“The high number of grant applications illustrates that migration and integration is an important thematic area and a research field of great interest to the research community. The participation of research groups in the UK has the added effect of internationalising Nordic research,” explains Arne Flåøyen, Director of NordForsk.
With an overall budget of NOK 87 million, the call represents NordForsk’s second largest funding effort in 2019. The UK is also widely represented in the projects.
According to Maria Lähteenmäki, chair of the committee for the Joint Nordic-UK Research Initiative on Migration and Integration, this both validates the relevance of the initiative and demonstrates the high value that Nordic and British researchers see in working together.
“The call process for the Joint Nordic-UK Research Initiative on Migration and Integration has indicated how hugely important – both societally and academically – the multilevel themes of migration and integration are today in Western and Northern Europe, and globally as well – not only in the present time, but even more importantly in the future,” the chair states:
“The topics addressed by the applications clearly demonstrated the increase in multidisciplinary research carried out, especially in the Nordic countries, related to mobility and its consequences, adaption and integration, refugee families, teenagers and children, cultural transformations, social challenges, activities in civic societies, etc.,” she goes on to explain. “We were already aware that this is a well-established research area among British universities and research institutes, but now we are also seeing that funding organisations and universities in Northern Europe are investing in this research field as well.”
Director of NordForsk, Arne Flåøyen, is also very happy with the response, and highlights the significance of the initiative and the benefits of Nordic-UK research collaboration:
“The high number of grant applications illustrates that migration and integration is an important thematic area and a research field of great interest to the research community. I’m also very pleased that British participation is so high. This collaboration with the UK helps to internationalise Nordic research,” he explains, adding:
“It is an important step forward that the UK and Nordic countries are joining forces in this effort. We have high expectations that these projects will provide research of top scientific quality and yield new, evidence-based knowledge. This will better enable stakeholders within and outside academia both to resolve the challenges of increased migration and to take advantage of the opportunities it entails.”
The seven projects granted support have each been awarded up to NOK 13 million. Each research project includes cooperating institutions in at least two Nordic countries.
The funding is provided by the Academy of Finland, the Swedish Research Council, Forte of Sweden, the Research Council of Norway, The Icelandic Centre for Research - RANNÍS, and the Economic and Social Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation and NordForsk.
The seven projects awarded funding are:
Relational Well-being in the Lives of Refugee Young People in Finland, Norway and the UK
Project leader: Ravi KS Kohli, University of Bedfordshire (UK)
Migrants and Solidarities: Negotiating Deservingness in Welfare Micropublics
Project leader: Mette Louise Berg, University College London (UK)
Making it Home: An Aesthetic Methodological Contribution to the Study of Migrant Home-Making and Politics of Integration - MaHoMe
Project leader: Fran Lloyd, Kingston University (UK)
Teaching that Matters for Migrant Students: Understanding Levers of Integration in Scotland, Finland and Sweden
Project leader: Nataša Pantić, University of Edinburgh (UK)
Life at the Frontier: The Impact of Social Frontiers on the Social Mobility and Integration of Migrants
Project leader: Gwilym Pryce, University of Sheffield (UK)
Structural, Cultural and Social Integration among Youth: A Multidimensional Comparative Project
Project leader: Carina Mood, Stockholm University (Sweden)
Effects of Externalisation: EU Migration Management in Africa and the Middle East
Project leader: Are John Knudsen, Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) (Norway)
About NordForsk’s Research Initiative on Migration and Integration
Funding for the Joint Nordic-UK Research Initiative on Migration and Integration is currently provided by the Academy of Finland, the Swedish Research Council, Forte of Sweden, the Research Council of Norway, The Icelandic Centre for Research - RANNÍS, and the Economic and Social Research Council in the UK together with NordForsk.
Read more about the Joint Nordic-UK research initiative on Migration and Integration
