This thesis examines the 'scientific mobility/migration' of EU and non-EU scientists, researchers and doctoral candidates within the European Research Area (ERA), focusing on the legal and policy framework of Cyprus. This work is at the intersection of the ERA framework, the Area of Freedom Security and Justice and the free movement of workers. The ERA is defined as 'a unified European research area in which researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely and through which the Union and Member States strengthen their science, technology, their competitiveness and their capacity to collectively address challenges'.1 This thesis analyses scientific migration in its holistic dimension, which also includes a study of the impact of EU/national policies, laws and domestic research culture on the migrants themselves. Employing a socio-legal approach for conducting a qualitative study, the work explores the perceptions and experiences of two different samples of scientists: non-EU researchers in Cyprus, as a country of origin, and Cypriot scholars in the UK, as a destination country. The overall aim is to identify strengths and weaknesses in terms of attracting and retaining scientists and the culture encountered in the national research environment and propose recommendations.