On 19 October 2018, the IES Migration, Diversity and Justice cluster organised the kick-off and internal networking meeting of the new VUB’s Brussels Interdisciplinary Research centre on Migration and Minorities (BIRMM), with more than 30 participants.
Besides the networking and the discussion of the future agenda of BIRMM, the group organised an academic ‘speed-dating exercise’ and discussed two research presentations. One presentation was given by Prof. Laura Calabrese from ULB, on an interdisciplinary research project which will start soon at ULB, entitled: ‘Untangling the multiple categorizations of migrants. Intersectional Frameworks and Practices’. Leonie Jegen (IES-VUB and UNU-CRIS) also presented the preliminary results of an ongoing research project on ‘West-African Perspectives on EU Migration Cooperation’.
Toward the end of the afternoon, the group was joined by rector Caroline Pauwels, expressing her encouragement and support for interdisciplinary initiatives within VUB. The creation of BIRMM clearly fits the rector’s policy of ‘breaking down the walls’ between disciplines.