Developing and expanding expertise on Eastern Europe

SERI supports selected collaborative projects between Swiss higher education institutions and leading foreign partners and competence centres as part of its efforts to foster international cooperation in education. Emphasis is placed on developing and broadening expertise and scientific networks, sharing knowledge and encouraging innovative and interdisciplinary approaches. Such collaborative projects bring great added value, especially in areas where scientific potential has not yet been fully tapped. Among other things, this applies to several cooperation initiatives focussing on Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region, which have been a key priority for several years now. Below, we present three initiatives, which combined have contributed to the steady development of scientific excellence in this area.

Center for Governance and Culture in Europe (GCE), University of St. Gallen

The GCE's programme is intended to encourage research cooperation between Switzerland and the countries of the Black Sea region in the humanities and social sciences. The aim is to deepen Switzerland's expertise on Eastern Europe. During the Cold War, Switzerland was mainly focused on Russia and paid little attention to important academic research being carried out in other countries of the 'Eastern Bloc'. Addressing current research questions in a broader geographical context is expected to yield insights that are also relevant for Western Europe and Switzerland.

Likewise, better networking between Swiss stakeholders and partner countries will result from these endeavours. Joint, transnational and interdisciplinary research projects, programmes and conferences are important ways of achieving this. The GCE launches and conducts research projects in the fields of political science, economics, cultural history and sociology. Emphasis is placed on innovative research questions that are usually explored using a differentiating transnational or comparative approach. When dealing with complex topics, conventional analytical approaches that focus heavily on nation-state categories quickly reach their boundaries. Examples that defy an exclusively national analysis include research addressing the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, or the impact of digitalisation on civil society processes or current migration and refugee flows in the wake of armed conflicts. The societies of the Black Sea region are closely intertwined historically, culturally and economically. For this reason, they provide an extremely fertile ground for research.

In addition, cooperation is also intended to build up the research capacities of partner institutions: reforms are still needed in the Black Sea region so that partner institutions can become more internationally competitive. As a case in point, the GCE works closely with Institutes for Advanced Study in Southeast Europe as well as with leading institutes in the Black Sea region and other internationally renowned partners (e.g. Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute). Particular importance is given to supporting young researchers, who are given the chance to present their work to a critical audience of experts and network with fellow researchers at international meetings. The GCE annual meeting held in Tbilisi, Georgia, in September 2022 is a good example of this. New research findings and projects were presented under the title 'Migration, Mobility and Displacement in the Black Sea Region', giving participants the opportunity to learn more about current developments taking place in the region.

Center for Eastern European Studies (CEES), University of Zurich 

Founded in 2017, CEES serves as a central point of contact addressing the increased demand for Eastern European expertise. Its geographical focus is primarily on the post-Soviet region and in particular on Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Via open-access publications, conferences, communications activities and consultancy work, the CEES provides information and guidance to policymakers, business leaders and interested members of the general public. In addition, CEES runs a platform to facilitate coordination of various national and international activities relating to Eastern Europe and also pursues academic cooperation projects with partners in Switzerland and abroad. The fellowship programme launched in 2019, for instance, enables young academics from Eastern European universities to spend an exchange semester at the University of Zurich where they pursue individual research projects and interact directly with CEES researchers.