The UAB leads the creation of a European cluster of research projects on migration

Teresa Sordé-Martí, professor in the Department of Sociology at the UAB and main researcher of the H2020 project "Refuge-ed: Effective practices in education, mental health and psychosocial support for the integration of refugee children" has been commissioned by the European Research Executive Agency (REA) to lead and organise the creation of a cluster that includes projects in the area of migration financed with European Union funds.

The cluster, called EU Migration Research, is composed of 39 ongoing and completed H2020 and Horizon Europe projects. Its main objective is to enhance the scientific, political and social impact of the projects by establishing synergies and collaborative lines of action for the coming years.

The aim of the cluster, a type of initiative already underway in other research areas, is to promote productive synergies, better coordination and, ultimately, to improve the political and social impact of publicly funded research.

At the first meeting, held on 2 May, three specific objectives were agreed: to create a shared workspace to coordinate efforts within the group, to use the existing networks of each project to promote a network with a multiplier effect, and to organise and coordinate spaces that help to achieve political impact of this research. To this end, it is planned to organise political discussion tables and policy briefs, making the most of the opportunity offered by the Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU.