Landmark research project on migration and settlement in Scotland

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In November 2013, the College of Science has started a new four-year joint research project with the University of Glasgow on migration and settlement in Scotland.

Latvia RecruitmentThis high-profile interdisciplinary research attracted 1.2 million in funding from the Economic and Social Research Council for a longitudinal qualitative study of ‘Experiences of social security and prospects for long-term settlement in Scotland amongst migrants from Central Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Union’. Using a groundbreaking combination of innovative methodologies and theoretical synthesis, the research team led in Swansea by Dr. Sergei Shubin explores the lived realities and experiences of migrants and assists in the development of relevant and effective policy and practice.

The project’s focus is aligned with the ESRC priority ‘A vibrant and fair society’ and brings together key aspects noted under this priority by concentrating on the issues of social security, trans-nationalism and structural inequalities. Importantly the project explores the impact of migration from the perspectives of migrants themselves, as well as policy makers and service providers at a range of local scales, and in contexts where the potential for longer term settlement of migrants to assist in meeting the challenges of demographic change and an ageing population has received political recognition.

The project brings together experts from area studies, human geography, social anthropology and sociology and links together Swansea-based Centre for Migration Policy Research and Glasgow-based Centre of Excellence for Russian Central and East European Studies and the Glasgow Refugee Asylum and Migration Network.

Stakeholder participation, inclusion and empowerment are at the core of the project’s research and engagement strategy. Newly appointed researcher officer in the College of Science Dr. Olga Tkach will be responsible for developing new links and strengthening existing partnerships with a range of project partners including local authorities, migrant and community organisations, to generate new academic insight and develop policy outcomes and evaluate the project’s economic and societal impacts.