The Centre for Family Sciences conducts research on the living conditions of asylum seekers and recognised refugees and how these families can be better supported and assisted. Our research is practice-oriented and responds to the needs of NGOs and governmental organisations in the asylum sector in terms of knowledge, methodologies and training. The research is always conducted in co-creation with the work field.

The research project "Supporting resilience in parents and children of refugee families" (2017-2019), focused on the concept of family resilience. We gained insight into the vulnerability and resilience of refugee parents and children in different areas of life. We analysed why some social practices in the areas of education and well-being were effective and others were not.

In 2018-2019, on behalf of the Flemish government, research was conducted into volunteer initiatives that offer housing support for recognised refugees. This resulted in a scenario of good practices and guidelines to supervise and support volunteers.

Since 2018 our campus, in collaboration with several (foreign) partners, has been organising the annual international Summer School ‘Refugee Children and Families in Europe: social work and counseling’, on the assistance of refugee families.

Today, the professional field calls for better support for families before, during and after the family reunification procedure. In 2019, we started research on the needs of care providers and families. This will result in a training for various professional actors.

In 2020, we started developing a policy vision and training package on child protection, provision and participation policy for reception centres in Belgium. This  project is funded by AMIF, the European Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.