Elitsa Molles graduated with her Doctorate in Political Science from Boston College in 2015. Her research focuses on how local identity politics produce distinct belonging and incorporation patterns for migrant communities in new European migration spaces.

Research and teaching interests include immigration politics, policies, and belonging; refugee regimes and borders; European politics; as well as democratization in Eastern European societies.

Molles has taught a number of courses at Boston College and Trinity College, Hartford, including courses on Immigration in Europe, Comparative Politics, World Politics, International Organizations, State-Building and Collapse, as well as the Comparative Politics of Populism in Europe. She is the recipient of the Zeit Stiftung Bucerius Scholarship for Immigration Studies.