Research Partnerships

ILSI's frontline casework generates evidence that few outside research organisations can access directly. We welcome partnerships with universities, think tanks and multilateral agencies that want to study labour migration corridors rigorously, and that can meet our standards for protecting member privacy.

What partnership can look like

• Joint publications combining ILSI corridor evidence with academic methodology, published through our publications library.
• Access to aggregated data hub indicators for approved research projects, beyond what is publicly available in the data hub.
• Co-supervision or hosting of graduate research connected to ILSI's active corridors.
• Contribution to ILSI's policy briefs and Advisory Council input.

Our conditions

Any research partnership must respect the same member privacy protections set out in ILSI's privacy policy — no partnership arrangement gives access to identifiable member data. Research institutions interested in a partnership should contact ILSI's research team through our contact page.

What ILSI looks for in a research partner

We prioritise partnerships with institutions that bring methodological rigour our internal team may not have capacity to apply alone, genuine interest in the specific corridors we operate in rather than migration in the abstract, and a track record of publishing findings that hold up to scrutiny even when they are inconvenient for the institutions involved, including ILSI itself.

What a partner can expect from ILSI

In return, research partners can expect timely access to agreed aggregate data, direct engagement with ILSI staff who hold frontline corridor knowledge, and co-authorship credit consistent with their contribution. ILSI does not treat research partnerships as a public relations exercise, and expects findings, whatever they show, to be published honestly.

Getting started

An initial conversation with our research team typically covers the specific corridor or theme you want to study, the data or access you would need, and how the proposed study fits with work ILSI may already have underway, so that effort is not duplicated unnecessarily across partners. There is no formal application process for a first conversation — a direct message through our contact page describing your interest and institutional background is a sufficient starting point for our team to follow up with you directly.