The Academic Network for Legal Studies on Asylum and Immigration in Europe, the “Odysseus Academic Network”, was founded in 1999 with the financial support of the Odysseus Programme of the European Commission and is co-ordinated at the Institute for European Studies of the Université libre de Bruxelles. It brings together renowned experts from each Member State of the European Union with an objective to furnish universities, policy-makers, practitioners and NGOs with a deeper insight into the areas of migration and asylum, from a European perspective.

As part of its activities, the Network has carried out numerous comparative legal studies on relevant themes, public conferences and debates as well as dedicated training courses. Since 2000, the network organises annually, a two-week Summer School to provide its participants with a comprehensive understanding of the immigration and asylum policy of the European Union from a legal perspective. In addition, since 2005, it organises an in-depth one year Certificate in European Law on Immigration and Asylum.