Forced Migration and Refugee Studies: Networking and Knowledge Transfer

The aim of the joint research project is to improve the link national level scientific activities in the field of Forced Migration and Refugee Studies with the international level. Through this linkage, interdisciplinary research on Forced Migration and Refugees in Germany will become an established research field and anchored institutionally in order to strengthen its international standing. Project activities include workshops and conferences as well as the establishment of study programmes and an exchange programme for academics.

Project Lead:
Julia Leininger

Project Team:
Merlin Flaig

Financing:
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Time frame:
2020 - 2024 / ongoing

Co-operation Partner:

Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC), Centre for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg (CHREN), Institut für Migrationsforschung und Interkulturelle Studien (IMIS) der Universität Osnabrück

Project description

With the significant increase in the number of people seeking protection in Germany in 2014-15, the challenges of global flight increasingly became the focus of public attention. At the same time, the number of refugee/displacement-related projects in established fields of research increased significantly and brought to light many new findings. These concentrated primarily on flight to the EU or Germany and issues of integration. A more comprehensive scientific examination of the global flight and displacement situation is only starting to emerge. This applies in particular to the complex situation in countries of the Global South, where the majority of refugees are given protection. In Germany, Forced Migration and Refugees research remains characterised by limited networks and a lack of an institutional foundation.
The aim of the new joint research project of the partners BICC (Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies), IMIS (Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies at the University of Osnabrück), CHREN (Centre for Human Rights Erlangen-Nuremberg) and IDOS is to institutionalise Forced Migration and Refugees Studies conducted in Germany both nationally and internationally. By means of concrete networking activities, existing scientific activities in Germany will be better interlinked and Forced Migration and Refugees Studies will be established as an interdisciplinary field of research. The four main objectives of FFVT networking activities are:

to achieve international visibility of German Forced Migration and Refugees Studies
to initiate joint collaborative research,
to establish Master's programmes and
to transfer research results to politics, the media and the public in accessible ways.

The IDOS' main task in the joint research project is to link Forced Migration and Refugees Studies conducted in Germany with development research, and to link it more closely with international research. The aim is to promote national networking and to increase the visibility of German research in the international scientific community. The Internationalization module initiates cooperation with international researchers with the aim of establishing sustainable partnerships with strategically relevant institutions. Important instruments of networking are workshops, summer schools and conferences as well as the establishment of international research fellowships.
Furthermore, IDOS will actively contribute to an intensified dialogue between German Forced Migration and Refugees Studies and political decision-makers.
The project builds on the joint research project "Flight: Research and Transfer" (2016-2019). The FFVT project has a duration of 5 years (2020-2024) and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).