Here to Stay?


Identity, citizenship and belonging
among settled Eastern European migrant
children and young people in the UK
Research Team

The research team included researchers from the University of Strathclyde, University of Glasgow and Plymouth University.

Pic_DanielaSime Daniela Sime was the project lead or Principal Investigator. She is a Professor in Youth, Migration and Social Justice in the School of Social Work & Social Policy at the University of Strathclyde. Daniela has worked on several projects involving children, young people and families, funded by the ESRC, British Academy, Save the Children, the Scottish Government. Her research interests include migrant youth, marginalised groups (children in poverty, Roma and Gypsy Travellers), young people as service users and the involvement of parents in children’s education. Daniela is an elected member of the Young Academy of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and an advisor to voluntary sector organisations working with young people. Prior to working in Scotland, Daniela was a primary school teacher in her native country, Romania.
 Tyrrell_Naomi-pic Naomi Tyrrell was co-investigator in the project and a Senior Research Fellow in Human Geography at Plymouth University. Her research interests are in the broad field of population geography, with a focus on family migration processes and children’s geographies. She takes a children-inclusive approach to research and uses innovative and participatory methods to elicit children’s views. Naomi’s previous projects focused on researcher mobility and family life in Europe (funded by the EU Commission), the impacts of child migration on later-life migration (funded by British Academy and Leverhulme Trust), and language and intergenerational relationships in migrant families and the Migrant Children Project 2006-2009 based at University College Cork, Ireland (funded by the European Commission).
 Marta Moskal Marta Moskal was co-investigator in this project and an Assistant Professor at Durham University. Her background is in social and public policy, human geography and sociology. Previously, she was Lord Kelvin Adam Smith Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow,  Marie Curie Research Fellow at the Centre of Educational Sociology at the University of Edinburgh and a Lecturer in Social and Political Geography at the Jagiellonina University in Krakow. Her research focuses on the processes of international mobility and education from the perspective of culture, identity change and social inclusion. Much of her work has explored Polish labour mobility and the experiences of migrant families and young people.
Pic_ClaireKelly Claire Kelly was a Research Fellow on this project, based at Plymouth University. Her research interests span social capital, community resilience, people’s relationship to place, and participatory research methods. She has worked with both young and elder people alike on projects and one of her favourite things is hearing people tell their stories. Outside the university, Claire has extensive experience of engagement with communities through various development projects.
 christina1  Christina McMellon was a Research Fellow on the project, based at Strathclyde University. Christina has a professional background in Community Education and working with young people with diverse life experiences. Christina is particularly interested in participatory research with young people and service users, research ethics, young people’s participation, community engagement and subjective well-being. Christina loves to travel and much of her work includes cross-cultural aspects.