Project Research Preparation
As a visiting scholar from 2015 to 2016, I studied at Ryerson University for one year and met Mehru there. My own research interests are mainly the migration, resettlement and integration of project-induced immigration. In recent years, I have gradually become interested in population aging and elderly care services. After receiving Mehru's invitation, I carefully considered the research interests of National Research Centre for Resettlement (NRCR) and myself, and decided to accept the invitation and join the project.
NRCR has done several transnational cooperative research projects. However, this research project is very different from previous research projects. First of all, from the research content, the research object of this project is immigrant families, focusing on family decision-making, the role of family members in the process of migration, and integration after migration to the destination. NRCR has rich research experience in immigration activities caused by project construction, domestic population migration caused by economic development, and immigration activities caused by ecological and environmental protection, and relatively few studies on transnational migration and integration. Secondly, from the research perspective, most scholars' research perspectives on immigration in China are relatively macro, such as the impact of social policies on immigration activities, livelihood restoration of immigrant groups, etc. There are relatively few research results on immigrant families and family members from the micro level. Thirdly, from the perspective of international cooperation methods of immigration research, most of the research projects undertaken in the past were the research programs formulated by NRCR, and then looked for partners in many countries and asked each other to assist in investigation and research. In this project, multiple partners jointly seek research interests and jointly carry out targeted research. In general, the implementation of this project can not only broaden the research perspective of the Chinese immigration research team, but also bring different experiences to the cultivation of students.
Before the formal start of the research project, I first consider the formation of the research team. Considering that this project is a transnational cooperation project, research members with good English and Chinese must join. Therefore, I first thought of Dr. Li Yi. Dr. Li was graduated from Cardiff University in 2011 and has very excellent English listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. At the same time, Dr. Li's main research interest is urban and regional planning, which is related to the research content of the project. If Dr. Li can join the research team, it can not only effectively solve the problem of research communication, but also provide a broader perspective for project research. In addition, I also consider inviting Dr. Wang Huan. Dr. Wang Huan's research interests are mainly population aging, migration and integration of the elderly population, which are closely related to the research content of the project. Fortunately, both doctors are very interested in project research and are willing to join! After soliciting the opinions of the two doctors, we also invited their graduate students to join the research team. With the smooth establishment of the research team, I think my work has entered a new stage.
After the establishment of the research team, we formally reported to the International Cooperation Office of Hohai University, informing our research plan, the composition of the research team and the assistance needed in the research process. The International Cooperation Office of Hohai University supports the project very much and gives strong support in project application. So far, I think the focus of our later work can be changed to the necessary literature review.
