The NCCR in a nutshell

The nccr – on the move is the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) for migration and mobility studies. It aims to enhance the understanding of contemporary phenomena related to migration and mobility in Switzerland and beyond. Connecting disciplines, the NCCR brings together research from the social sciences, economics, and law.

Managed at the University of Neuchâtel, the nccr – on the move is currently in its third phase (2022 – 2026) for which it receives SNSF funding of 10.8 million Swiss Francs. The network comprises 11 research projects at eight universities in Switzerland: The Universities of Basel, Geneva, Lausanne, Neuchâtel, as well as the ETH Zurich, the Graduate Institute Geneva, the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland, and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences.

The nccr – on the move was launched in 2014. In its initial phase, the 20 NCCR research projects investigated contemporary phenomena related to migration and mobility in Switzerland. The 17 projects of the second phase (2018 to 2022) expanded the research focus beyond Switzerland for international comparison.

In this third and final phase, the research projects will examine the impact of various crises on migration and (im)mobility from an interdisciplinary perspective in three thematic research modules:

(I) Migration-Mobility Governance and Crisis Narratives Across Time and Space: Regional, National, and International Perspectives, (II) Socio-Economic Inequality in Times of Crises, and (III) Evolving Regimes of (Im)Mobility in Times of Crisis.

Migration-Mobility Nexus

The overall scientific aim of the nccr – on the move is to offer a comprehensive and interdisciplinary framework for understanding the interplay between contemporary migration and (im)mobility to Switzerland and beyond.

By postulating four interplays – continuum, enablement, hierarchy, opposition – between migration and (im)mobility, the Migration-Mobility Nexus sketches an analytical lens to understand the transformation of contemporary patterns of movement, their modes of governance and regulation, as well as their economic drivers and the societal dynamics they reproduce.

Research in the third phase studies how crises influence the framing of human movement by reinforcing or weakening certain dynamics within and between the interplays of the Nexus, by, for example, triggering changes in existing hierarchies of movements.

Benefits and Impact

The doctoral program of the nccr – on the move and the interdisciplinary collaboration among the research projects foster scientific innovation and strengthen the field of mobility and migration studies in Switzerland and beyond.

Knowledge transfer measures allow for a regular and structured exchange with members of the wider national and international scientific community, with institutional partners, decision-makers, and opinion leaders. In addition, external communication ensures that the knowledge gained within the NCCR reaches a broader audience. Special attention is dedicated to improving equal opportunities and the awareness of issues related to discrimination at all levels of the NCCR.