EuMIGS students took part in the first online 17th IMISCOE annual conference on July 1 and 2, 2020. Like in the 16th annual IMISCOE conference in Malmö, a panel was dedicated to the work and experiences of EuMIGS double degree students.
Following an overview of all master thesis projects, Astrid Jessen and Irina Widmer who spent the second year of their masters at Malmö University, presented first results of their master theses, both of which addressed the micro-level experiences of refugees: Astrid researched age assessment experiences of former unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in Germany; and Irina looked at Syrian refugees’ strategies for wellbeing in the settlement process in Switzerland. The students’ presentations were commented by Reinhard Schweitzer (Vienna) and Jens Schneider (Osnabrück).
The panel also gave insights into the experiences of international students’ mobility and research experiences in times of Covid-19. How did the pandemic and the lockdown affect their exchange stays and their research? How did they solve the special challenges involved?
While it was indeed a challenging year for being an international student, all agreed that they would have not liked to have missed it.
