Entanglements of Migration and Time in Post-industrial Urban Europe

MITIME (Entanglements of Migration and Time in Post-industrial Urban Europe) (2026-2030) is a pioneering interdisciplinary doctoral programme that will train early-career scholars in critical issues of migration, integration and societal change currently faced by European cities. The programme seeks to challenge conventional understandings of human mobility that often envisage linear trajectories of migratory processes from departure to arrival to settlement. MITIME argues that such narrow and normative conceptualisations of how people move no longer accurately capture the diversified patterns of migration, mobility, and integration in contemporary Europe. By using the lens of temporality to bring new and disruptive insights to existing understandings of migration and diversity in post-industrial urban settings, MITIME generates innovative approaches and methods to support social inclusion and combat inequalities. It responds to the urgent need for training a new generation of migration experts by creating a research training programme of excellence, innovation and inclusion.

MITIME draws from the collaborative interdisciplinary expertise of the European University of Post-Industrial Cities consortium (UNIC), aligning seven leading universities for migration research in collaboration with ten Associated Partners (AP) from the third and private sectors, and civil society to provide 15 doctoral candidates (DCs) with cutting-edge, cross-sectoral training and transversal skills and know-how for generating interdisciplinary scientific insights into one of Europe’s most critical socio-political issues.

Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Networks Call, the programme will equip 15 doctoral researchers with important cross-sectoral, transversal and interdisciplinary skills for studying critical issues around migration, integration and societal change. The consortium brings together seven UNIC universities and a number of civil society partners, including Cork Migrant Centre and Intersos Greece.

MITIME partner universities: University of Oulu (Lead), Ruhr University Bochum, University College Cork, University of Deusto, Koç University, University of Liège, Erasmus University Rotterdam.

MITIME UCC research team: Dr Caitríona Ni Laoíre, (UCC PI), School of Applied Social Studies; Dr Claire Dorrity, School of Applied Social Studies; Dr Claire Edwards, School of Applied Social Studies;  Dr Mastoureh Fathi, Department of Sociology and Criminology; and Dr Piaras Mac Éinrí, formerly Department of Geography.