Professor Alan Gamlen, ARC Future Fellow

DPhil (Oxford), CELTA (Cambridge), BA (Double Major), BMus

Alan Gamlen is the Director of the ANU Migration Hub and a Professor in the School of Regulation and Global Governance at ANU. He has worked on human migration and mobility research for two decades and held related appointments at Oxford University (where he received his doctorate), Stanford University, the Max Planck Society, the Japan Centre for Area Studies, Monash University and Wellington University in his homeland, New Zealand. In 2010-2020 he was Founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal Migration Studies (Oxford University Press). In 2016-17 he was Director of the Australian Population and Migration Research Centre. He advises many migration-related international organizations, governments, service providers, and NGOs. He is currently an Australian Research Council Future Fellow and a member of the ARC College of Experts.

Awards and distinctions

2022    Ranked 4th in the world on the topic of 'diaspora' by ScholarGPS (out of 10,000 ranked scholars on this topic). Ranked in the top 1.3% of all academics in the world by ScholarGPS (out of 29 million ranked individuals)  

2020    Winner, Distinguished Book Award, Best Book on Ethnicity & Migration, International Studies Assoc. Other nominations: Best Book on Migration & Citizenship, American Political Science Association; Yale H Ferguson Award, International Studies Association-Northeast; Crisp Prize, Best Book on Political Science, Austral Political Studies Association; Best Book on International Politics of Migration, Refugees & Diaspora, British International Studies Association

2018    Finalist, Supervisor of the Year Award, Monash University

2014    Winner, President’s Award for Best Emerging Researcher, New Zealand Geographical Society

2010    Runner-up, Maria Ioannis Baganha Award for the Best Dissertation in Europe (IMISCOE)

2006    Winner, Holly Wyatt-Walter Award for Best International Policy Research, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford

2005-08 Winner, Top Achiever Doctoral Scholarship, New Zealand (also offered Australian PA & RTA awards)

2003-05 Winner, Japanese Government Monbukagakusho Scholarship

1999-2002 Winner, Most Outstanding Academic Excellence and Community Service Award, & Graduate Award

Reviewer comments on Human Geopolitics:

2020: Comments from a Dedicated Review Symposium by the European University Institute:

• ‘No one has attempted such an authoritative and wide-ranging review before…the reference which all other attempts must improve on…This is ground-breaking stuff’, Prof. Michael Collyer, Sussex Uni.
• ‘A seminal academic public good’, A/Prof. Harris Mylonas, George Washington Uni.
• ‘Fundamental to the development of the literature on diasporas’, Dr Luicy Pedroza, El Colegio de México, and Leibniz Institute of Global and Area Studies.
• ‘An essential text for anyone interested in diaspora engagement and politics’, Dr Jen Dickinson, Winchester Uni.
• ‘The original data...will doubtless be in high demand’, Prof. Maarten Vink, Maastricht University / European University Institute.

2020: ‘a reference book for both public servants and social sciences scholars.’ Turkish Journal of Diaspora Studies: Birsen Aybüke Evranos, Istanbul University, Turkey.

2020: ‘a fantastic contribution that will be useful to researchers of migration and diaspora, as well as citizenship, for years to come’. Global Policy: Dr Gerasimos Tsourapas, Birmingham University, UK.

2020: ‘this book is a must’. International Migration Review: Rilke Mahieu, Univ. of Antwerp, Belgium.

2020: ‘a groundbreaking longitudinal study of diaspora institutions that has not been previously accomplished.’ The AAG Review of Books: Amina Ghezal, University of Exeter, UK.

2020: ‘an important contribution to the political scientific strand of migration studies’. Journal of Peace Research: Dr Cathrine Talleraas, Peace Research Institute Oslo, Norway.

2019: Foro Internacional 59(3/4): 1247, Airée Coronado López, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.

2021: ‘an admirable study’. Tan Chee-Beng, Melbourne Asia Review 8: 10 Nov.

2021: ‘a very important addition in the study of … diaspora and emigration.’ Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism: Praveen Kumar Tiwari, Jamia Millia Islamia New Delhi, India.

Keywords: human migration, mobility, and displacement; human identity; citizenship; social cohesion; ethnicity and nationalism; population diversity; political geography; urban geography; international studies; quantitative research methods; qualitative research methods; geospatial visualization; philosophy of social science

Postgraduate supervision

Currently principal supervisor to: Kristian Hollins, Ataklti Gebreyesus, Akka Rimon, Lakshmin Mudaliar

Currently associate supervisor to: Asaf Lone, Rosemary Webb, Dio Wicaksana, Ruvi Goredema

Past projects supervised: Henrik Larsen, Anna Hinder, Rida Rana, Prahba Bogodaarachchi, Goshu Tefera, Lakshmin Mudaliar, Brigida Soares, Michael Cummings, Elodie Jacoby, Chris McIntyre, Souphalack Bounpadith, Koko Si Thu, Jerome Cameron, Michael Sloan, Cameron Ward, Sam Norman, Mary Davies-Colley, Iain Kirkpatrick.

Currrent research projects

2023-27 Lead Chief Investigator, ‘Mobility Shocks: Understanding disruptions to Australian migration’ Australian Research Council Future Fellowship

2022-25 Lead Chief Investigator, ‘Diaspora Humanitarians: How Australia-based migrants can help in crises abroad’, Australian Research Council Linkage Project

2022-25 Chief Investigator, ‘Africans in Australia: Political & Economic Agency’ Australian Research Council Discovery Project

2024-27 Lead Chief Investigator, ‘The Impacts of Diaspora Humanitarianism’, UNICEF Innovation Grant (with Y Ding)

2023-24 Lead Chief Investigator, ANU Hansen Scandinavian Friendship Fellowship

2022-2025 Lead Chief Investigator, Australian National University Futures Scheme

Past research projects

2022 Lead Chief Investigator, ‘Red Cross Migration Profiles Pilot Project’, International Federation of the Red Cross

2022 Chief Investigator, ‘Exploring multi-stakeholder perspectives on diaspora humanitarianism’, Asia Pacific Innovation Program Impact and Engagement Scheme (with A Chakma)

2022 Lead Chief Investigator, ‘The Impacts of Diaspora Humanitarianism on Crisis-Affected Communities’, Asia Pacific Innovation Program Basic and Applied Research Scheme (with A Chakma)

2021-22 Lead Chief Investigator, ‘Australian Urban Superdiversity’, Developing an Accessible Geostatistical Visualisation tool (with S Goodwin and X Ho)

2019-21 Co-Chief Investigator, ‘Regional Liveable Diversity’, Monash University (with R Wickes)

2019-21 Lead Chief Investigator, ‘Diaspora Engagement’, Australian Red Cross

2018-2021 Chief Investigator, ‘Conceptualising and visualizing superdiversification’, Max Planck Institute for Religious and Ethnic Diversity (with Steven Vertovec)

2015-2021 Associate Investigator, ‘Nation and Migration: Population mobilities, desires and state practices in 21st century NZ’, Rutherford Discovery Fellowship, Royal Society NZ (with F Collins)

2018 Chief Investigator, ‘Liveable Diversity’, Victoria State Government (with H Dellal and S Vignjevic)

2018 Lead Chief Investigator, ‘Horticulture Labour Project’, Horticulture Australia / University of Adelaide (w J Howe and A Reilly)

2017 Lead Chief Investigator, Review of regional migration policy, Page Research Centre

2017 Chief Investigator, Data Extraction and Geo-spatial Analysis to Inform Community Facilities Placement, Community Hubs Australia

2017 Lead Chief Investigator, Re-building the Hugo Centre through End-user Engagement, Adelaide Environment Institute

2017 Lead Chief Investigator, ‘Mapping Superdiversity’, Multicultural South Australia and the Migration Museum (with J Lange)

2016-2017 Australian Labour Mobility Assistance Program Research Panel

2016-17 Associate Investigator, ‘International Student Engagement’, study commissioned by the Australian Fair Work Ombudsman (w A Reilly and J Howe)

2016-17 Associate Investigator, Custom Software for Geocoding Street Addresses (w D Taylor)

2015-16 Lead Chief Investigator, ‘Immigrant Investment Funds’, pilot project, funded by Dundee Capital Markets

2015-2017 Associate Investigator, ‘Educating for emigration? Searching for an appropriate education policy in the Pacific Islands’, Marsden Fund Grant, Royal Society of NZ (with J Overton and W Murray)

2011-16 Lead Chief Investigator, ‘Diaspora Engagement Policies Project’, University of Oxford

2011-16 Associate Investigator (lead writer) ‘The Oxford Diasporas Program’, Leverhulme Trust (with R Cohen and N Van Hear)

2014 Lead Chief Investigator, ‘Defining Diasporas’, World Bank Migration Group

2010-11 Lead Chief Investigator, Economic and Social Research Council, ‘Emigration States in the Global Governance of Migration’'

2009-10 Co-Chief Investigator, the Diversification of Post-war Migration, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, United Nations Population Division, World Bank Global Bilateral Migration Database Group. With S Vertovec

2010 Rapporteur (Lead Chief Investigator), ‘Ramphal Commission on Migration & Development’ Commonwealth Secretariat

2010 Lead Chief Investigator, Asia NZ Foundation, ‘Engaging Asia: The role of the diaspora’