Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MIRNet (Twinning for excellence in migration and integration research and networking (MIRNet))
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2019-09-01 al 2020-11-30
The field of migration and integration is burgeoning in many major research centers in Western Europe and tends to be clustered into closed consortia of internationally leading research institutions, mostly located in the traditionally migrant receiving countries. Also, much migration research tends to be focused on migration from the Global South to the Global North, while East-West migration, though gaining prominence remains relatively under researched. Current academic focus therefore obscures the implications of East-West migration.The MIRNet project aims to address these challenges by aiming to build up better networks and research excellence in Estonia. Estonia is one of the smallest countries in the EU, but has one of the largest percentages of foreign-born populationand emigration levels per capita. In addition, Estonia is facing accelerating levels of labour migration and new challenges related to accepting and integrating asylum seekers. In this societal context, the overall objective of this project is to establish Tallinn University (TU) as an internationally renowned center. Thereby facilitating in the production of knowledge that is local, topical, and salient, and contributes to the widening of academic knowledge on migration and integration regionally and globally. TU aims to work with a truly interdisciplinary consortium of partners: the Sussex Centre for Migration Research at the University of Sussex, the Intercultural Studies research group at Roskilde University and the Research Centre on Transnationalism and Transformation at the University of Tampere.
The specific objectives of the MIRNet project are as follows:
1.To establish a research center (POLITEIA) which would conduct locally, nationally and internationally relevant research on migration and integration, specifically East-West migration.
2.To advance the quality and volume of research with a special focus on supporting early career researchers.
3.To advance networking between academic researchers, policy makers and other stakeholders in Estonia and the MIRNet partner countries, partly via increased strategic staff mobility at TU.
4.To advance public dissemination skills of the consortium members.
The specific objectives of the MIRNet project are as follows:
1.To establish a research center (POLITEIA) which would conduct locally, nationally and internationally relevant research on migration and integration, specifically East-West migration.
2.To advance the quality and volume of research with a special focus on supporting early career researchers.
3.To advance networking between academic researchers, policy makers and other stakeholders in Estonia and the MIRNet partner countries, partly via increased strategic staff mobility at TU.
4.To advance public dissemination skills of the consortium members.
To meet the first objective a draft a statute for the center (POLITEIA) has been compiled. Work has also been undertaken to develop a sustainable and viable research strategy. To this end, theoretical foundations of research are also being elaborated to identify TU strengths, potential research arenas, and explore possibilities of future collaboration.
To meet the second objective research seminars, publishing workshops for early career researchers, two themed conferences, production of an edited volume and dual special issue have been planned. In the first reporting period the consortia has organized 2 research seminars, an international scientific conference and scheduled a publishing workshop for early career researchers across the consortium.The aim of the seminars is to strengthen the theoretical foundations of research. The first research seminar focused on state of the art contributions. The second research seminar focused on the relational framework that is diverse enough to comprehensively encapsulate the research streams of MIRNet. While the scientific conference would provide an opportunity for creating visibility for MIRNet and will facilitate in collaboration with researchers. Lastly, a 2 day publishing workshop program for early career researchers has been designed.
To meet the third objective, emphasis has been placed on developing a comprehensive research strategy.So far, potential funding calls have been mapped out in a document. A workshop on Research funding in EU framework has also been conducted, designed to develop capacities for applying to research funding calls. Perhaps the most significant step has been the first joint research funding application submitted under the H2020 framework. The project application focused on Populism and Narratives on Migration in Europe (PaNoMiE) and drew in a diverse consortia of 13 participant institutions across EU as well as some research institutions outside EU that are relevant to the context of East-West migration. Although the application was rejected, the consortium gained valuable insight in project writing, and developed skills in administrative management.
To meet the fourth objective a communication and dissemination plan for the first year has been developed identifying key target groups and dissemination strategies. Additionally, a project website (and social media channels) have been created to promote and disseminate MIRNet activities to wider audiences. In order to ensure timely delivery of MIRNet content and to facilitate work across diverse objectives ethical guidelines for project data and a data management plan has been prepared. Additionally, online repositories and shared drives have been set up to facilitate collaboration. In addition a project management team at TU has been set up to regularly monitor the progress of the project.
To meet the second objective research seminars, publishing workshops for early career researchers, two themed conferences, production of an edited volume and dual special issue have been planned. In the first reporting period the consortia has organized 2 research seminars, an international scientific conference and scheduled a publishing workshop for early career researchers across the consortium.The aim of the seminars is to strengthen the theoretical foundations of research. The first research seminar focused on state of the art contributions. The second research seminar focused on the relational framework that is diverse enough to comprehensively encapsulate the research streams of MIRNet. While the scientific conference would provide an opportunity for creating visibility for MIRNet and will facilitate in collaboration with researchers. Lastly, a 2 day publishing workshop program for early career researchers has been designed.
To meet the third objective, emphasis has been placed on developing a comprehensive research strategy.So far, potential funding calls have been mapped out in a document. A workshop on Research funding in EU framework has also been conducted, designed to develop capacities for applying to research funding calls. Perhaps the most significant step has been the first joint research funding application submitted under the H2020 framework. The project application focused on Populism and Narratives on Migration in Europe (PaNoMiE) and drew in a diverse consortia of 13 participant institutions across EU as well as some research institutions outside EU that are relevant to the context of East-West migration. Although the application was rejected, the consortium gained valuable insight in project writing, and developed skills in administrative management.
To meet the fourth objective a communication and dissemination plan for the first year has been developed identifying key target groups and dissemination strategies. Additionally, a project website (and social media channels) have been created to promote and disseminate MIRNet activities to wider audiences. In order to ensure timely delivery of MIRNet content and to facilitate work across diverse objectives ethical guidelines for project data and a data management plan has been prepared. Additionally, online repositories and shared drives have been set up to facilitate collaboration. In addition a project management team at TU has been set up to regularly monitor the progress of the project.
The expected impact of the project can be outlined in four key principles. The aim is to make an impact in building research capacity, developing sustainable partnership networks and improving visibility of research. As a result, TU is expected to integrate better within the overall European Research Area and contribute in improving outputs of the Horizon 2020 programme.
The impact of MIRNet will be focused on the university, national and regional level as well as on the overall European Research Area:
•At the university level, TU is expected to gain visibility as a research and competence center of migration and integration studies; improve its position in research and policy networks; and improve its research quality and capacity.
•At the national level, TU is expected to become a better dialogue partner for policy makers, which would help to tackle the recently (re-)emerged challenges related to high levels of emigration, and growing and diversifying immigration. Also, the relational paradigm is expected to complement the already authoritative economic and geographic approaches to migration studies.
•At the regional level, the project is expected to create stronger cooperation ties with research institutions in Nordic countries, as the migration corridor between Estonia and Finland is very vibrant and substantially affects both countries. Also, the project is expected to contribute to the still emerging field of East-West migration studies.
•The project is expected also to contribute to the overall European Research Area via building stronger and broader networks in the field of migration and integration research. In migration and integration studies, a broad geographical coverage is of particularly high importance, which in turn should improve the output of the Horizon 2020 programme (where migration and integration issues are an important part of the societal challenges package).
While the main impact of the project is expected to be on the coordinating institution (TU), the other consortium participants, i.e. the leading research institutions, are also expected to benefit from the project in terms of broadening their academic networks and advancing their research interest. Mutual enrichment is also enabled by co-supervision, joint publications and project applications as well as PhD students’ events such as summer schools.
The impact of MIRNet will be focused on the university, national and regional level as well as on the overall European Research Area:
•At the university level, TU is expected to gain visibility as a research and competence center of migration and integration studies; improve its position in research and policy networks; and improve its research quality and capacity.
•At the national level, TU is expected to become a better dialogue partner for policy makers, which would help to tackle the recently (re-)emerged challenges related to high levels of emigration, and growing and diversifying immigration. Also, the relational paradigm is expected to complement the already authoritative economic and geographic approaches to migration studies.
•At the regional level, the project is expected to create stronger cooperation ties with research institutions in Nordic countries, as the migration corridor between Estonia and Finland is very vibrant and substantially affects both countries. Also, the project is expected to contribute to the still emerging field of East-West migration studies.
•The project is expected also to contribute to the overall European Research Area via building stronger and broader networks in the field of migration and integration research. In migration and integration studies, a broad geographical coverage is of particularly high importance, which in turn should improve the output of the Horizon 2020 programme (where migration and integration issues are an important part of the societal challenges package).
While the main impact of the project is expected to be on the coordinating institution (TU), the other consortium participants, i.e. the leading research institutions, are also expected to benefit from the project in terms of broadening their academic networks and advancing their research interest. Mutual enrichment is also enabled by co-supervision, joint publications and project applications as well as PhD students’ events such as summer schools.