The Global Mobility Research Group welcomed Professor Louise Ryan (London Metropolitan University), a world-leading sociologist and one of the most highly cited scholars globally, who delivered a lecture on 15 December titled Analysing network change over time: using longitudinal qualitative network analysis in research with recently arrived refugees in London.

The lecture drew on three years of longitudinal research with Afghan refugees in London to examine how social ties emerge, change, and acquire meaning in the context of forced migration. Using qualitative social network analysis, Professor Ryan demonstrated how commonality, mutuality, and opportunity enable refugees to build and sustain relationships despite challenging public discourses.

Following the seminar, a thought-provoking discussion engaged participants in reflecting on the findings and their broader implications for understanding social ties in contexts of forced migration.

Currently a Professor of Sociology and Director of the Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre at London Metropolitan University, she is known for her influential work on migration, social networks, gender, and mobility. Her research frequently combines qualitative and longitudinal approaches to examine how migrants navigate belonging, identity, and opportunity structures over time. Her strong publication record has earned her repeated recognition among the top 0.5% of scientists worldwide in the Stanford/Elsevier Global Ranking of citation impact, and she is consistently listed among the most highly cited scholars internationally.

Professor Ryan is the author of Social Networks and Migration: Relocations, Relationships and Resources (Bristol University Press, 2024) and has led major international research projects, including the Horizon 2020 MIMY: Migrant Youth Integration & Empowerment project and the £10 million Connected Communities initiative. Her work has had substantial scholarly impact: she has an H-index of 50, and her publications have been cited more than 10,750 times.

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=D2iHSNAAAAAJ&hl=en