Looking forward to the Neuchâtel Graduate Conference 2020

The Neuchâtel Graduate Conference has become an international event for doctoral students and junior researchers in the field of migration and mobility. Over two hundred researchers have attended our conferences since 2017. Our keynote speakers who participated in the previous editions can be viewed through an interactive visualization that illustrates the scale of international connections of the nccr – on the move.

As the fourth edition of our conference is scheduled to take place at the University of Neuchâtel from 10 to 11 September 2020, its planning is already underway. We would, therefore, like to share with you some of our preliminary ideas.

The three previous editions of the Graduate Conference have built a good reputation thanks to their collaborative atmosphere, as well as the interdisciplinary and constructive discussions between junior and senior researchers. The idea is to further strengthen these features, while simultaneously facilitating the finalization of articles for publication in international journals and the creation of permanent standing groups. With this in mind, we are planning to reduce the number of participants and make room for longer, in-depth discussions. Participants will be invited to remain within the same working group for the two days of the conference to develop their articles together and work towards publication.

While this year’s edition of the conference will be smaller than last year’s, we will again invite senior scholars from our International Advisory Board. These experts are invited to provide constructive feedback and guide young researchers in the publishing process. We will also make sure that the conference serves as a platform to promote young female academics in line with our values.

We will also continue to collaborate with other institutions, like the Swiss Subsaharan Africa Migration Network, and invite external participants to facilitate a dialogue beyond the academia. Similarly to last year, we plan to invite journalists and practitioners, and organize one or two targeted roundtables including them.

The topic of the conference will be ‘New Forms of Mobility’. Through this theme, we would like to explore some of the fundamental transformations in the movement of people and goods. We would also like to discuss the role played by technological developments, new systems of information sharing, environmental concerns and changing rules regulating borders crossing. As always, we wish to facilitate interdisciplinary debate. For this reason, we will welcome submissions from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, methodological and theoretical approaches.

We plan to publish the call for papers and panels around mid-March. In the meanwhile, you can stay up to date with information on the conference through the hashtag #neuchgradconf20.