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BIRMM: Brussels Interdisciplinary Research centre on Migration and Minorities

Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) conducts a wide variety of research on migration and diversity, spread over many disciplines, departments and research institutes. This interdisciplinary group, called the ‘Brussels Interdisciplinary Research centre on Migration and Minorities (BIRMM)’ has therefore been created in January 2018. It joins over 100 VUB researchers from 11 disciplines (including political science, law, sociology, criminology, geography, medical sciences, communication sciences, linguistics, psychology and educational sciences, philosophy, and history) working on migration and diversity related topics. BIRMM is coordinated by Prof. Ilke Adam and Prof. Florian Trauner (both Brussels School of Governance) and a board of delegates with one representative per research centre or department. 

The main VUB research centres and departments involved in BIRMM are: the Institute for European Studies (IES), and particularly its research cluster Migration, Diversity and Justice; the History Department, with its research centre HOST; Sociology Department, with its research centres TOR and Interface Demography; the Political Science Department (POLI); BRIO, the centre for the Interdisciplinary Study of Brussels, the Cosmopolis Centre for Urban Research, the RHEA Centre for Expertise on Gender, Diversity and Intersectionality, the Criminology department with its research centre Crime & Society, the Law department, with its research centre FRC (Fundamental Rights and Constitutionalism) and the Department of Public Law, the Department for Communication Sciences, with its research centre CEMESO (Culture, Emancipation, Media and Society), and the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, with its new reseach group 'Research into Diversity in Health Care'.

BIRMM-VUB was accepted as an institutional member of the network in early July 2018. Our expertise on migration and diversity will contribute to IMISCOE's success. VUB's location in the capital of Europe, which is the second most diverse city in the world, constitutes an outstanding location for IMISCOE's activities and visiting researchers.

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