The nexus between migration research and policy has been shaped in very different ways in different countries. From a theoretical perspective, this raises the question how and why the research-policy nexus in this area develops in specific ways in specific settings. Also, it raises questions about the impact of different types research-policy relations on policymaking, as well as on the development of migration research itself. Under what conditions can research have an impact on policy, and when is research likely to be ignored? And how have research-policy relations shaped the development of the field of migration research itself, for instance by shaping research questions, funding specific institutions, etc? 

The conference will be given by Peter Scholten, associate professor of Public Policy & Politics at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam, who will discuss with Blanca Garcés Mascareñas, associate researcher at CIDOB and member of GRITIM-UPF. The debate will be moderated by Elena Sánchez Montijano, senior research fellow at CIDOB. 

Peter Scholten is associate professor Public Policy & Politics at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. His research focuses on themes of intercultural governance, comparative public policy, and the relationship between knowledge and power. Peter is associate director of IMISCOE, Europe’s largest academic research network on migration, integration and social cohesion, and coordinator of the interdisciplinary Erasmus Research Cluster on the Governance of Migration and Integration. Furthermore, Peter is editor-in-chief of the journal Comparative Migration Studies (CMS) and member of the editorial board of the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis. Also, he is associate researcher of COMPAS (Center on Migration, Policy and Society) of the University of Oxford.