Setting the research agenda in Eastern Europe

Some of the world's leading experts in Central and Eastern European and Russian studies will discuss issues including international politics and energy politics, migration, the quality of democracy in post-communist countries, and the health and welfare of the elderly in Eastern Europe at a two-day conference at UCL (University College London) on 19 and 20 April. The conference's opening address is to be given by the former Education Secretary Charles Clarke MP, while Professor Sir Michael Marmot, UCL Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, will be presenting his work on social inequalities in health in Russia and Central and Eastern Europe at the conference.

The conference is being held to mark the launch of the Centre for East European Language-Based Area Studies (CEELBAS), a major collaboration between UCL, the University of Oxford and the University of Birmingham that will give the UK a leading global presence in the study of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. Some of the key contemporary themes the conference will debate include:

· Energy politics - how should the European/Russian energy relationship be managed?

· NATO's enlargement to the East - is it time to call a halt?

· Social inequalities in health in Russia and Central and Eastern Europe

· Migration flows in post-enlargement Europe

· Globalisation and the study of culture

"The need to understand developments in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia - in areas such as migration, cultural identity and recent history, health, energy politics, economic integration and democratisation - remains as urgent as ever fifteen years after the collapse of communism," says Dr Robin Aizlewood, Director of the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies.

"The conference will highlight the research themes which will inform the activities of the Centre and also enable us to initiate a dialogue with the broader user community, including the corporate, diplomatic and NGO as well as academic communities."

Notes for Editors

1. Journalists are welcome to attend all or part of the conference. The full programme can be found at http://www.ceelbas.ac.uk/ceelbas-news/events/conferences/launch-conference. Journalists wishing to attend should contact Dominique Fourniol in the UCL media relations office on 0207 679 9728.

2. CEELBAS has been established with £5.6m funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), announced in 2006.

3. In addition to the three main consortium members, the Centre has a network of partners at the Universities of Bath, Cambridge, Kent, Manchester, Sheffield, Warwick and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.