Dr Gwendolyn Sasse has been awarded a British Academy Small Research Grant

Dr Gwendolyn Sasse has been awarded a British Academy Small Research Grant for `Understanding Political Voices from Abroad: Polish Migrants in the UK`. The project will run from July 2010 to June 2012.

This research grant is for a large-scale survey of Polish voters across the UK, conducted during the second round of the Polish presidential elections on 4 July 2010. It aims to combine a better understanding of the sociological profile of the Polish migrants with an analysis of their patterns of interaction with Poland (e.g. with their families and friends or with Polish current affairs), their perceptions of Polish politics from afar as well as their interest in and engagement with local or national UK politics. Statistical data about migrants is notoriously difficult to generate systematically. Existing data on Polish migrants in the UK gives us a fair overall idea of the number (roughly one million since 2004, fewer arrivals and more returns since 2008) and predominant sociological characteristics (young, educated) of what has been the UK`s biggest new group of migrants. As this group exhibits an unprecedented flexibility and mobility, this project tries to move beyond numbers and basic sociological data in order to gain a better understanding of the migrants` behaviour, perceptions and political impact in their multiple and shifting locations.