The Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, University of Latvia, carries-out research projects on a regular basis. We work together with top researchears from diverse disciplines. Here, we introduce you to the people who contributed to migration research in recent years.
Researchers on our current projects
Inta Mieriņa
Inta Mieriņa is is a Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia, a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, director of the Centre for Diaspora and Migration Research, and one of the most well-known migration and integration experts in Latvia. She has extensive experience in leading projects, many of which have focused on migration.
Prof. Mieriņa’s background is in political sociology, and her publications have appeared in Social Science Research, The Sociological Review, European Societies, Europe-Asia Studies and elsewhere. Her recent research has focused on the subjective experiences and integration of migrants with regard to uncertainty and liquid patterns of migration. She is Latvia’s representative in several international networks such as COST action «Women on the Move», European Values Study, European Consortium for Sociological Research, FORTHEM «Diversity and Migration» Lab, HROMADA, etc. Prof. Mieriņa regularly provides policy recommendations to policymakers in Latvia in relation to migration and integration, as well as commentary to Latvian and international media.
Ilze Koroļeva
Dr.sc.soc., is a leading researcher and deputy director at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology. She has led and contributed to more than 40 local and international comparative surveys, including such longitudinal studies as: Path of the Generation (1992–1999), SHARE, EUROSTUDENT, European Social Survey, FP7 Memory, Youth, Political Legacy and Civic Engagement (MYPLACE), FP7 Measuring youth well-being (MYWEB). Her previous research has been concerned on various aspects of youth problems, with particular emphasis upon well-being and health issues, as well as civic and political participation, identity formation.
Most recent research includes an exploration of a sense of belonging, identities, satisfaction with life and integration of migrants. She has more than 50 scientific publications, the most notable of which are two monographs and articles, which have been published in The Sociological Review, European Psychiatry, Religious-philosophical articles. Particularly valuable for implementation of project tasks will be Koroleva’s extensive competence in social research methodology and experience in longitudinal data analysis.
Inese Šūpule
Inese is a sociologist and researcher at IPSUL. Her academic interests include migration and ethnic studies, society integration, education, language use and knowledge, and ethnic politics. She has participated in several international research projects, including the ESF project «The emigrant communities of Latvia: National identity, transnational relations, and diaspora politics» (2013-2015). Currently she is working on the project «Migration of highly qualified specialists: emigration and return migration in Latvia» (2017-2020).
Mārtiņš Kaprāns
Mārtiņš a researcher at IPSUL, and an associated expert at the Washington-based Centre for European Policy Analysis. He received PhD in communication science from University of Latvia in 2012. His current research interests entail Baltic labor migrants in the UK, the ideological polarization of Baltic societies, and Russian-speakers in post-Soviet area. His most recent articles are published in Journal of Baltic Studies, Memory Studies, Euro-Asia Studies as well as in numerous international collections.
Rita Kaša
Rita Kaša is a leading researcher at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the University of Latvia and a researcher at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga. Rita holds an M.Sc. in Political Science from the University of Latvia and a Ph.D. in Comparative Education from the State University of New York at Buffalo, USA. Her research focuses on educational policy and governance, educational equity, finance, education reform, international student mobility, and inclusive education. Rita is a co-editor of The Emigrant Communities of Latvia: National Identity, Transnational Belonging, and Diaspora Politics published by Springer and available in open access.
Daina Grosa
Daina Grosa is a migration researcher at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, University of Latvia. She has recently completed her PhD at the University of Sussex, UK. Her research interests include bilingualism, teaching and maintenance of Latvian language in the diaspora, return migration and child and youth wellbeing, educational integration of immigrant and refugee children in the host country. She has worked in various diaspora NGOs, including PBLA (World Association of Free Latvians) in the education sector, and recently founded the association Maintaining Latvian Language in Diaspora Families. She has published in various international publications on return migration issues, as well as in publications in Latvia on both migration and Latvian language maintenance.
Oksana Žabko
Oksana ŽABKO, PhD at the University of Latvia, is researcher at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology. Her academic interests are labour migration, occupational choice and occupational mobility, skills and adult education, and discrimination at education and work. She has publications on labour migration and occupational mobility experience and consequences in international and local academic journals. She is proficient in both quantitative and qualitative research methods, and has collected a wide range of working-life biographical interviews for her dissertation research (defended in 2023).
Aleksandrs Aleksandrovs
A. Aleksandrovs has more than a decade of hands-on experience of implementation and coordination of international comparative studies. He specializes in research methodology elaboration and harmonization, data management, as well as research ethics and the specifics of personal data processing.
Aleksandrs holds a Master’s degree in sociology from the University of Latvia. He contributed to a number of large-scale projects, including: Generations and Gender Programme, EUROSTUDENT (rounds V and VI), European Social Survey (rounds 3 and 4), «Cultural Heritage and Identities of Europe’s Future» (CHIEF).
Professional interests: methodology of comparative surveys, data and process management, sociology of higher education, data vizualization.
Santa Barone-Upeniece
With an extensive career spanning over 15 years in the public sector, Santa Barone-Upeniece has demonstrated excellence in overseeing EU fund programs across diverse sectors, including transport, local government, rural tourism, and business. Her expertise extends to the implementation of state support programs for NGOs and media, strategic municipal planning, and adept navigation of EU fund support systems. Santa is keen on projects that integrate marginalized groups into society.
Zane Meļķe
Zane is currently studying sociology in the doctoral program at the University of Latvia. Her research interests relate to migration and integration, particularly the practice of migrant children’s access to education in Latvia and their inclusion or exclusion through the school education system. Zane’s studies also involve questions about changes in values, knowledge, and experience during mobility and migrants’ potential to transfer an accumulated experience to their origin and host countries. The issue of an inclusive society and community support possibilities correlates with work in the EU funding program «Citizens, Equality, Rights, and Values.»
Researchers and experts in previous projects
Ieva Reine
Since she obtained a PhD in Social Medicine and Gender Studies at Umeå University in Sweden, Ieva has had her main investigation and research focus on well-being and social insurance for people with severe disabilities. She is also an associated researcher at Uppsala University where she has also been a leading researcher in a major FORTE funded research. Her previous research has been concerned with various aspects of public health in the transition from adolescence to adulthood, disability and well-being, social insurance and security systems, with particular emphasis upon gender interaction with individual, social and structural factors. Most recent professional and research interests include an exploration of European social security systems and legislation.
Andris Saulītis
Andris holds his Ph.D. in Social and Political Sciences from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. Currently, he leads a research project at Collegio Carlo Alberto in Italy. Project TAXMORALBIAS recognized and supported by the European Commission through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship under the Horizon Europe research program.
Mihails Hazans
Professor at the Faculty of Business, Management and Economics, University of Latvia, research fellow at the IZA Institute of Labor Economics, the Global Labor Organization fellow and an expert at the European Centre of Expertise in the field of labour law, employment and labour market policy.
Projects to which Prof. Hazans has contributed include, among others, «An in-depth analysis of the emigration of skilled labour», «Study of Return Migration to Latvia», «The Emigrant Communities of Latvia», «Coping with Emigration in Baltic and East European Countries». His current research deals with labour market issues in the Baltic as well as other European countries and has an additional focus on migration and ethnic minorities, as well as informal employment and tax evasion.
Evija Kļave
Evija is a senior researcher at the Baltic Institute of Social Sciences, one of the leading research and policy analysis centres in Latvia, and a research fellow at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the University of Latvia. Since 1998, she has worked as sociologist and has participated in a wide range of national and international sociological studies and policy analysis projects. She specialises in the field of qualitative research, policy analysis and discourse analysis. Her research interests are ethnic studies, language use and knowledge, general education policy, social integration policy and migration issues.
Daiga Kamerāde
Daiga is a senior lecturer in Quantitative Research Methods at the University of Salford in the UK. She holds a Ph.D. in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge, UK. Her research interests focus on civic partici- pation, work, employment and well-being. Her research has been published in vari- ous outlets, including Human Relations, Work, Employment and Society, the European Sociological Review, and Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly.
Māris Goldmanis
Māris holds Ph.D. in Economics (University of Chicago, 2010) and a B.A. in Mathematics (University of Chicago, 2003). While his primary research interests lie in mathematical economics (microeconomic theory), he is also interested in the use of mathematical modelling and statistical methods in other social and life sciences. These interests have led to interdisciplinary projects with sociologists (studying migration, gender equality, and education), psychologists (modelling the decision-making biases of delusional individuals), biologists (modelling fish populations), and nutritionists (designing survey studies on nutritional habits). His best work has been published in The Economic Journal, Management Science, Psychological Medicine, and Clinical Psychological Science.
Ieva Skubiņa (Kārkliņa)
Ieva served as a researcher at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the University of Latvia. Skubiņa has led and coordinated multiple national and international research projects. She also has worked in projects aimed at developing recommendations to policymakers for addressing social policy issues. Her main research interests are in the sociology of youth and education, the analysis of migration and asylum policies and research into social exclusion and poverty.
Jānis Buholcs
Jānis is an assistant professor at Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences and a researcher at the Institute of Social, Economic and Humanities Research. He received his Ph.D. in Communication Science from the University of Latvia in 2013. His research interests concern contemporary developments in journalism, social aspects of computer-mediated communication and social media.
Laura Sūna
Laura is a postdoctoral researcher at Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, working on a project exploring Transcultural Emotional Repertoires in and by Reality TV at the Collaborative Research Centre Affective Societies. Before that, she was a part-time lecturer at the Institute for Media and Communication Studies at Freie Universität Berlin and a scientific assistant at the University of Bremen, Germany, and the University of Latvia, Latvia. Her research interests include reality TV, youth culture, migration studies, cultural studies and qualitative research methods.
Iveta Jurkāne-Hobein
Iveta is an independent researcher. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Uppsala University in Sweden. Her research interests include perceptions of time, family sociology, migration experiences and Russian-speaking Latvians. Her research has been published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Qualitative Sociology, Studies in Communication and Culture and other peer-reviewed journals.