Migration, Integration and Governance Research Centre

Project Information

MIGREC

Grant agreement ID: 857261

DOI

10.3030/857261

Project closed

EC signature date 18 June 2019

Start date 1 October 2019

End date 31 March 2023

Funded under

• Twinning of research institutions

Total cost

€ 799 918,75

EU contribution

€ 799 918,75

Coordinated by

UNIVERZITET U BEOGRADU – FAKULTET POLITIČKIH NAUKA
Serbia

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MIGREC (Migration, Integration and Governance Research Centre)

Reporting period: 2021-01-01 to 2023-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The aim of the MIGREC Project is to build internationally leading scientific research capacity in Migration Studies at the Faculty of Political Science (FPN) at the University of Belgrade (UoB), ensuring that UoB scholars can contribute effectively to the research, policy and practical challenges arising from multiple and intersecting changes confronting currently Serbia, the region of the Western Balkans and also the whole of the European Union.

The Project is based on the idea of creating a 3.5 year training programme, which functions on two levels, a horizontal and a vertical.

On the horizontal level, the MIGREC Project enhances the already existing research capacity of the UoB scholars by upgrading migration-related research excellence and impact through introducing training on new high-calibre methodologies and theoretical approaches, publishing in international academic journals, attending international conferences, regional and international networking, mentoring, participating in externally funded research, public engagement and producing policy-related and policy informing academic research. Different topics are presented in the Project’s leaflets and newsletters, a series of the project presentations are conducted, academic and professional papers are prepared and published in high-impact national and international journals. The international conference “Migration in the Western Balkans – Re-thinking Crisis Narratives” symbolically marked the end of the Project.

On the vertical level, the MIGREC Project brings together all the dispersed scientific knowledge under the umbrella of a multidisciplinary, cross-departmental Migration, Integration and Governance Research Centre (MIGREC), under the leadership of the FPN. The centre started its work as an integrative focal point of Migration Studies at the UoB as well as an incubator and accelerator of related academic research through the advancement of research synergies and the creation of a PhD in Migration Policy. It aims at the provision of training, mentoring and coordination in relation to materialising the Project’s aims and ensuring the long-term sustainability of its impact. Its vision is to expand the boundaries in migration research and education based on excellence, integrity and cooperation with academics, practitioners from state and civil sectors, policy makers and general public. Its core focus is on five thematic areas: migrant integration; the migration-development nexus; migration governance; knowledge, debates and representations; as well as theories and methods in migration studies.

The overall objectives of the MIGREC Project are as follows:

1. Elaborating on the research advancements needs of the MIGREC.
2. Establishing the Centre’s research excellence structures and support mechanisms.
3. Securing the Centre’s Scientific Excellence by building capacity in migration-related research.
4. Developing the Centre’s staff transferable skills and coordinating Policy/NGO Co-operation.
5. Increasing awareness and involvement of all stakeholders (e.g. policy-makers, NGOs, public and representatives of Western-Balkan region) of the Centre’s activities, through dissemination, exploitation and ensuring its long-term sustainability.

PhD programme in Migration Policy was submitted to the relevant accreditation body to offer knowledge and skills in the field of migration policy in English language. Inter-disciplinary approach spans from political science to geography and communication and will present a unique opportunity for those interested in theorizing and researching migration to be educated at the PhD level.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The Project objectives are operationalized in three phases, through 23 measurable outcomes and through 7 WPs.
WP1 explores in the form of critical appraisal, detailed assessment and comprehensive mapping the following topics: challenges and opportunities in migration and migration related fields at UoB; Serbia’s migration-related eco-system; and prospective regional networks in the wider Western Balkan region.
WP2 yields a state of the art document on the Centre’s mission, vision, strategy, research agenda and action plan. It is focused on activities in connection with embedding the Centre into the “map” of national and regional stakeholders in the field of migration and making it a visible and reliable stakeholder. The activities on setting the organizational and administrative structures of the Centre and designing a PhD in Migration Policy were finished in consultative and participatory processes which included members of the project Advisory Board and numerous distinguished external experts.
WP3 consists of the organization of 3 migration schools, 3 thematic workshops, 3 study and 3 exchange visits from FPN to ELIEEP ELIAMEP, SEERC and USFD, 5 student placements and 10 networking visits with a series of related events.
WP4 delivers seminar series on publishing in high-impact international journals and social science research and methodology (discourse analysis and coding with NVIVO as well as survey design) as well as training workshops in applying for external research funding.
WP5 is concentrated on the dissemination and communication activities directed to the project sustainability. The Project keeps its strong presence in the social media and its website has had extraordinary number of visitors and downloads. The MIGREC’s final conference was organized both as scientific and dissemination event to improve the Project’s visibility.
WP6 is dedicated to the management of the Project in an efficient and effective manner, ensuring thus high-quality decision-making structures throughout the Project.
WP7 builds foundations for the implementation of ethically sound practice in research and work.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Migration presents one of the most challenging developments for Serbia but the capacities for its research have been under-developed. This results in the absence of evidence-based policy and policy failures and in difficulties in Serbia’s progress towards EU membership. The Project gathered a group of national scholars to equip them with the state-of-the-art knowledge and skills relevant for the field. Along with the inclusion of scholars from the FPN of the UoB as provided by the Project, scholars from the GEF of the UoB joined the Project too. On top of enabling members of the Coordinating institution to gain in-depth knowledge and expertise in the field, they also became equipped for scouting for funding opportunities at the European wide competitive projects. On top of this, the Project established and strengthened the collaboration of the Coordinating institution with researchers from the Western Balkans region and Europe at large, and with practitioners and policy makers, enhancing thus the synergy of all of the actions. Based on that, it established the Research Centre, the only of its kind in Serbia, open to all scholars having research interest in migration. Three thematic areas of the Centre which were envisaged in the Project proposal, were widened by the Project team with two additional topics of interest: theories and methods in migration studies and knowledge, debates and representations in the migration related fields. Finally, the Project resulted in the design of a PhD programme in Migration Policy, which was submitted for the accreditation, and which is going to be again the only of its kind, both in Serbia and in the region of the Western Balkans.

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