The Aleksanteri Institute (Finnish : Aleksanteri-instituutti) is the Finnish Centre for Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies in the Faculty of Arts of the University of Helsinki. It functions as a national centre of research, study and expertise pertaining to Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia, particularly in the social sciences and humanities. The Institute actively promotes cooperation and interaction between the academic world, public administration, business life and civil society, both in Finland and abroad.
The Aleksanteri Institute was founded in 1996 and currently employs more than 50 scholars and administrative staff. The director of the institute is Professor Markku Kangaspuro.
The Aleksanteri Institute coordinated the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Russian Studies – Choices of Russian Modernisation [1] for the period 2012–2017. The multi-disciplinary CoE was led by Markku Kivinen and it was funded by the Academy of Finland.
Research at the Aleksanteri Institute concentrates on six focus areas:
The institute coordinates and participates in research projects and networks involving scholars from all over the world. In 2012 it was granted a five-year funding for a Finland Distinguished Professor (FiDiPro) project. Since 2008 it has also hosted a programme for visiting scholars. The programme offers international scholars (holding a PhD) a one-to-three-month research stay at the Aleksanteri Institute and the University of Helsinki. In addition to Russia, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, scholars from Spain, Italy, the US, Britain, Canada, France and China have also attended. [1]
The Aleksanteri Conference is an annual conference of Russian and Eastern European studies organised in late October in Helsinki. The theme of the conference changes every year. The recent themes include:
The Aleksanteri Institute coordinates multi-disciplinary study programmes at various academic levels. The doctoral programme and the Master's School in Russian and Eastern European studies are open to students from Finnish universities. There is also a study programme for East Central Europe, Balkan and Baltic studies that offers the possibility of a MA diploma and a minor subject programme of Ukrainian studies. [1]
The University of Helsinki is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Tsar Alexander I. The University of Helsinki is the oldest and largest university in Finland with the widest range of disciplines available. In 2022, around 31,000 students were enrolled in the degree programs of the university spread across 11 faculties and 11 research institutes.
Åbo Akademi University is the only exclusively Swedish language multi-faculty university in Finland. It is located mainly in Turku but has also activities in Vaasa. Åbo Akademi should not be confused with the Royal Academy of Åbo, which was founded in 1640, but moved to Helsinki after the Turku fire of 1827 and is today known as the University of Helsinki.
Hanken School of Economics is a business school in Finland with two campuses, Helsinki and Vaasa. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest business school in Finland, and one of the oldest in the Nordic countries. Its programmes are offered in both English and Swedish.
The University of Turku is a multidisciplinary public university with eight faculties located in the city of Turku in southwestern Finland. The university also has campuses in Rauma and Pori and research stations in Kevo and Själö.
Asko Heikki Siegfried Parpola is a Finnish Indologist, current professor emeritus of Indology at the University of Helsinki. He specializes in the Indus Valley Civilization, specifically the study of the Indus script.
The Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) is a scholarly society "dedicated to advancing knowledge about Central Asia, the Caucasus, Russia, and Eastern Europe in regional and global contexts." The ASEEES supports teaching, research, and publication relating to the peoples and territories within this area.
The Finnish Institute of International Affairs is an independent research institute that produces topical information and research on international relations and the European Union. It also publishes the journal Ulkopolitiikka. It is located in Helsinki.
Aalto University is a public research university located in Espoo, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology, the Helsinki School of Economics and the University of Art and Design Helsinki. The close collaboration between the scientific, business and arts communities is intended to foster multi-disciplinary education and research.
Eurasia is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concepts of Europe and Asia as distinct continents date back to antiquity, but their borders have historically been subject to change. For example, to the ancient Greeks, Asia originally included Africa but they classified Europe as separate land. Eurasia is connected to Africa at the Suez Canal, and the two are sometimes combined to describe the largest contiguous landmass on Earth, Afro-Eurasia.
Teivo Teivainen is professor of World Politics at the University of Helsinki. Having received his PhD in 2000 at the University of Helsinki, Teivainen became the founding director of the Program on Democracy and Global Transformation at the National University of San Marcos, in Lima, Peru in 2003.
The International MA in Russian and Eurasian Studies is an advanced graduate programme at the European University at St. Petersburg, Russia, for students who already hold a BA degree or its equivalent. The programme is taught in English and offers training and research opportunities as well as a first hand experience of getting a close feel for Russia and many other countries in a wider region. In 1997 this programme began as MA in Russian Studies.
Timo Juhani Vihavainen is a Finnish historian and a professor of Russian Studies at the University of Helsinki. He has written extensively on Russian and Finnish history. Vihavainen graduated as a Master of Philosophy in 1970, a Licentiate in Philosophy in 1983, a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1988 and a Docent in Russian history in 1992. He is a member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters since 2009. At the beginning of the 2000s he was among the contributors of the Kanava magazine.
Lilia Fyodorovna Shevtsova is a Kremlinology expert.
Elena Korosteleva is a dissident academic researcher and principal investigator focusing on governance, democratisation, complexity and resilience. She is Professor of Politics and Global Sustainable Development and Director of the Institute for Global Sustainable Development at the University of Warwick and is visiting professor at the Oxford Belarus Observatory at the Oxford University.
Maria Lähteenmäki is a researcher of history, Jutikkala Professor at the University of Eastern Finland and Docent of Finnish and Scandinavian history at the University of Helsinki. She has produced many scientific monographs and textbooks and written a great number of articles.
Markku Jalmari Kivinen is a professor of sociology and the director of the Aleksanteri Institute of the University of Helsinki, Finland, since 1996.
Venelin Tsachevsky is a Bulgarian scholar, economist, historian, political researcher and diplomat.
Elina Kahla is a Finnish philologist and academic who works at the Aleksanteri Institute at the University of Helsinki. She was the former President of the St. Petersburg EUNIC in 2015-2016 and Director of the Finnish Institute in St. Petersburg in 2012–2016.
Vladimir Yakovlevich Gelman is a Russian political scientist and writer. Candidate of political science, professor at the European University at Saint Petersburg. He was an activist of the Russian democratic movement in Leningrad (1989-1996), a member of the Central Election Commission with an advisory vote from the Yabloko movement (1995).