Congratulations to EMMIR Edition 12
Updated: 4 hours ago
On 4 September 2026, the EMMIR community came together at the University of Oldenburg to celebrate the graduation of EMMIR Edition 12.
After two years of studying migration and intercultural relations across countries, institutions, disciplines, and perspectives, the students who began their EMMIR journey in 2024 officially reached a major milestone: graduation!
The graduation ceremony brought together graduates, staff, faculty, friends, and members of the wider EMMIR community in Oldenburg, with others joining the celebration online.
The afternoon included opening remarks from EMMIR Primary Coordinator Dr. Lydia Potts and a graduation address from Prof. Dr. Gun-Britt Kohler, Vice President for Academic Career Paths, Equal Opportunities and International Affairs at the University of Oldenburg.
But most importantly, it was a chance to celebrate the students themselves: the work they have done, the research they have produced, and the experiences they have shared over the past two years.
Edition 12 students EMMIR Programme Director Dr. Lydia Potts
EMMIR's annual Most Innovative Thesis Award
The ceremony also recognized the research produced by this year’s graduates through the EMMIR Most Innovative Thesis Award.
Five Edition 12 graduates were nominated, with research exploring topics including forced migration, language and migrant education, transitions to adulthood, second-generation Vietnamese entrepreneurship, and social media, belonging, and mobility.
This year’s award went to Gebregwergs Teklay Kidanemariam for his thesis, “Conflict and Forced Migration: Analysing the Intersectional Vulnerabilities of Youth Irregular Migrants from the Conflict-Affected Tigrai Region to Saudi Arabia,” supervised by Prof. Dr. Roberts Muriisa of Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Uganda. This thesis was selected by an external reviewer and juror, Prof. Dr. Mohammad Morad.
Congratulations to all five nominees, and the entire Edition 12, for the research they contributed to EMMIR and to migration studies in general.
From students to alumni
Edition 12 student representatives Shirley Andrea Tarazona Duarte and Vanessa Lorena Orozco Roca also took the stage, and the cohort shared a video reflecting on their EMMIR experiences.
With their graduation, Edition 12 students have earned a joint Master of Arts in Migration and Intercultural Relations, awarded by the EMMIR consortium. The degree reflects two years of interdisciplinary study, international mobility, practical experience, and independent research, preparing graduates to bring critical and internationally informed perspectives on migration to their future work, research, and further studies.
To all of our Edition 12 graduates: congratulations. We are proud to have been part of your journey, grateful for everything you have brought to the EMMIR community, and excited to see what comes next.
A new chapter for EMMIR, too
The day also marked the beginning of a new chapter for the programme, as we celebrated the launch of EMMIR IV, our fourth Erasmus Mundus funding period. Learn more about the future of the EMMIR programme here.
All photographs on this page are credited to Izabela Mittwollen
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