research mentoring to faculty members. She has been a Member of the European Commission’s Legal Expert Network on application of Community Law on equal treatment between women and men for more than 10 years from 2000, initially as German national expert, and later as ad hoc expert. She teaches regularly at the Academy of European Law in Trier. Having held an ordinary Jean Monnet Chair in EU Law from 2000, she was awarded a Jean Monnet ad personam Chair in 2011 for her ongoing research on interdisciplinary perspectives on European economic and social integration. To qualify for this award, applicants have to deliver evidence of a high-level international teaching and publication record that was achieved, at least in part, outside their country of residence.

Dagmar Schiek is Professor of Law with a focus on European Union Law, Comparative Law and Labour Law.

Before joining Queen’s, Dagmar held the Chair in EU Law at University of Leeds (Britain) from August 2007 to October 2014, where she also was Director of the Centre of European Law and Legal Studies (which is now dissolved). She has been Professor of European Economic Law at Carl-von-Ossietzky-Universität Oldenburg (Germany, 10/1999-7/2007), where she was also the Director of the Hanse Law School (2002-2007) and one of altogether five deans of student education (2002-2006). Before becoming a professor she was Associate Professor of Civil and Labour Law at Bremen University (11/1993-9/1999), and lecturer for civil and labour law at Bundeswehruniversität Hamburg (7/1989-2/1990). She has also been visiting faculty at the Universities of the London School of Economics (Britain), Maastricht (The Netherlands), Ulster University (Northern Ireland), Hamburg and Gießen (both Germany). From 1990 to 1993 she advised German states governments in Berlin and Hessen on constitutional, employment and equality law and drafted these states anti-discrimination legislation.

Dagmar Schiek graduated from the University of Hamburg (Germany) in 1988 with first degrees in law and journalism (additional subject), which were all awarded with distinction. She also is eligible to hold juridical office in Germany (Groβe Juristische Staatsprüfung). She holds a PhD from the University of Hamburg (1992), on the basis of a thesis asking the question “Is lifting the ban on women’s nightwork in Europe a straight road to equality?” The thesis analyses the change necessary to transform specific protective workplace legislation preventing women from certain occupation into protective legislation enabling all workers to maintain their general health while caring for their family and being employed. She has been granted the venia legend (authority to teach) in German and European Civil and Labour Law by University of Bremen (1999). This was on the basis of her Habilitation thesis on “Justice Differentiated? Protection against Discrimination in Contract Law” (published in German by Nomos publishers, 2000) and her inauguration lecture on “A sustainable legal frame for e-commerce” (not published).

Professor Schiek's full academic cv can be found here

European Union Law (at all levels)

Employment Law

Labour Law and Multinational Economies