Sikhs-in-Europe is an independent and interdisciplinary academic network for students, teachers and scholars conducting studies of and research in all areas related to the Sikh history, religion and culture in Europe.

The network was created in 2008 when a group of 14 researchers and doctoral students from different academic disciplines and universities in Europe participated in the exploratory workshop “Sikhs in Europe: History, Religion and Representation” which was held at Lund on June 13 - 14. The aim of the workshop was to gather leading scholars in the growing international field of Sikh and Punjab studies to map out current research projects on the Sikhs in Europe and plan for future cooperation on the European level. The workshop was prepared by Dr. Kristina Myrvold at the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University, and funded by grants from the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation, the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research.

At the end of the workshop, the participants decided to establish the network Sikhs-in-Europe for the purpose of developing closer academic cooperation between students and researchers with a common interest in the Sikhs and Sikhism in Europe.

The creation of the network Sikhs-in-Europe reflects a growing academic interest in the European Sikh and Punjabi diasporas. An extensive migration from the Punjab - the north-western state of India and the “homeland” of the Sikhs - in the twentieth century resulted in Sikh settlements in different parts of the world. This development attracted the scholarly attention to the Sikh religion and Sikh diasporas, especially in English-speaking countries. New patterns of migration, settlements, representations and transnational networks of the Sikhs in more recent decades have made scholars aware of the importance to undertake research studies of the Sikhs in different European contexts and the need to create academic collaborations across disciplinary and national borders. As the first step in this direction, the network Sikhs-in-Europe is an initiative to create cooperation between scholars who come from a wide range of disciplines and are affiliated to different universities in Europe and beyond.

The main objectives of the network are

• To promote and establish academic cooperation and exchange between students, teachers and researchers from various disciplines and universities in Europe.
• To assist students and researchers by facilitating access to information about scholars, publications and research projects on Sikh diasporas.  
• To provide updated information about academic events and activities related to Sikh migration and Sikh diasporas.

The network Sikhs-in-Europe will organize different kinds of academic meetings to propose, review, and monitor proposals for research studies and to discuss the progress and results of projects undertaken by the participants of the network. These meetings will take place at different locations across Europe to allow for broad participation.