Irish Association for Russian, Central and East European Studies

Welcome to the site of the Irish Association for Russian, Central and East European Studies, IARCEES. This site provides information about the Association's background and current activities, membership and publications.

The principal activities of the Association are organising an annual conference and publishing the biennial Irish Slavonic Studies. In 2022, IARCEES set up the Marcus Wheeler Bursary in honour of one of its founders, to support early career scholars. Regular updates concerning the annual conference and other Association affairs are posted on this website as well as our Facebook page.

We aim to expand our range of activities and to develop our Association as a forum for anyone with an interest in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe, and welcome any suggestions and ideas.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2026 Marcus Wheeler Bursary

We are delighted to announce the Marcus Wheeler Bursary, named in honour of IARCEES founding member, the late Marcus Wheeler, esteemed Professor of Slavonic Studies at QUB, distinguished scholar and author of the Oxford Russian-English dictionary.

The Marcus Wheeler Bursary is available to full-time or part-time graduate and postgraduate research students, post-doctoral researchers, scholars in precarious employment (contract less than three years), or scholars without current academic affiliation who wish to remain research active, who are either based on the island of Ireland or are affiliated with an Irish research institution. Applicants do not need to be members of IARCEES at the time of their application.

Three bursaries of up to €500 will be awarded in the 2026 scheme. Any research-related expenses are eligible, including, but not limited to: travel costs, conference registration costs, cost of copies of relevant material etc. Bursaries will be awarded based on the quality of the research proposal, value for money, and the impact on a scholar's research activity/career progression.

Interested applicants should fill in this form and provide the necessary documentation before 20 January 2026.

For further information contact Dr Aneta Stepien.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Statement on the war in Ukraine

24 February 2022

We, the committee of the Irish Association for Russian, Central, and East European Studies, scholars of diverse backgrounds and disciplinary interests, condemn with one voice this morning’s military assault against Ukraine. And we unequivocally offer our support and solidarity to all those in Ukraine and elsewhere suffering as a result of this aggression. We are deeply concerned about the human consequences of this military action, consequences which, we fear, will be grave and long-lasting. We can find no explanation – much less justification – for the invasion in the reasons given by the Russian government. It is an assault on the safety and well-being of the Ukrainian people and a basic denial of the Ukrainian state’s sovereignty and democratic existence.

In the coming days and weeks, the IARCEES committee will discuss and make public the ways in which material support can be extended to the many people who will suffer at the hands of this invasion. As an academic organisation we have deep interests in both Ukraine and Russia, and a significant portion of our membership has professional and personal attachments to those countries. We remain committed to supporting all individuals and groups invested in peaceful dialogue and exchange, and we affirm our commitment to keep such lines of dialogue and exchange open.

For today, we wish to reiterate our shock at the invasion and once again express our solidarity with all those who will be adversely affected by it.

John Paul Newman, President.

Jennifer Keating, Vice President.

Balázs Apor, Committee Member.

Katja Bruisch, Affiliate.

Maria Falina, Committee Member.

Jana Fischerová, Committee Member.

Roísin Healy, Committee Member.

Tetyana Lokot, Committee Member.

Aneta Stępień, Treasurer.

Lili Zách, Committee Member.

Statement for download