About Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies

Russian and Eurasian Studies has been an established academic discipline at Uppsala University for almost fifty years. During this time, the discipline has undergone several organizational changes, but today the research on Russia and the Post-Soviet region is more vital than ever, and the Institute for Russia and Eurasian Studies (IRES) will also in the future play an important role in cross-disciplinary research in Sweden and internationally. The research at IRES is also a part of the government’s strategic initiative in the research field “politically important geographic regions.”

IRES is an integral part of an existing research environment, that of Uppsala Forum on Peace, Democracy and Justice, which has already been designated a main area of strength at Uppsala University. Recognizing the strategic importance that developments in Russia and the post-Soviet space have to society and to the business sector, IRES is designed to serve not only as a center of scientific excellence but also as national resource center. It is an outspoken ambition of Uppsala University that this strategic research area shall become one of its most important profiles.

Our ambitious guest-research program is unique and provides Uppsala University and Sweden with a regular inflow of international academic expertise and plays an important role to put the disciplinary domain of humanities and social science in Uppsala at the forefront of international research and networks.