MGIMO Launches Internship Program for Foreign Researchers

9 November 2021

MGIMO has launched the “InteRussia” research internship program in cooperation with the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund and the Federal Agency for the CIS States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo). Five young researchers from Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan will work on their research projects with MGIMO leading scholars.

The opening ceremony took place on November 9 in the conference hall of the MGIMO Institute for International Studies (IMI). Andrey Baykov, Vice-Rector for Science and Research, welcomed the participants of the program noting that “the research internship program is a step towards establishing a horizontal network of experts in the IR field in the post-Soviet space. The project contributes to a better understanding of how international studies are developing worldwide, how the concept of the “Little Eurasia” is evolving, and how common research agenda may emerge through interaction of experts and scholars.”

The internship provides a unique opportunity to join a MGIMO research team and work under the guidance of an academic advisor. “High-level experts of the MGIMO Institute for International Studies are involved in this project as supervisors. The program participants have a chance to establish productive and mutually beneficial cooperation with our best researchers,” says Andrey Sushentsov, Director of the Institute.

The academic supervisors will be Ekaterina Arapova, Director of the Institute’s Sanctions Policy Expertise Center and Head of the Department for Academic Development, Sergey Markedonov, the Leading Researcher of the Institute’s Euro-Atlantic Security Center and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of International Analytics, Ivan Safranchuk, Director of the Institute’s Center of Euro-Asian Studies, Nikolay Silaev, Director of the Institute’s Laboratory of International Trends Analysis, and Adlan Margoev, the Institute’s Chief Strategy Officer and coordinator of the internship program.

Ekaterina Arapova highlighted that “all the participants are renowned experts with a strong academic background and publication record. The program will provide a solid platform for sharing experience, skills, and methodological insights among research advisors and young scholars.”

The organizers processed 47 applications and selected five candidates who presented a relevant and well-developed research plan:

• Norayr Dunamalyan, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Political Science of Russian-Armenian University (Yerevan, Armenia);
• Ismoil Naimov, Lecturer at the Department of International Relations and Diplomacy of the Russian-Tajik (Slavonic) University (Dushanbe, Tajikistan);
• Zaira Satpayeva, Head of the Department of Regional Economy and Innovative Development and Senior Researcher of the “Institute of Economics” Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Almaty, Kazakhstan);
• Archil Sikharulidze, PhD student at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (Tbilisi, Georgia);
• Yermek Toktarov, Leading Research Fellow at the Kazakhstan Institute of Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan).

“As young researchers, we believe such a rich and exciting program will provide invaluable experience. We will do our utmost to develop cooperation and work proactively to meet the expectations of the organizations that prepared this internship,” said Ismoil Naimov.

The topic of the internship is “CIS 30’s Anniversary: Results and Prospects for Development. Integration in the Post-Soviet Space in the Age of Global Challenges.” As part of the program, interns will visit academic, research and public institutions, engage with leading figures in the expert community, and take part in public diplomacy events organized by the partners.

The internship will yield an original academic study. The volume of the final research paper should exceed 20,000 characters and may be published in Russian or foreign journals. “I hope that the interns will ultimately become authors of the Journal of International Analytics. We are always happy to publish young scholars,” stressed Sergey Markedonov.

MGIMO hosts the internship in cooperation with the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund and the Rossotrudnichestvo. Victoria Karsliyeva, The Fund’s Deputy Executive Director, underlined that “the plan is to create a full-fledged professional expert network for young researchers to establish long-term cooperation with their academic supervisors beyond the terms of the internship.” Ruslan Emirveliev, Deputy Head of the Department of International Development Assistance and Humanitarian Programs of Rossotrudnichestvo, pointed out that InterRussia is the first academic mobility project of the Federal Agency, thanked MGIMO and the Gorchakov Fund for organizing the program and expressed hope for its successful development in the future.

The “InteRussia” research internship will become part of MGIMO’s Development Program under the “2030 Priority” program of strategic academic leadership. “The young scholars will have an opportunity to take part in other MGIMO projects under the aegis of “2030 Priority” program so that we could jointly shape the research agenda in the post-Soviet space,” noted Andrey Baykov.