About Us

The International Migration Institute (IMI) aims to promote new thinking about migration as an intrinsic part of global change and development – away from Western-centric and governmental perspectives. This is achieved through promoting research, generating new data, developing innovative teaching methods  and publishing IMI’s Working Paper Series.

 

IMI is strengthened by a global network of fellows from around the world sharing this research agenda. IMI activities are driven by the desire to advance the boundaries of migration research and migration theory, promote evidence–based debates about migration, and encourage greater engagement beyond the academy: 

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• Developing a long-term perspective on international migration and human mobility as an intrinsic part of global change and development.
   

• Exploring new conceptual and methodological horizons for understanding and researching migration processes.
   

• Sharing data and research through the IMI working paper series and other ‘open access’ platforms.
   

• Disseminating evidence-based insights on migration to the broadest possible audiences using accessible language.
   

• Creating new narratives on migration that challenge polarized debates between ‘pro-’ and ‘anti-’ migration voices.

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Since IMI's establishment in 2006 at the University of Oxford, IMI researchers and fellows have developed a wide-ranging research programme that challenged conventional ideas of migration and build an empirical basis for significant advances in theory and analysis. IMI forges collaborations among migration researchers from around the world to build global research capacity.

 

IMI functions as a global hub encouraging new research partnerships, visiting fellowships and exchange visits, conferences and seminars, and collaborative publications.