This Marie S. Curie Action allowed a dynamic collaboration and scholarly exchange on an important emerging topic of the human historical movements and mobility, focusing on a paradigm of the émigrés from the Balkan peninsula to the borders of Christian Europe, 15th -18th c. Grafting upon the interdisciplinary scholarly approach, the Action examined the émigrés' networking and the effects which their movements from the Balkans and Byzantine East had on them, their offspring and host societies, as well as on our modern identities and the common European “heritage” of this migration. The research process prompted a comprehensive exchange of knowledge between the Researcher and other members of the Host University's Department of History, other institutions of the University of London, the UK and international academic community, setting some initial communication of this knowledge to the non-scholarly audience; these activities, as well as the Researcher’s trainings and collaborations with the publishers, digital humanities and charity work allowed her full re-integration to the UK/EU research realm, as well as the possibility to continue internationally expanding the research set by this project through her new teaching role at the Goldsmiths University of London. In its research part, the MIGWEB project focused on the relationships which the émigrés developed among themselves upon their settlement and with various structures of their receiving societies. The MIGWEB project clearly showed that since their initial settlement, the Balkan émigrés in the European West developed “fluid” ties that, on the one hand, allowed them to connect with the sources of circumstantial security in their new environment (military authorities, in the first place), but also to keep their sense of safety and belonging by liaising with the people, institutions and values that reflected their previous bonds, values and ways of life. These findings challenge common modern national stereotypes still prevalent in Central Europe and the Balkans that post-Byzantine movements to the West were well-organised, coordinated, Exodus-type implantations of the previously differentiated and compact ethnic communities, clearly showing more random and immediate interest connections, and a highly diverse base implanted to the common European heritage. The Action's objectives were met by the planned sources' collection and their comparative interdisciplinary analysis that took place in the libraries and archives of the UK, Italy, Hungary and Serbia, as well as at transferring knowledge via curricular activities at the Host Institution, dissemination of academic knowledge in scholarly literature and conferences, and outreach activities targeting general and stake-holding audience, as well as the Researcher’s training which upgraded her specialist skills, boosting her employability and creating opportunities for her connections with industry.
