A comparative paper based on the DIAMINT project (www.diamint.eu), co-authored with Stijn Verbeek, has been accepted by the journal Science & Public Policy. The paper is titled ‘Politicization and Expertise: Changing Research-Policy Relations on Migrant Integration in Europe’, and compares case-studies of Austria, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and the EU.

A key finding in the paper is that politicisation does not pre-empt the role of expertise in policy formulation, but rather changes the nature of research-policy dialogues in the context of politicisation. This involves more symbolic knowledge utilisation, a coproduction of knowledge that contributes in particular to facts and information that can sustain policies, and a more selective configuration of research-policy relations to promote the provision of instrumental expertise rather than fundamental research.