The launch of the project “MARS: Non-Western Migration Regimes in a Global Perspective” (MARS) took place in Istanbul on February 1-2, 2024. The project kick-off meeting brought together the researchers from all project partners to discuss the project idea, the implementation process and the researchers’ interests. 10 EU-based academic institutions and 13 academic and non-academic partners from various regions of the world participated at the kick-off meeting of the project. The launch event took place in a hybrid mode – in person in Istanbul, Turkey and online.
During the event, the project coordinating team at Lund University explained the project rationale and identified the project management structures and processes. The project officer from the European Commission’s Research Executive Agency also joined the meeting online and explained the rules and guidelines for conducting MSCA staff exchange projects to all project partners. On the second day of the meeting, the participants were briefed on the migration issues, patterns and tendencies in various parts of the world included in the MARS project idea – from Latin America and North and West Africa, to Central Asia and East and South East Asia. The presentations lead to discussions on the theoretical and methodological state of the art in migration studies and migration policymaking. This helped to shape the project research directions going forward.
“MARS: Non-Western Migration Regimes in a Global Perspective” is a project funded by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe MSCA Staff Exchanges call HORIZON-MSCA-2022-SE-01 (project number 101130177). The Staff Exchanges action funds short-term international and inter-sectoral exchanges of staff members involved in research and innovation activities of participating organisations.[1] The “MARS” project, launched on February 1st, 2024, will last for four years and is scheduled to end on 31 January 2028. “MARS: Non-Western Migration Regimes in a Global Perspective” is a research and staff exchange programme intended to enhance the scientific understanding of global, regional and national governance of migration and mobilities and thereby contribute to the global and national efforts to facilitate safe, regular and orderly migration.
This will be made possible thanks to a multi-sited, interdisciplinary and multisectoral research and staff exchange programme involving 10 leading European universities, namely Lund University, Leiden University, University of Helsinki, University of Zurich, University of Salzburg, Aalborg University, Marmara University, Vilnius University, University of Eastern Finland and University of Bristol and 13 associated partners operating in Central Asia, Middle East, North and West Africa, Southeast Asia, East Asia, the Gulf States and Latin America, namely the General Prosecutor’s Office of Uzbekistan, Nazarbayev University, Uzbekistan's Agency of External Labour Migration, Kurultai Research and Consulting, Society for the Protection of Uzbek Women’s Rights in Turkey, American University in Cairo, Vatandoshlar Public Foundation, University of Ghana, University of Gadjah Mada, University of Tsukuba, Hamad Bin Khalifa University and Universidad Torcuato Di Tella and “Migrant INFO” LLC.
[1] European Commission - Staff Exchanges | Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (europa.eu).
