We asked our researchers to pick one of their publications from 2025 and share why it stands out for them. Here's what they replied!1) Let's start with the introduction to a Special Issue on "#RefugeeSponsorship & Complementary Pathways" edited by our refugee sponsorship research team (Jenny Phillimore, Marisol Reyes, Gabriella D'Avino, Natasha Nicholls). It's the... Continue Reading →
Migration, citizenship and belonging: IRIS seminar series
We are delighted to announce our seminar series for this academic term. All seminars are free and open to the public. They will be held in Room 1150, Muirhead Tower, University of Birmingham. In the first seminar on 20 October, Nando Sigona examines the migration agenda of the Labour government in its first year in... Continue Reading →
Further and faster in the wrong direction: Response to Labour’s Immigration White Paper
David Stark and Lisa Goodson, IRIS, University of Birmingham A policy turning inwards At the Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity (IRIS), we examine migration and superdiversity through empirical research grounded in lived experience. We do this from Birmingham, one of the UK’s most ethnically diverse cities and a place where migration is... Continue Reading →
One week to IRIS conference
Check out the latest version of the Conference programme, which includes 33 panels, 5 workshops, 4 semi-plenaries and two keynote talks by Nandita Sharma and Nasar Meer. The code of conduct for delegates is also online on our conference page. The book of abstracts is now online!
Bordering Society: Understanding and Reimagining migration, displacement and diversity in an age of rapid transformations – CALL FOR PROPOSALS
The Call for Proposals for individual papers, pre-organised panels and workshops for IRIS international conference to be held at The Exchange, University of Birmingham on 5-6 September 2024 is open. Deadline to submit proposal via the online portal is 27 March 2024. Rapidly shifting geopolitical alliances and power asymmetries in an increasingly multipolar landscape rekindle... Continue Reading →
Migration, displacement and diversity: the IRiS anthology is out
We are delighted to announce the publication of the IRiS anthology to mark the tenth anniversary of the University of Birmingham’s Institute for Research into Superdiversity (IRiS). A decade is an important milestone for a research centre. We wanted to take this opportunity to think collectively about past, present and future directions of research on... Continue Reading →
Launch on NODE UK|Japan special issue
On 13 December at 10 am (GMT) we are launching the special issue of Comparative Migration Studies edited and authored by members of the NODE UK|Japan academic network. We will hear from editors and authors and celebrate the network with the launch of the new NODE portal. All articles are available open access on Comparative... Continue Reading →
The many voices of Iris: now a polyphonic podcast
After a year and almost thirty episodes of Conversations with Iris as zoomcast, Stefano Piemontese and Nando Sigona explain why it was time to launch also a podcast version. The podcast is available on Google, Apple Podcast, and Spotify. Before the pandemic, IRiS hosted monthly seminars on campus, inviting scholars, writers, and activists to present their work and discuss it with... Continue Reading →
Migration and diversity in European cities: winter school, 10 Jan-4 Feb 2022
The Call for Participants for the euniwell winter school on Migration And DivErsity IN EUROPEan cities (MADEINEUROPE) is now open. The winter school is open to Masters and PhD students enrolled to one of the seven universities of the euniwell network - the universities of Birmingham (UK), Florence (Italy), Leiden (the Netherlands), Cologne (Germany), Nantes... Continue Reading →
Surviving Covid-19 as vulnerable migrants in Japan and the UK (video)
Watch the recording of the NODe UK|Japan webinar held on 21 April 2021 on the impact of Covid-19 on migrants with precarious legal status in the UK and Japan. The speakers examined how migration governance in the context of a public health crisis can exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and produce new ones, affecting disproportionally migrant communities... Continue Reading →

