CEELBAS has developed multi-disciplinary, language-based research capacity around a number of key research themes through a programme of conferences, workshops and language projects, postgraduate scholarships, postdoctoral fellowships, mid-career training, as well as engagement with the user community and international networks.
The Centre integrates the scholarly capacities of the universities involved in order to generate a sustainable flow of highly trained area expertise. Its objectives are to set the research agenda for the study of its region and to inform policy making, nationally and internationally. The Centre gives the UK a leading global presence in the study of Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and neighbouring regions.
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Workshops & Language Projects |
Research Themes |
Postdoctoral Research |
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Postgraduate Research |
Area Methods Virtual Tour |
Knowledge Exchange |
CEELBAS Region |
Publications
Over 230 research outputs have been produced as a result of the Centre’s activities – with many more planned or forthcoming – ranging from specific workshops and conferences to monographs, edited collections, peer-reviewed articles, journal special issues, electronic journals, interactive language learning websites and policy papers. A selection of these outputs is available at www.ceelbas.ac.uk/research/publications.
A full list of publications and other academic outputs is available on the ESRC Society Today website
Research Workshops and Language Projects
The Centre has now organised, across its Network, some 50 workshops and conferences to take forward the research agenda and engage with the user community. These events have brought
together representatives from over 100 different UK and international institutions, including
non-area specialists, up-and-coming academics and doctoral students, as well as established
academic experts on the region and representatives from over 150 different
business, public, private and third sector organizations.

In addition, the Centre has funded over 20 projects to develop teaching materials and study resources across a wide range of Slavonic and East European languages. These have now been made available for the long term through the open-access CEELBAS Language Repository.
- Forthcoming Projects & Workshops
- Previously Funded Projects & Workshops: 2007/8
- Previously Funded Projects & Workshops: 2008/9
- Previously Funded Projects & Workshops: 2009/10
- Previously Funded Projects & Workshops: 2010/11
Research themes
The key research priorities identified by the Centre and examined through its activities have included the following:
- Cities (e.g. urban development and urban experiences)
- Health, Wealth, Welfare and Demography
- Migration and Diasporic Citizenship
- New Dimensions of Social Inequality
- Contemporary Cultural Processes (e.g. film, mass media and cultural consumption, youth cultures)
- Polish Foreign Policy
- Knowledge-based Economies and Societies (e.g. R&D, E-government)
- International Relations, Security and Energy Politics
- Identities and Solidarities (e.g. regional, national and transnational, religion, gender, ethnicity, sexualities, the dynamics of trust)
- Political and Economic Processes (e.g. democratisation and integration)
The Centre encourages:
- Disciplinary, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and comparative research
- Contemporary as well as historical approaches to the above themes
- Strong international participation and close engagement with policy making communities
International Conferences at UCL:
- Launch Conference (April 2007): East European Area Studies: Setting the Research Agenda
- Dissemination Conference (June 2011): Research without Frontiers: inter-university cooperation in East European area studies
Postdoctoral research
Seven Postdoctoral Fellowships were appointed by the Centre to develop key research themes. A specific focus of these Fellowships has been the development of, and reflection on, new approaches across and between disciplines. Thus, these Fellows have advanced the Centre’s specific research objectives and, just as importantly, have contributed to the development of multi- and interdisciplinary area studies in general. These appointments covered the following themes:
UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies:
- Cities and Urban Experience in Eastern Europe Jan 2007 to Dec 2008
- Health and Welfare in Eastern Europe May 2007 to May 2009
- Migration and Diasporic Citizenship Jan 2009 to Sept 2011
University of Oxford, Russian and East European Studies:
- Social Inequality in Eastern Europe April 2007 to April 2009
- Cultural Processes in Eastern Europe from 1 April 2007
University of Birmingham, Centre for Russian and East European Studies:
- Polish Foreign Policy April 2007 to Oct 2009
- Economies of Central and Eastern Europe March 2009 to Sept 2011
Society, Culture and Politics of Eastern Europe Conference
A joint conference was organised by the first five CEELBAS Postdoctoral Fellows in December 2008 at the University of Oxford, desinged to to take forward the Centre’s agenda and create new research synergies. View podcasts and further details.
A selection of postdoctoral research posters were produced for the Centre's international conference Research without Frontiers in June 2011 and are available below (click to enlarge):
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Postgraduate research
The Centre has provided 38 M.Res / M. Phil and 32 PhD / D.Phil studentships to fund research relating to its key research themes, or combinations thereof, as they relate to the region.
View list of CEELBAS Studentship holders and their research topics
The CEELBAS postgraduate research and training programme has also included a series of workshops on research ethics and an annual Russian Archives Training Scheme.
A selection of postgraduate research posters are available below (click to enlarge):
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Area Methods Virtual Tour: Reflections on Fieldwork In Eastern Europe and Russia
An online guide has been produced by CEELBAS Postdoctoral Fellows to assist postgraduate students in their research projects on Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. This is a Learning Space in which the Fellows draw on their own experiences to offer ideas and possible approaches to some of the common challenges encountered during the research process in the CEELBAS region. Sections cover: Accessing the ‘field’, Generating qualitative data, Ethics and power relations, and Language in cross-cultural research.
Knowledge Exchange Partnerships and Events
CEELBAS has Knowledge Exchange Partnerships in place with:
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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)
Together we organise
various user-focused roundtables and conferences to share and disseminate
CEELBAS expertise and to cross the boundaries between academic research and the
economic and public policy fields. In addition, CEELBAS-supported workshops and
academic events have involved representatives from over 150 different business,
public, private and third sector organizations.
View full overview of the CEELBAS Knowledge Exchange programme
Region
The area studied by the Centre has covered the countries and regions of Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Eurasia. Inter-regional research has also been encouraged through collaborations the other Language-Based Area Studies Centres.
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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...
















