Central and East European Research Group
Promoting and supporting research into Central and Eastern Europe at Cardiff University.
We promote and support research into Central and Eastern Europe at Cardiff University.
Engaging with the wider world, linking Cardiff-based research on Central and Eastern Europe, including Russia, with public impact and policy.
SOS Ukraine
You may wish to donate to a charity working in Ukraine, among others:
If you are a scholar at risk, please see the following:
- Researchers at Risk Fellowships
- Society and partners award seven fellowships to Ukrainian scholars at risk
Featured news
- Academic and community collaboration creates resources for families affected by war
- Czech Centre London podcast
- Jewish Country Houses project
- Generation89: Witnessing the Velvet Revolution 30 years on
- UCL Central European Symposium Roundtable: 1989 Catalyst of Change
- Goodbye to all that? From Lenin to Putin
- 70 Years On: Berlin Blockade remembered
- Hitler's Circle of Evil: a historian's perspective
- Czechoslovakia 100
Impact
- Will Freedom Survive the Pandemic?
- Reassessing the past: Changing public understanding of Czechoslovakia's treatment of minorities
- Study Group on the Russian Revolution (BASEES)
- Czech and Slovak Study Group (BASEES)
- Learning from the past to protect our future: Tedx Cardiff
- Special Collections
- NATO Partnership for Peace consortium Kyiv, Ukraine, 2015
Latest publications
- Constitutional Imaginaries: A Theory of European Societal Constitutionalism
- International Jewish Humanitarianism in the Age of the Great War
- Revisioning Stalin and Stalinism: Complexities, Contradictions, and Controversies
- Československo: stát, který zklamal
- The Churches after Auschwitz between theology and memory politics
Academic staff

Dr Oleg Golubchikov
Reader in Human Geography, Director of Postgraduate Research
- golubchikovo@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2087 9310

Dr Jaclyn Granick
Lecturer in Modern Jewish History (Study Leave to 2023/4)
- granickj@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2251 1741

Professor Mary Heimann
Professor of Modern History (Study Leave 2021/2)
- heimannm@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2087 5157

Dr James Ryan
Senior Lecturer in Modern European (Russian) History, Director of International
- ryanj5@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2087 6511

Professor Robert van Deursen
Professor of Rehabilitation Science
- vandeursenr@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 206 87687
How to overcome the difficult past? Reflections on the Polish-Ukrainian relationship in the 20th century and today
Date: Thursday 9 June 2022
Time: 17:00-18:30
A webinar with guest speaker, Dr Paweł Duber (Nottingham Trent University), co-hosted by the History and Heritage research theme the School of Modern Languages and the Central and East European Research Group at Cardiff University.
For more information and to book a place please take a look at our events listing.
Past events
Ukraine Question and Answer session
Date: Monday 21 March 2022
Ukraine update and question and answer with the Central and East European Research Group.
Crisis in Ukraine - Information and Question and Answer Session
Date: Monday 7 March 2022
Those of us with expertise in and personal connections to the region (Ukraine, Russia, and the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc) will not be able to provide comprehensive answers to all the questions you may have.
Few experts predicted that this invasion would happen, and nobody knows what the outcome will be. We may, however, be able to provide some context, background and understanding, from a variety of specialisms and perspectives.
Our members are often asked for expert opinions in the press:
- No hope for science in Russia: The academics trying to flee to the West. James Ryan, The Guardian.
- Russia invades Ukraine: Vladimir Putin's plan for swift victory has failed as Ukrainians fight to defend their freedom. Tetyana Pavlush, The Scotsman.
- Interview with Oliver Hides re: Russia and Belarus in light of the military operation in Ukraine. Galina Miazhevich, BBC Radio Wales breakfast show.
- Milos Jakes, Czech Communist Leader, Is Dead at 97. Mary Heimann, New York Times.
- BBC Radio 4 - Last Word. Mary Heimann, BBC Radio.
- Czech DV TV news (30-minute interview with Professor Mary Heimann). Mary Heimann, DV TV.