About CEELBAS
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Objectives |
Funding & Timescale |
Programme |
Press & Publicity |
Objectives of the Centre
The Centre for East European Language-Based Area Studies (CEELBAS) is a major innovative collaboration between three of the leading research-oriented universities involved in the field. UCL, through the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES), acts as lead university; the University of Oxford is represented by Russian and East European Studies (REES); the University of Birmingham is represented by the Centre for Russian and East European Studies (CREES). Staff of these institutions work closely with other partners at the Universities of Bath, Cambridge, Kent, Manchester, Sheffield, Warwick and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and together they constitute the CEELBAS Research Network.
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The main objective of the Centre has been to realise the UK's strategic commitment to the study of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia by developing multi-disciplinary, language-based research capacity around key themes to generate a sustainable flow of highly trained expertise. The CEELBAS programme is supported by postgraduate scholarships, postdoctoral fellowships, mid-career training (including language training), workshops and conferences. The Centre integrates the scholarly capacities of the CEELBAS Research Network and actively engages with user communities and international networks. It aims to set the research agenda for the study of the region and to inform policy making, nationally and internationally. The Centre has given the UK a leading global presence in the study of regions of continued strategic importance.
Funding and Timescale
The Centre is primarily funded through an award from the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council with an award of £5.6m. Funding is currently available for the five year period 1 October 2006 to 31 December 2011.
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The Centre has held two major international conferences at UCL to mark the start and end of this phase of funding:
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Programme of Activity
(i) Master’s Programmes
The M.Res. in East European Studies (UCL SSEES) and M.Phil. in Russian and East European Studies (Oxford) are innovative two-year multi- and interdisciplinary programmes built on established Master’s programmes and training. They provide generic and area methods training alongside language-for-research purposes and area-based specialist courses. A total of 25 2-year CEELBAS Studentships have been completed UCL SSEES and 12 at the University of Oxford REES.
View list of current CEELBAS Studentship holders and research topics
The high quality of this training programme has proved itself through student achievement. Two-thirds of the CEELBAS M.Res and M.Phil. studentship holders who have completed so far have been awarded overall Distinctions. A number of students have gone on to be awarded AHRC, ESRC or CEELBAS PhD studentships. As well as progressing onto doctoral study in the UK and overseas, alumni from the M.Res and M.Phil. programmes have gone on to start careers in a wide range of public, private and third sector organisations. Former studentship holders are now working in banking, consultancy, publishing, government and diplomacy, the media, and the civil service.
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"It was certainly great for me, and UK university
studies of other societies would be a good deal worse off without
programmes like CEELBAS" (James Dawson, former CEELBAS M.Res, UCL, currently undertakingdoctoral study at UCL Department of Political Science) |
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“I am sure that I
would not have got any of these jobs without my M. Phil., which, in turn, I
would not have been able to afford without CEELBAS support. As such, I am very
grateful for this excellent programme” (Andrew Nethercott, CEELBAS M.Phil, Oxford, 2006-2008, since employed by NATO and the Department for International Development). |
(ii) Doctoral Programmes
A total of 33 Ph.D./D.Phil. studentships have been awarded by CEELBAS for study at UCL SSEES, University of Oxford REES and University of Birmingham CREES. As members of CEELBAS, these students have actively engaged in and benefited from the multidisciplinary collaborative work of the Centre and its Research Network. This research engages
comprehensively with the CEELBAS region, drawing upon a variety of pertinent,
interdisciplinary research themes that further the language-based area studies
agenda.
View list of
CEELBAS Studentship holders and their research topics
As well as developing
their own research skills and methods training through innovative initiatives such
as the Russian Archives Training Scheme and the Research Ethics Workshops, CEELBAS
doctoral students help to build the research capacity of their peers through teaching
on M.Res and M.Phil programmes and through contributing to course development. In addition to two
successful postgraduate conferences at the University of Oxford
(October 2007 and March 2010), CEELBAS students have contributed numerous
scholarly articles and research outputs as well as interviews and consultancy
for the media, and financial organisations and government ministries.
See CEELBAS Publications
and CEELBAS Database of
Expertise.
(iii) Postdoctoral Research Fellowships
A total of 7 Postdoctoral research fellowships based at UCL, University of Oxford and University of Birmingham, have furthered the Centre’s objectives by conducting research on strategically prioritised research themes, with a view also to synergies across themes. The fellows have developed their own research agendas whilst reflecting upon new approaches across and between disciplines, thereby advancing not just the Centre’s own academic mission but also contributing to area studies in general. They continue to play an important role in Centre activities.
Postdoctoral Fellows have organised and initiated a string a successful research and training events, including:
- the Poland in the EU conference at the Polish Embassy (November 2007),
- the CEELBAS Cities Seminar Series (2007),
- the CEELBAS/CSESCE Seminar Series on Health and Welfare (2008),
- a joint conference on the Society, Culture and Politics of Eastern Europe (December 2008),
- the Youth and Social Change Across Borders Conference (March 2009),
- the conference 'Legacies and Prospects' - Poland 1989: 20 Years
On (June 2009)
- an international workshop ‘Beyond Nationalism? Cultural Processes in East-Central Europe, 20th-21st Centuries’ at the L’viv Center for Urban History of East Central Europe (February 2010),
- two Research Ethics Workshops (October 2009 & October 2010),
- an international conference on Diasporas and Cosmopolitanism: From Theory to Practice (September 2010).
An important contribution to research training has been the creation of an online guide to fieldwork and archival research in Eastern Europe.
Former CEELBAS Postdoctoral Fellows include Dr. Meike Wulf, now
Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of
Maastricht; Dr. Nathaniel
Copsey, now Senior Lecturer in Politics and Deputy Director of the Aston Centre for
Europe; Benoit Mathivet, now WHO Policy Advisor to the Ministry of Health of
the Republic of Tajikistan; and Dr.
Charles Walker, now Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Southampton.
View overview of all seven postdoctoral fellows or visit their research and events pages.
This strand of CEELBAS activity has had substantial impact both in terms
of academic publications (some 50 working papers, reviews, peer-reviewed articles and
monographs either published or in press by September 2011 with many more
forthcoming) and in terms of informing policy. Among other examples of user-orientated and
policy-relevant activity, CEELBAS postdoctoral research has contributed to WHO
Infoway projects and to European Observatory on Health Systems and
Policies Health in Transition Reports. Advice has also been provided for the Government of Sweden – in reports and briefings
through its executive agency, the Swedish
International Development Agency (Sida) – on Ukraine’s European integration
programme, and for KSAP
(the Polish National School of Public Administration) on the training of civil
servants.
(iv) Language Training
The Centre is developing and delivering the syllabus, modes of delivery and materials for advanced skills in languages for research. This has been developed through:
- extension of the teaching provision in all languages covered by the Centre in a programme of up to 2 years of language training according to needs. 14 different languages are now offered across the CEELBAS Network
- collaboration with the SOAS-UCL Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) Languages of the Wider World, including support for the Languages for the 21st Century: Training, Impact and Influence conference (University of Sheffield, 1-2 September 2010)
- a series of Language Workshops for teachers and researchers across the CEELBAS Network (next workshop date: 7 November 2011)
- funding over 20 projects to cdreate new research-focused language-learning resources.
- the new CEELBAS Language Repository - an open-access digital resource housing teaching and self-study materials for Slavonic & East European languages. Designed specifically to meet the needs of postgraduate researchers, the repository also aims to promote pedagogic reflection on language learning and course design.
(v) Networking Activities and International Partners
The Centre continues to further its objectives through the work of its Research Network and through the involvement of international affiliate partners.
CEELBAS has sponsored and facilitated over 50 workshops, seminar series and conferences, bringing together participants from over 100 different UK and international universities
and institutes. Through supporting and facilitating
scholarly networks such as this, CEELBAS has played a significant role in the production of numerous research outputs and publications, including edited
volumes, journal special issues, and the launch of new e-journals and web forums. Full details and reports of these events and their outcomes are provided in the Research section of this website.
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Our Event Evaluation data shows that a less tangible but equally important impact of CEELBAS has been to provide invaluable networking opportunities for postgraduate students, UK-based and international academics and the user community, stimulating an exchange of ideas and expertise across the conventional boundaries of academic departments and disciplines:
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“I thought the event
was wonderfully organized and terrifically interdisciplinary. I was surprised
by how helpful and thought-provoking it was…The conference exceeded my
expectations” (Dr. Kate Brown, UMBC, on the CEELBAS workshop ‘Spaces of Nationhood’: Landscape and Identity after Communism, September 2009) |
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“I wish there were more
of such workshops. Very important for keeping informed, networking and exchange
of ideas, and necessary critique. Thank you very much indeed” (Dr. Elena Rockhill, University of Alberta, Canada / Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, on the CEELBAS workshop Situating Culture: Cultures of the Margins, December 2009) |
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“It was one of the most
lively and instructive academic events I’ve ever been to….its great strength
was the result of an unusual combination of factors: it was relatively small
and it was multi-disciplinary….I found myself learning a great deal from people
doing stuff at some remove from my own area, and doing so in a setting where
conversation flourished” (Prof. Philip Hanson, Chatham House, on the CEELBAS conference Russia in 2010: Sources of Stability and Change, June 2010) |
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"The event was extremely well organised and useful. It exceeded my expectations, and I can confirm that the discussions and the final plenary discussions were very well informed and clearly focused with differentiated and clear conclusions drawn for future research" (Dr. Renate Rechtien, University of Bath, on the CEELBAS workshop ‘Spaces of Nationhood’: Landscape and Identity after Communism, September 2009 |
Since 2006 the CEELBAS research network has interacted significantly with, and in some cases directly contributed to, several prestigious high-level research grants, including:
- ‘Post-Socialist Punk’ (Hilary Pilkington, University of Warwick – funded by the AHRC)
- ‘Memory at War: Cultural Dynamics in Poland, Russia, and Ukraine’ (Alexander Etkind, University of Cambridge – funded by HERA)
- ‘Russian Identity Since 1961’ (Catriona Kelly, University of Oxford – funded by the AHRC)
- ‘Mediating Post-Soviet Difference: An Analysis of Russian Television Representations of Inter-Ethnic Cohesion Issues’ (Stephen Hutchings and Vera Tolz, University of Manchester – funded by the AHRC)
- view further examples...
The impact of this aspect of CEELBAS activity was recognised in the May 2011 evaluation of HEFCE's programme of support for Strategically Important and
Vulnerable Subjects (SIVS), where CEELBAS research collaborations are highlighted as a successful case study (see p. 33): download report
(vi) User Community engagement and Mid-career Training
CEELBAS has Knowledge Exchange Partnerships in place with:
The BEARR Trust (NGO supporting health and welfare in Russia and Eurasia)
The British-Polish Chamber of Commerce
Chatham House (The Royal Institute of International Affairs)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
The Russo-British Chamber of Commerce
Russian Media House (the UK’s largest Russian publishing company)
The Wider Europe Network (forum for discussion on European Neighbourhood Policy)
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Together we organise
various user-focused roundtables and conferences to share and disseminate
CEELBAS expertise beyond traditional academic audiences. In addition, CEELBAS-supported workshops and events have involved representatives from over 150 different business,
public-sector, media and cultural organizations.
View full overview of the CEELBAS Knowledge Exchange programme
(vii) Expertise Database
A searchable database has been set-up and is maintained by CEELBAS
as a free resource for those wishing to locate an expert on Central and Eastern Europe and Russia for media
enquiries, collaborative and/or consultative purposes. Now with over 130 registered experts from across
the CEELBAS consortium and research network, including international affiliates
and up-and-coming scholars, the database enables users to produce a list
of experts according to search criteria (research interests, country,
language). The detailed profiles of selected experts can then be viewed and
e-mail contact established through a convenient link. Further details and
search guidelines are available at www.ceelbas.ac.uk/databaseofexpert.
Press & Publicity
Press and publicity for CEELBAS and its activities includes:
“Rokovedenie? Est’ takaya nauka!” [Rock-studies? There is such
science!] -
Text of programme by Aleksandr Kan of the BBC Russian Service on the value of rock studies and their role in understanding rock music: inspired by the CEELBAS-funded workshop RottenBeat: academic and musical dialogue with new Russian punk and featuring contributions from workshop participants.
"RFE's Teachable Moment" - article on the Radio Free Europe website (22 July 2011) about the use of RFE video clips in a CEELBAS-funded language project at UCL SSEES. See also the week-long diary by project leader Jelena Calic published on the Radio Free Europe Serbian / Croatian site.
“Beyond Nationalism? Cultural Processes in East-Central Europe, 20th-21st Centuries” – March 2010 Conference Report in Krytyka (Ukrainian)
Coverage of CEELBAS Expertise in Russian-Language Press – January 2010 onwards (Russian)
“Interdisciplinarity without frontiers” – letter to THES August 2009 (also available at www.timeshighereducation.co.uk)
Polish community reflect on 20 years of democracy – June 5th 2009: Professor George Kolankiewicz, Managing Director of CEELBAS, discusses the changes in Poland since 1989 to londonfile.org
500,000 Poles vow to ride out the storm - 29 January 2009: Professor George Kolankiewicz, Managing Director of CEELBAS, discusses Polish migration to the UK in the Daily Telegraph
New
venture reaches out to Eastern Europe – 27 April 2007: THES on the launch of CEELBAS
Publicity Documents
CEELBAS Brochure |
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CEELBAS– Leading Research in an Inter-Connected World |
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CEELBAS Launch Statement |
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CEELBAS is a partnership of UCL, University of Oxford and University of Birmingham with a network of partners at the Universities of Bath, Cambridge, Kent, Manchester, Sheffield, Warwick and SOAS |
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- Job vacancy: Programme Coordinator, Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House
- CEELBAS scholars share their expertise on Russia
- Former CEELBAS Co-Director Professor Julian Cooper awarded OBE in New Year's Honours
- The Parliament, the Presidency and Elections in Russia: CEELBAS / Chatham House seminar summary now available
- More...
