Tagged / International Law

The Missing Persons Indicator Project: Research Collaboration for Knowledge Exchange

BU research, HEIF, humanities, Impact, Industry collaboration, international, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Knowledge Transfer, policy, Research communication, Research Integritiy, research methods, Research news, research opportunities, student research

The Missing Persons Indicator Project, initiated several years ago by Professor Melanie Klinkner and Andreas Kleiser from the ICMP, has recently been enhanced by a visit to the ICMP, aimed at optimising knowledge exchange. Its goal is to showcase each state’s relationship with missing persons through comprehensive data analysis. This initiative began as a collaborative effort, with data gathering undertaken by undergraduate students at Bournemouth University, engaging students in real-world research and ensuring the project’s sustainability by welcoming new students each September.

Since its inception, the project has been fortunate to work with many enthusiastic students who have completed the first round of Structural Indicator 1. This indicator demonstrates the commitment of states to international legal instruments. The table below outlines the current indicators involved in our data collection process:

Context Indicator A qualitative assessment as to whether the state has experienced extraordinary events that may be correlated to a rise in missing persons cases.
Structural Indicator 1 The commitment shown by states to international legal instruments is an indicator of their duties and obligation in relation to missing persons.
Structural Indicator 2 Domestic legislation by states as an indicator of their duties and obligation in relation to missing persons.
Structural Indicator 3 Institutional framework(s) established by states as an indicator of their duties, obligation, and enactment of legislation in relation to missing persons.

Thanks to HEIF funding, the Missing Persons Indicator Project recently had the opportunity to employ four student volunteers over the past two weeks. Their task was to accelerate the data collation for these indicators. By working through each indicator on a state-by-state basis, they developed a comprehensive understanding of each state’s unique situation. This method also allowed them to recognise and utilise specific details that might recur across the different indicators.

Every day, a designated “data-checker” reviewed previously inputted data to identify and correct any anomalies. This rigorous review process ensures the data’s accuracy, ethical integrity, and suitability for international dissemination.

Throughout this process, the students have been deeply engaged, asking insightful questions that challenged our perspectives and prompted us to consider aspects we might have overlooked. The atmosphere has been a hub of activity and intellectual growth.

We are extremely grateful for the hard work and dedication of our student researchers. Their contributions have demonstrated that a student ‘data-lab’ is an excellent model for conducting research and achieving meaningful results.

As this term draws to a close, we are keen to alert teaching staff to the potential for their students to join the Missing Person Indicator project in September as we recruit a new cohort for the new academic year. To learn more about the project please visit our website!

2023-24 Missing Persons Indicator Cohort begins work

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, humanities, research integrity, research methods, Student Engagement, student research

A team of 10 LLB Law students from across all levels is collating data on a pro bono basis on international, knowledge exchange project.

 

The Missing Persons Indicator Project is a collaboration between the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) and Bournemouth University, with students at the heart of the project. Through students’ voluntary extra-curricular engagement, they are gathering data for sustained, high quality indicators and analysis. At the same time, participation equips students with a plethora of transferable skills and valuable research experience while contributing to a real-life societal problem with the overarching aim of alleviating missing persons cases.

So here’s a massive thank you to our student researcher cohort of 2023-24:

  • Angel Beaumont
  • Arman Ali
  • Maisie Lee
  • Lola Jones
  • Suzie Moore
  • Jazz White
  • Poppy Holland
  • Jasmin Sidhu-Bansal
  • Lydia Gee
  • Siobhan McClatchey

The data collated will help better understand the way states engage with, and seek to solve, missing persons cases, thereby assisting those involved in missing persons efforts. The collation and analysis of data will have a dual purpose: (1) to highlight missing persons protection and investigation mechanisms for improved implementation but also to (2) assist in prevention efforts. The development of indicators offers a way to capture the necessary data whilst facilitating analysis and comparison.

Findings to date will form part of the forthcoming ICMP Global Report and we will present the project rationale, methodology, data analysis and visualisation at the online Social Data School in December as part of the University of Cambridge Digital Humanities initiatives. Over the past two academic years and through the help of dedicated students on staff (Dr David Biggins from BUBS; Melissa Bowden from the Library and Dr Jonathan Whittle in H&L), on structural indicator 1 alone, some 12,288 data entry points have been populated.

The missing persons indicator project team has developed a robust platform and methodology for continued data collation. We are really pleased and grateful to continue on this path to complete the data set for structural and context indicators.

Professor Melanie Klinkner receives European Research Council Consolidator Grant

A BU research project to develop a comprehensive human rights framework around mass graves has been awarded over £1.6 million from the European Research Council (ERC).

Mass Grave Protection, Investigation & Engagement: a comprehensive universal human rights framework – or MaGPIE – will be led by Professor Melanie Klinkner, Professor of International Law at BU.

Professor Melanie Klinkner

Professor Melanie Klinkner

Mass graves exist across the globe on a shocking scale, with thousands of victims and families seeking answers. However, currently there are no global records for mass graves – meaning the scale and nature of the problem is not well understood.

There is also no universal framework for protecting and investigating mass graves to safeguard sites and human remains, as well as the rights and interests of survivors.

The MaGPIE project will respond to this significant knowledge and policy gap and develop a comprehensive human rights framework to inform the protection, investigation and stakeholder engagement around mass graves.

Professor Klinkner said: “I am grateful and honoured to have been given this opportunity by the European Research Council. Mass graves, the focus of my research, are a very sensitive topic: for each body concealed in a mass grave, there is a family or community suffering from anguish and grief.

“This five-year research project will explore how dignified, rights-compliant engagement with mass graves can be progressed, asking what and how we can do better for affected families and survivors.”

This work builds on Professor Klinkner’s research into the protection and investigation of mass graves.

This includes projects to examine when mapping of mass graves should be avoided or kept secret so that protection is not jeopardised, exploring how states deal with missing persons cases, and the publication of the international standard-setting Bournemouth Protocol of Mass Grave Protection and Investigation. It also continues a long-standing collaboration with the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP).

Professor Einar Thorsen, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Media & Communication at Bournemouth University, said: “Receiving this prestigious and highly competitive award from the European Research Council is an outstanding achievement and testament to the quality of research being undertaken by Professor Klinkner and the team at Bournemouth University.

“Protecting mass graves and the rights of victims and their loved ones is an issue of international importance and this funding reflects our commitment to addressing global challenges and enriching society across research, education and practice.”

The funding of 1.9 million Euros (approximately £1.6 million) to support the MaGPIE project has been given as an European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant.

Professor Klinkner is one of 321 researchers from 37 countries across Europe to receive the funding, chosen from 2,222 applications through a rigorous review process.

The funding – worth €657 million in total – is part of the EU’s Horizon Europe programme. It will help excellent scientists, who have 7 to 12 years’ experience after their PhDs, to pursue their most promising ideas. Only 31 British researchers, including Professor Klinkner, have been selected.

President of the European Research Council Prof. Maria Leptin said: “ERC Consolidator grants support researchers at a crucial time of their careers, strengthening their independence, reinforcing their teams and helping them establish themselves as leaders in their fields. And this backing above all gives them a chance to pursue their scientific dreams.”