Joint project builds Eastern European expertise

A new multimillion-pound collaboration of eight universities with expertise in Eastern Europe is opening up postgraduate opportunities in a bid to produce a cadre of world-class specialists, writes Olga Wojtas.

The Centre for Russian, Central and Eastern European Studies wants to create experts who can move immediately into jobs in policy-making and advice, business and the non-governmental sector as well as research and academic careers.

The centre brings together Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Nottingham, Paisley, St Andrews and Strathclyde Universities. It is backed by £4.7 million in funding over five years from the Economic and Social Research Council, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Scottish Funding Council and the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Over the five years, the centre will award 40 taught and research masters degrees and 20 PhD scholarships. It is also funding a one-year postdoctoral fellowship in each institution, with fellows able to spend time in more than one university.

The centre has six international partners: Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic; Tartu University in Tartu, Estonia; the Institute of Political Science, Corvinus University, Budapest; Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland; and the Region Research Centre, Ul'yanovsk State University in the Russian Federation.