Abstract / Summary:
The development impact of migrant's resources has received significant attention over the last decade, with skilled migrants and scientific diasporas being considered as a source of valuable resources that circulate between countries. The objective of this project is to advance knowledge-based evidence of skilled return migration and its impact on development, and to explore strategies and measures to leverage the potential of scientific diasporas. By taking the example of Indian skilled migration and employing a two-fold approach (country of origin and countries of destination) in which both qualitative and quantitative research methods will be used, the research will examine the links between institutional settings and talent flows. It will also identify ways of involving skilled returned migrants in the development process at home and the best approaches to engage the diaspora in this too. The project findings will have a wider application by contributing to the policy dialogue on migration and development, in particular on brain gain for developing and emerging countries. Following an interdisciplinary approach, the project will be carried out by the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL, Lausanne) in partnership with the Institute of Development Studies Kolkata (IDSK, Calcutta), the International Migration and Diaspora Studies IMDS) Project of the Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, School of Social Sciences of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU, New Delhi), and the International Migration Programme of the International Labour Office (ILO, Geneva). The Project benefits from an association with the Institut de la Recherche pour le Développement (France).
