The Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) is an international affairs research centre that, through excellence and relevance, seeks to analyse the global issues that affect political, social and governance dynamics, from the international to the local. As a recognised independent civil society born institution with a long history, it aims to be a useful tool for society, to ensure open access to knowledge and to promote the study of the international issues that affect citizens’ daily lives. CIDOB seeks relevance and social impact for its research and attends to publics institutions’ needs and requests for international information, aiming to influence decision-making processes and provide alternative visions.
CIDOB hosts research lines on geopolitics and security, migrations, global cities and sustainable development, with specific expertise in the Mediterranean, Europe and Latin America, among other regions. It has participated in several EU-funded projects as coordinating institution (MENARA, SAHWA, ATLANTIC FUTURE) and as a partner (EU-LISTCO, EU IDEA, ADMIGOV, CEASAVAL, CASCADES, JOINT, Whole-COMM, among many others). In addition, CIDOB is a member of three other European consortiums related to migration and refugees: NIEM, REGIN and EWSI. CIDOB is also member of leading research networks such as TEPSA, EPIN, EMNES and EuroMeSCo.
The Forum Internazionale ed Europeo di Ricerche sull’Immigrazione (FIERI) is an independent research institute on migration, mobility, and integration. Since its foundation in 2001, it is strongly committed to a comparative and interdisciplinary approach to the study of the social and political transformations associated with growing population mobility and cultural diversity. FIERI adopts a comprehensive view of those changes which goes beyond an exclusive focus on migrants and their descendants and considers instead the whole society and local communities as transformed by migration and mobility.
FIERI has coordinated or been a partner in several EU-funded projects and it is actively engaged in European and international networks. At the same time, it is deeply rooted in the Italian context through constant and proactive interactions with policy, media and civil society actors. Working often at the boundary between research and policymaking, FIERI has an established and specific research expertise on the framing of and communication about migration.
The University of Edinburgh (UEDIN) is one the world’s top research-intensive universities, ranked 4th in the UK for research power, with 83% of UEDIN’s research activity classified as ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework. Currently, it participates in 308 H2020 projects, including 76 funded by the European Research Council and 86 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.
The area of Politics and International Relations (PIR) is one of the largest in the University, and benefits from close collaborations with Sociology, Anthropology, Business, Psychology, Philosophy, Law and History. PIR staff are actively involved in four main centres: the Europa Institute, the Centre on Constitutional Change, the Centre for Science, Knowledge and Policy (founded by Prof. Christina Boswell), and the Centre for Security Research. PIR staff are also actively involved in the interdisciplinary Citizens, Nations and Migration Network.
Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) is a public, international and research-intensive university that, since its creation in 1990, has earned a place for itself among the best universities in Europe. Awarded with an International Excellence Campus label by the Spanish Ministry of Education, UPF also figures in some of the most influential rankings: it is the 11th best young university in the world and ranks 1st in Spain in percentage of articles published in the most influential journals of the world, as well as in percentage of papers produced in collaboration with national institutions and number of citations received by its researchers’ articles. UPF participates in 174 H2020 projects, including 33 funded by the European Research Council (ERC) and 64 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.
UPF will involve the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) as linked third party in the project. ICREA is a foundation supported by the Catalan Government and guided by a Board of Trustees which aims to recruit top scientists for the Catalan Research & Development system, as it is the case of Prof. Veronica Benet.
The Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) is a private, independent non-profit think tank, founded in 1965 on the initiative of Altiero Spinelli. IAI seeks to promote awareness of international politics and to contribute to the advancement of European integration and multilateral cooperation. Its focus embraces topics of strategic relevance such as European integration, security and defence, international economics and global governance, energy, climate and Italian foreign policy; as well as the dynamics of cooperation and conflict in key geographical regions such as the Mediterranean and Middle East, Asia, Eurasia, Africa and the Americas.
IAI publishes an English-language quarterly (The International Spectator), an online webzine (Affarinternazionali), three book series (Global Politics and Security, Quaderni IAI and IAI Research Studies) and some papers’ series related to IAI research projects (Documenti IAI, IAI Papers, etc.). IAI has participated in or coordinated numerous EU-funded research projects such as DiCE, IT FLOWS, BRIDGES, JOINT, EU IDEA, EU-LISTCO, MEDRESET, MENARA, FEUTURE, etc. It also collaborates on a regular basis with EU institutions and international organisations, such as the European Commission, the EEAS, the EDA, NATO and OSCE.
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) is a competitive, high-quality, socially committed and internationally oriented university located in Brussels. In 2018, it ranked 47th in Reuters’ Most Innovative Universities Top 100 in Europe. It has 127 active patent families and disclosed 40 inventions. VUB is an active participant in European Research & Innovation (R&I) projects, particularly under the H2020 framework. There are currently about 120 running R&I projects at VUB in all strategic research clusters, and the budget acquired from European funding sources increased from €6 million to €14 million between 2014 and 2018.
The Brussels Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Migration and Minorities (BIRMM) is a recognised interdisciplinary Centre of Expertise at VUB. It gathers over 100 researchers from 11 different disciplines – i.e. political science, law, sociology, criminology, geography, medical sciences, communication sciences, linguistics, psychology and educational sciences, philosophy, and history – working on migration and minorities-related topics.
The Catholic University of Applied Sciences Mainz (CUAS Mainz) is a state-recognised university with faculties for Social Work and Social Sciences, Health Care and Nursing and Practical Theology. CUAS Mainz’s core objectives are teaching and research, but also the engagement in societal developments. Migration and integration are core themes of the Social Work and Social Sciences department, but also a cross-cutting, interdisciplinary theme of the University as a whole, which offers a Bachelor of Arts in “Social Sciences: Migration and Integration”.
CUAS Mainz is currently involved in several research migration-related projects and the Institute of Applied Research and International Relations has a long-standing experience with national and international funding bodies such as German Federal and State Ministries, research foundations and the EU.
Por Causa is a foundation located in Madrid (Spain), staffed by journalists and social researchers. It aims to create a new framework for public discussions about migrations among citizens, policymakers and thought leaders. Por Causa seeks to shift the public conversation about migrations by feeding social discourse with messages and information that build an alternative narrative. A narrative that depicts human migration as a natural, inevitable, and largely beneficial reality; and favours migration policies that maximize benefits and address challenges related to migration.
Por Causa’s work involves direct contact with different media outlets, organisations, institutions and political parties. Its partners include local administrations, such as the Madrid and Barcelona City Councils, and it has also cooperated with international institutions like the Overseas Institute. Por Causa works with relevant media, mainly in Spain (i.e. El País, Público.es, RTVE, Cadena SER and El Confidencial), and has strong links with universities and grass-root organisations providing assistance to migrant communities. The foundation has participated in several projects linked to the analysis of narratives by providing information and translating research results into dissemination products targeting the public at large.
The Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques (Sciences Po) is a full-fledged, self-governing research university specialised in the social sciences and the humanities. Sciences Po facilitates the participation of its research centers in the European Research Area. Sciences Po has been involved in 50 FP-7 and more than 50 H2020 projects including 15 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship and 15 European Research Council (ERC) projects.
The BRIDGES project will be managed by the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE), in collaboration with the Centre for International Studies (CERI), which is one of the most prominent research centres in France. Both centres are Science Po’s research units and joint research centres with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). While engaging in different European networks, the CEE is currently bringing together 31 senior researchers and professors, about 45 PhD students and recent PhD recipients, and 30 research associates and guest researchers. In 2019, the CEE is hosting three ERC projects and two Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellows.
The Centre for Social Sciences (TK) is a research institution where 200 Hungarian and international researchers engage in exploratory and innovative national and international research projects. Founded by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, it comprises four institutes: Political Science, Minority Studies, Legal Studies, and Sociology.
The BRIDGES project is implemented by the Institute of Sociology, whose mission is to explore and analyse the social processes affecting the long-term wellbeing of Hungarian citizens. The tasks of the institute’s researchers include implementing their research projects through intensive communication with the international academic community and, at the same time, disseminating their research results to the general public.
Over two dozen basic and applied research programmes are being implemented at the Institute, three of which are of special importance: the comprehensive research programme Integration and disintegration processes in Hungarian society; the archiving, cataloguing and dissemination programme Voices of the 20th century; and the coordination of the Hungarian part of the European Social Survey in partnership with the Institute for Political Science. It also edits and publishes the open-access, peer-reviewed online quarterly Socio.hu, publishing scientific papers in Hungarian and English.
The Institute for Social Research (ISF) is an independent research institute that produces academic knowledge in the areas of society, politics and working life. Since its establishment in 1950, ISF has played a vital role in the development of Norwegian social research and it is a leading institution on topics related to social media campaigning in the area of migration, polarisation in the public media sphere, and far right activities on social media.
ISF researchers cover sociology, media science, economy, political science, history, and anthropology. Accordingly, they master a wide range of methods, including expertise in qualitative interview and case methods, qualitative and quantitative media analysis, big data social media analysis, and econometric methods. ISF leads and analyse a number of survey studies each year, including The Integration Barometer, and has participated in H2020 projects such as CROSS-MIGRATION and VULNER. ISF is also a member of key research networks such as IMISCOE and the European Cooperation in Science and Technologies (COST).
Zona was founded in 2011 in Italy by a group of internationally known master photographers bound by their passion for documenting society. Zona is sensitive to new languages in photography, video, and journalism and to the need to share know-how and information between professionals. It supports the creation, development and production of long-term projects dedicated to a deeper understanding of present-day issues.
The association develops projects to boost social awareness in collaboration with NGOs, international organisations, public and private institutions, universities, and foundations, such as No Peace Without Justice, Action Aid Italia, Journalism Grant, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Soros Foundation, SOS Femmes en détresse, and the Italian section of Amnesty International. It has also implemented a project, supported by Open Society, on the analysis of images related to migration and social issues.
Zona boasts publication on major international journals and magazines, and has organised exhibitions in Italy, France, the UK and Belgium, including at the European Parliament. ZONA has won several grants and awards in documentary festivals like the Annency International Animation Film Festival and the Aan Korb Arabic Film and Documentary BBC Festival.
