All over the world, stable concepts of home and belonging have, for a variety of reasons, become the exception rather than the rule. This has led to dramatic cultural, social and political changes and challenges. The study of diaspora and migration has therefore evolved into a burgeoning field of research with an urgent practical relevance. In a wide and sometimes confusing array of approaches it is mainly covered by the humanities and the social sciences. The CoHaB Network unites world-leading institutions in this field in the conviction that interdisciplinary training as well as international and inter-sectoral co-operation are key to any productive study of diasporas. CoHaB gains scope and momentum by its ‘Network of Networks’ rationale, binding together already existing cooperations. It is based on the resolve to strengthen interdisciplinary research in the field with a view to establishing diaspora studies as a transdisciplinary research area in its own right. Training young researchers on the basis of this conviction means to provide them with the opportunity to conduct their work in a variety of disciplinary environments as well as outside a purely academic context. Specifically, CoHaB aims at stimulating and facilitating cooperation by negotiating core concepts between the various disciplines involved among the partner institutions. Each of these disciplines has developed its own, highly sophisticated understanding of diaspora studies, and it is high time that these diverse understandings entered into a sustained dialogue. For this purpose, early stage researchers from various disciplinary backgrounds, but with similar interests in the field of diaspora studies, will join forces to develop their projects on a shared platform. This will assist them in opening their projects to a strong, interdisciplinary research environment and in producing tangible results for their own research careers, for the scientific community, and for the general public at large.