Sophie's research focusses on international environmental law (particularly climate), international institutions, different forms of international law-making, and intersections between environmental and economic law.

For her PhD thesis at the Department of Law of the European University Institute, to be defended in autumn 2026, Sophie conducted a socio-legal study of the life of the ambiguous principles of equity, common but differentiated responsibilities, and sustainable development (Article 3 UNFCCC) in the international climate regime. She investigated patterns of engagement and disengagement with these principles in the regulation and governance of climate finance, particularly the Green Climate Fund, where Sophie undertook interviews and participant observation. The study has found that the originally constructive ambiguity of the principles has problematic effects on regime development, the emancipatory potential of the UN climate regime, and financial support for meaningful systemic change. Through her research, Sophie has developed novel and transferrable understandings of how legal mandates, institutional structures, bureaucratic practices, and political dynamics interact in the climate regime, and how legal design ultimately shapes distributive outcomes.

Being trained not only in international, European, and comparative law (EUI and VU Amsterdam), but also in political science, international relations, and economics (VU Amsterdam and WWU Münster), Sophie has an inherently interdisciplinary approach to the study of international legal phenomena and is committed to methodological diversity. Her work is motivated by the concerns of critical approaches to law, most importantly the questions raised and modes of questioning developed by feminist and Third World Approaches to International Law.

Sophie is currently a visiting fellow at the Department of Legal Studies at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy and has previously been a visitor at the Graduate School of International Studies at Ewha Women's University in Seoul, South Korea (2024).