CONFERENCEIn Latvia, the study is carried out on behalf of the State Chancellery by an experienced research team led by Professor Inta Mieriņa, tenured professor at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Latvia and Director of the Centre for Diaspora and Migration Research.
Principal Investigator
Dr. Inta Mieriņa specializes in political sociology and has conducted extensive research on migration-related issues. Her recent studies focus on the Latvian diaspora, new forms of migration, changing public attitudes toward migrants, integration policies, the reception of Ukrainian refugees, and rising ethnic tensions in Latvia. She is also interested in values, social capital, and the common good. In 2024, she was awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant for the project Welcoming Immigrants in Central and Eastern Europe: Lessons from Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine (WICE).
Dr. Mieriņa’s work has been published in high-ranking international journals such as International Migration Review, European Security, Nationalities Papers, Social Science Research, The Sociological Review, European Societies, and Europe-Asia Studies. She is also co-editor of the 2019 Springer volume Latvian Emigrant Communities: The Diaspora of Hope.
She has received numerous fellowships and awards, including the prestigious Fulbright Fellowship and the Young Felix Award from the Academia Europaea. Dr. Mieriņa has been a visiting researcher at Yale University, the University of Washington, Aarhus University, the Aleksanteri Institute at the University of Helsinki, the University of Warsaw, and the Interdisciplinary Demography Institute in Germany.
Research Team
Jurijs Ņikišins, Associate Professor and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Latvia, Faculty of Social Sciences, serves as the National Coordinator of the European Social Survey (ESS) in Latvia.
Ilze Koroļeva is a sociologist and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Latvia. She has participated in the development and implementation of more than forty projects focused on youth research and has served as the Latvian coordinator and principal investigator for several major international comparative and longitudinal studies, including Path of the Generation (1992–1999), the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD), World Values Survey, European Social Survey, and European Cities Against Drugs (ECAD; 2006, 2008, 2010), among others. She is the author of more than fifty publications and has organized numerous international seminars and conferences.
Anete Elizabete Melngalve is a Research Assistant and Project Coordinator at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia. She is an experienced project manager with a professional background in the travel and tourism sector and strong expertise in working with non-profit organizations, intercultural communication, political science, event management, and volunteer coordination. She is a skilled programme and project management professional and scientific project coordinator, holding a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Latvia.
Ginta Elksne is a sociologist and Researcher at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Latvia.
LU Humanitāro zinātņu Filozofijas un socioloģijas institūta un Ekonomikas un sociālo zinātņu fakultātes vadošā pētniece, PhD Maija Krūmiņa.