Objective How do migrants develop the competence to successfully operate within a new society, and will these newly acquired intercultural skills and attitudes transfer between individuals and geographical locations? Can migration, and to what extent, trigger a shift towards more tolerance and respect for ethnic and cultural diversity in the countries sending migrants? And how are these effects mediated by particular conditions? These are the questions the TRANSFORmIG project seeks to answer by investigating recent massive migration between Poland and Great Britain and Germany. The ‘Polish case’ is highly instructive because of diametrically opposed contexts between which the transnational migrants regularly ‘switch’: Britain and Germany are characterized by a level and kind of multi-cultural complexity that is unknown to immigrants from Poland which is recognized as one of the most ethnically homogeneous country in the world.The TRANSFORmIG project puts the hypothesis that contact with diversity – socializing with people of diverse backgrounds – leads to (a positive) change of attitudes both among migrants and their peer groups in the communities of origin, and that these effects are mediated by the particular configurations and representations of diversity.The TRANSFORmIG project entails interdisciplinary, multi-method research in selected localities in Great Britain, Germany and Poland. Spanning sociology, anthropology, history and media studies, the project investigates with the help of a longitudinal qualitative study, individual and group interviews, ethnography and discourse analysis how people’s attitudes and skills to act in diverse societies change over time and in dependence with historical and contemporary conditions. Findings will significantly advance social scientific understanding of the processes of transnational transfer of values and attitudes and the spread of intercultural competences under the condition of growing diversification of societies. Fields of science social sciencessociologyanthropologysocial sciencessociologydemographyhuman migrations Programme(s) FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific programme: "Ideas" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) ERC-SG-SH3 - ERC Starting Grant - Environment and society Call for proposal ERC-2012-StG_20111124 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-SG - ERC Starting Grant Coordinator HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITAET ZU BERLIN Address Unter den linden 6 10117 Berlin Germany See on map Region Berlin Berlin Berlin Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Principal investigator Magdalena Nowicka (Dr.) Administrative Contact Ingmar Schmidt (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window EU contribution € 1 349 896,00 Beneficiaries (2) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITAET ZU BERLIN Germany EU contribution € 1 349 896,00 Address Unter den linden 6 10117 Berlin See on map Region Berlin Berlin Berlin Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Principal investigator Magdalena Nowicka (Dr.) Administrative Contact Ingmar Schmidt (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN EV Participation ended Germany EU contribution € 0,00 Address Hofgartenstrasse 8 80539 Munchen See on map Region Bayern Oberbayern München, Kreisfreie Stadt Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Steven Allen Vertovec (Prof.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window