Dr. Neli Demireva is a Lecturer in Sociology at Essex University. Her research interests include migration, inter-ethnic ties, social cohesion, ethnic penalties and multiculturalism. She has published in leading journals in the field: Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies, the Journal of Ethnic and Migration studies; the International Journal of Comparative Sociology and has prepared several policy reports on issues of ethnicity and migration. She currently holds a BA grant on “Understanding the Ecology of Disadvantage: Betting Agents, Crime and the British Neighbourhood” and an Executive Dean Fund grant “Multiculturalism as Innovation” focusing on attitudes towards multiculturalism. From September 2015, she will start work on the project: “GEMM: Growth, Equal Opportunities, Migration and Markets” (as part of the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Commission, “EURO-2-2014: The European growth agenda Research and Innovation action 4: Migration, prosperity and growth“). This project addresses the challenges and barriers that European countries face in managing the mobility of persons to realize competitiveness and growth.