Institute of Migration was founded in 1974, and has its headquarters in Turku. The tasks of the Institute of Migration are:

• to promote the collection, storage and documentation of research material relating to international and internal migration including immigrants and refugees,
• to carry out and to promote migration research,
• to publish reseach reports, books and articles on migration,
• and to develop co-operation between the universities and special organizations related to migration, both within Finland and abroad.

Institute of Migration is maintained by a non-profit-making trust administered by a Council and an Administrative Board. The organization affiliated to the trust are, for the Republic of Finland, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, all the Finnish universities, and a large number of special organizations with an interest in the study of migration. The Institute is basically financed by an annual operating grant from the Finnish Ministry of Education, but in addition various projects are financed from a variety of other sources.

The Regional Centre of Ostrobothnia

The Regional Centre was opened in Peräseinäjoki in October 1994. The rural community of Peräseinäjoki as well as different provincial organizations are important collaborators for the Regional Centre. The primary task of the Regional Centre is to collect and store research material on migration in Ostrobothnia. The Centre organizes courses on research material collecting and sets up exhibitions on migration. The Regional Centre also gives out information from the emigrant register and lends/sells books on migration.