Author: Yuliya Brin

Call for Applications

Summer School:  Challenging Theories and Reconsidering Paradigms

The International Network in Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies (INREES) welcomes PhD candidates working in the field of social sciences and humanities to a five-day intensive course in Vähäjärvi on 28 August – 1 September 2023                            

There are many ways to understand ‘theory,’ but few would disagree that theories are an integral part of all scholarly study. Theory building is cumulative and doctoral dissertations are both drawing on previous literature and challenging it. However, revisiting old approaches seems particularly emergent in times of turmoil. In Russian, Eurasian and Easter European Studies, Russia’s war on Ukraine has called scholars to reconsider the theories we have used and to critically reflect on dominant paradigms.

The INREES Summer School 2023 contains lectures on theoretical approaches and choices in area studies. In the workshops, the doctoral researchers will present a paper that can be a draft of an article or a chapter from their dissertation.

Teachers:

• • Luca Anceschi, University of Glasgow
  • Sari Autio-Sarasmo, University of Helsinki
  • Vladimir Gel’man, University of Helsinki
  • Yulia Gradskova, Södertörn University
  • Andrey Makarychev, University of Tartu
  • Svetlana Erpyleva, Public Sociology Laboratory, University of Bremen

The intensive course consists of lectures, thematic panels and workshops in which doctoral students have the opportunity to get comments on their papers. The papers can be research plans, chapters from dissertations or article drafts. Additionally, PhD students will have a chance to improve their pedagogical skills by commenting on Russian Studies MA students’ research plans.

The summer school will cover the costs of accommodation, meals and transportation from Helsinki to Vähäjärvi, Hämeenlinna: http://www.vahajarvi.fi/ 

The course requirements for 5 ECTS (evaluation accepted/rejected):

• • • Presenting a paper in the summer school
    • Active participation at lectures and workshops

Please send your applications with an abstract (max 300 words) of your paper, your affiliation and contact information by 27 May 2023 through the link below. The notification of the acceptance will be sent by 2 June.

https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/124131/lomake.html

For more information, you can contact project planner Yuliya Brin (yuliya.brin@helsinki.fi) or the coordinator of the INREES Kaarina Aitamurto (Kaarina.aitamurto@helsinki.fi )

The International Network of Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (INREES) invites currently enrolled postgraduate students affiliated with the University of Tartu, University of Bremen, University of Glasgow, and Södertörn University to apply for a 2-month visiting fellowship at the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki for the year 2023.

The Aleksanteri Institute is one of the largest multidisciplinary centers in the field of Russian and Eastern European studies. The Institute’s research is embedded within international scholarly networks, and it functions as a hub and catalyst of networks of people and ideas across the globe. For the postgraduate student, the Aleksanteri Institute offers an international academic environment and active research community.

The multidisciplinary INREES program provides the visiting fellows a unique opportunity for writing-up their on-going research projects and producing new scholarly outputs. The grant is 2,400 euros per month. The Aleksanteri Institute will offer a workspace for the selected candidate and the visitor will have an academic host/ supervisor. There is one grant for doctoral researchers from each of our partner universities for the visit to Helsinki.

Funding period: January – December 2023
Deadline for applications: 30 November 2022
Notification of acceptance: 20 December 2022

Application documents:
1. Motivation letter: Statement on how visiting period in Helsinki would benefit applicant’s doctoral research (one page)
2. CV
3. Research plan (max. 4,000 words with the list of references)

The successful applicant will be provided with a monthly scholarship of €2,400 (travel and accommodation are covered from the scholarship). Travel, accommodation and health insurance coverage are to be arranged by prospective fellows themselves, but the programme can provide help with these.

Applications should be sent to yuliya.brin@helsinki.fi with the reference to INREES in the subject line of the email.
For more information on the INREES and the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, please see the websites: https://blogs.helsinki.fi/inrees-research/news-and-events/ & https://www.helsinki.fi/en/aleksanteri-institute

You can also contact with one of the following persons:

University of Bremen:
Heiko Pleines, Head of the Dept. of Politics and Economics, Vice Director of the Research Centre for East European Studies, pleines@uni-bremen.de

University of Glasgow:
Luca Anceschi, Professor of Eurasian Studies, Luca.Anceschi@glasgow.ac.uk

University of Tartu:
Andrey Makarychev, Professor of Regional Political Studies, andrey.makarychev@ut.ee

Södertörn University:
Florence Fröhlig, Director of Studies of the Baltic and East European Graduate School (BEEGS), florence.frohlig@sh.se

University of Helsinki:
Kaarina Aitamurto, Head of research training, Aleksanteri Institute,  Kaarina.aitamurto@helsinki.fi
Vladimir Gel’man, Professor, Aleksanteri Institute, vladimir.gelman@helsinki.fi
Yuliya Brin, Project planner, yuliya.brin@helsinki.fi

The International Network in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies (INREES) invites currently enrolled postgraduate students affiliated with a Finnish university to apply for a 2-month visiting fellowship at the University of Bremen, the University of Glasgow, the University of Södertörn or the University of Tartu in fall 2023.

The INREES programme gives an opportunity for four young Finnish early-stage researchers to have a two-month research visit. The multidisciplinary INREES programme provides the visiting fellows a unique opportunity to gather material, write their on-going research projects and produce new scholarly outputs. These fellowships may also launch new scholarly ventures and research projects in collaboration with partners and colleagues from our partner universities.

Funding period: January – December 2023
Deadline for applications: 30 November 2022
Notification of acceptance: 20 December 2022

Application documents:
1. Motivation letter: To what university is the applicant applying to, how applicant’s research would benefit from the visit, with whom the applicant would like to collaborate or have as a supervisor during the visit
2. Research plan (max. 4,000 words, including the list of references)
3. CV

Successful applicants will be provided with a monthly scholarship of €2,400 (travel and accommodation are covered from the scholarship) Travel, accommodation and health insurance coverage are to be arranged by prospective fellows themselves, but the programme can provide help with these.

INREES fellows are expected to consult with the researchers and possible hosts at the receiving university and to participate in relevant seminars and courses.

Applications should be sent to yuliya.brin@helsinki.fi with the reference to INREES in the subject line of the email.
For more information on the INREES and the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, please see the websites: https://blogs.helsinki.fi/inrees-research/news-and-events/ & https://www.helsinki.fi/en/aleksanteri-institute

You can also contact with one of the following persons:
Kaarina Aitamurto, Head of research training, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Kaarina.aitamurto@helsinki.fi
Vladimir Gel’man, Professor, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, vladimir.gelman@helsinki.fi
Yuliya Brin, Project planner, yuliya.brin@helsinki.fi

University of Bremen:
Heiko Pleines, Head of the Dept. of Politics and Economics, Vice Director of the Research Centre for East European Studies, pleines@uni-bremen.de

University of Glasgow:
Luca Anceschi, Professor of Eurasian Studies, Luca.Anceschi@glasgow.ac.uk

University of Tartu:
Andrey Makarychev, Professor of Regional Political Studies, andrey.makarychev@ut.ee

Södertörn University:
Florence Fröhlig, Director of Studies of the Baltic and East European Graduate School (BEEGS), florence.frohlig@sh.se

INREES summer School 2022 took place in August at Vähäjarvi on the topic of Reorienting research projects and area studies after 24 February 2022. The International Network in Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies (INREES) welcomed doctoral researchers working in the field of social sciences and humanities to the five-day intensive course from 22-25 August.

The week was filled with esteemed guests such as Yulia Gradskova, Andrey Makarychev, Vladimir Gelman, Margarita Zavadskaya, Sari Autio-Sarasmo, Kristiina Silvan, Heiko Pleines and Luca Aneschi presenting on topics such as Women´s rights, making sense of data during wartime, Russian Studies in Search of New Vocabularies, using secondary data in original research.

The participants got a unique opportunity to take part in workshops on pedagogy, life post-PhD, and a very informative session on publishing. The researcher got to present their ideas on these important topics in groups and work together to get to the heart of these issues. The most challenging and fruitful part of this summer school were the workshops where the participants shared their research and got important feedback from their peers and our special guests. Here they got a unique look into what could be enhanced in their research papers to get optimal results and move on to publication of their work.

The summer school was not all business: we did get a chance to unwind. We went on a mindfulness walk in the forest, spent time together in the evening singing karaoke and playing billiard. Overall, our participant really enjoyed the intense week with us. They were left with great discussions, suggestions, and a supportive atmosphere to keep pursuing their important research! We hope to see them again next year, along with new faces in our next summer school in 2023!