Our Mission

The Center for Eastern European Studies (CEES) aims to strengthen teaching and research at the University of Zurich on contemporary, politically and socially relevant developments in Eastern Europe. As a policy-oriented research center, CEES focuses in particular on current challenges and conflicts, with a regional emphasis on Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Republic of Moldova, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Western Balkans.

Through open-access publications, conferences, public outreach, and consultative work, CEES bridges the gap between research and practice and provides analytical guidance to decision-makers in politics and business, as well as to the interested public. A core component of CEES’s mission is the education and training of future experts for academia and professional practice. The center expands the University of Zurich’s teaching portfolio by offering courses that address current issues in Eastern Europe.

Furthermore, the CEES serves as a network of researchers at the University of Zurich interested in Eastern Europe who collaborate with the center as members of the CEES on a range of concrete research projects. CEES maintains a network of national and international partner institutions and coordinates a fellowship program, co-funded by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and in place since 2019, for early-career researchers from the South Caucasus, and other parts of Eastern, Central, and Southeastern Europe, as well as Central Asia.