Asylum-seekers, refugees, immigration and anti-racist strategies will be among the subjects of a number of studies funded under the Royal Irish Academy's Third Sector Research Programme.

In all, €1.9 million is being invested in research projects, in colleges in the Republic and Northern Ireland, that will study the voluntary sector.

Professor Mary Daly, secretary of the RIA, an all-Ireland body, says the academy is pleased to initiate the research programme during the International Year of the Volunteer. "Such research is vital to understand Irish society and its development," she says.

Projects include an exploration, by Piaras Mac ╔inr∅, UCC, of how the voluntary sector and statutory agencies can work together to assist immigrants' "self-empowerment and full participation in civil society"'.

PhD scholarships, of €14,600, have been awarded to five students - two in QUB, two in NUI Maynooth and one in TCD. One of the students, Niall Moran of NUI Maynooth, will look at the issue of asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants in Ireland, with a particular focus on voluntary groups that promote anti-racist strategies.

The aims of the Third Sector Research Programme are to encourage a network of researchers with an interest in voluntary issues, to increase the extent and quality of research in the area and to encourage the dissemination of research findings within the academic community and the voluntary sector. For further information: www.ria.ie