NUI Galway has been awarded more than £2 million for a new research centre to focus on present-day transnational movements of peoples and the history of migrations.
The centre, which will open on December 15th, aims to make a significant contribution to the understanding of economic, social, cultural and political factors at work in a Europe which has changed radically over the past 50 years.
The £2 million award was made under the Higher Education Authority's programme for research in third-level institutions, and is the largest amount ever given to a university in the humanities area.
The centre will build on existing expertise in the university, and will involve some two dozen established academics and 30 young doctoral and post-doctoral researchers. It will collaborate with the other universities of the "Atlantic Alliance" - UCC and the UL - and with research centres in Northern Ireland, Europe and the US.
Professor Kevin Barry, academic programme co-ordinator, says that two historical trends have emerged over the last 15 years.
"One the one hand, nation states have begun to disintegrate, while at the same time the European Union has not only consolidated economic, legal and social ties among member states but also begun to expand towards the east."
Professor Barry says these developments merit research, which may prompt us to review our current understanding of the past and revise our expectations of the future.
