Sabina Avdagic

It is with great sadness that we share the news of the recent death of our colleague Sabina Avdagic from the School of Law, Politics and Sociology (LPS). Sabina’s husband, Dr Uli Sedelmeier, and her two daughters are much in our minds at this very sad time and we send them our deepest condolences. 

Sabina joined the University in 2006 as a RCUK (Research Council UK) research fellow. Appointed to the Department of Politics and Contemporary European Studies (as it was then), she quickly established herself as an outstanding scholar and a highly valued and respected colleague. She then had a second period as RCUK research fellow, excelling in her field of scholarship. When she moved into a full lectureship, it became clear that she was also a talented and gifted teacher, challenging her students to reach their full potential and supporting them intellectually and personally with their educational journey. Her initial field of work was primarily in the area of comparative political economy whilst more latterly she worked on the intersection of the welfare state and immigration. 

Since 2021 Sabina had the role of Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange (DRaKE) in the School of Law, Politics and Sociology (LPS). In this role, she introduced several innovations which enhanced the research culture in the School. She was also a very active member of the University RaKE committee, and a key member of the Researcher Development Concordat Steering Group. Within LPS, Sabina was a member of the Sussex European Institute. In all her roles, she provided outstanding support to achieve ambitious research goals. Sabina’s commitment to seeing things through, along with her vision of possibilities, has created a brilliant legacy which will continue to shape and benefit us all. 

The School of Law, Politics and Sociology are collating a condolence book to which you can contribute electronically if you wish. If so, please send the text you would like to have included in the book to Helen Gaterell (H.K.Gaterell@sussex.ac.uk). 

There are two tributes to Sabina on the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics website, the first a news story, the second a memorium article.

As the Vice-Chancellor said at last week’s Open Forum, Sabina contributed enormously to Sussex, and was well loved by colleagues and students alike. She will be very much missed.