It is my distinct pleasure to welcome you to the web site for The National Research Centre for Migration Studies. The genesis of the centre arose out of a conference jointly mounted by Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Scotland's Gaelic College, and the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies (RIISS) at the University of Aberdeen. In his address to that conference, Celtic Cultures in an Emigrant Context, in June 2000, Brian Wilson MP, then Minister of State at the Scotland Office, said:-
Professor Norman N. Gillies OBE

"What I am proposing is an academic Centre for Highlands and Islands Emigration Studies. I hope that out of this conference will come an agreement to work towards such an entity. My own view, for what it is worth, is that there could not be a more appropriate place for it to be located than here at Sabhal Mor Ostaig, itself a tribute to the incredible resilience of the culture which was driven to the four corners of the earth."

Working in collaboration with Aberdeen University, we have set up the National Research Centre for Migration Studies, and we are very pleased that Professor Bryan MacGregor, Vice Principal and Head of College, College of Arts and Social Sciences, at Aberdeen University has agreed to Chair the Advisory Board. I hope you find our web site useful and I hope that you will visit often. Could I also express our thanks to Highlands and Islands Enterprise for their help, and financial support, in setting up this centre.

Professor Norman N. Gillies OBE
Director, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig