Center for Independent Social Research
CISR – USA
Expertise
Post‑Сommunist
Societies
Mission Statement
Center for Independent Social Research, Inc. (CISRus)
CISRus is a non-profit association of scholars and experts working on issues related to the post-communist transformation. We conduct unbiased, in-depth social research to enrich scientific knowledge and strengthen civil society.
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Our academic mission is to improve scholarly understanding of post-communist societies using knowledge drawn from interdisciplinary work in the social sciences.
- Our educational mission is to support students and young scholars in the social sciences during the early stages of their professional careers.
CISRus Projects
Russia: Violations of academic freedom in 2023
The socio-political context and persecution of scientists and teachers
2024
Our selection method is based on the Scholars at Risk methodology for identifying violations of the academic rights and freedoms of teachers and students.
“Anti-War Civic Mobilization in Russia”
The response of Russian civil society to the war in Ukraine.
2022 – 2024
The purpose of the project is to explore the response of Russian civil society to the war in Ukraine with special focus on anti-war activism at the grass-roots level.
“Non-Profit Lawyers Working with the Victims of Domestic Violence:
Best Practices, Legal Mechanisms and Substantive Networks”
2021
The main purpose of the project is the cross-border exchange of professional experience in helping the victims of domestic violence in the United States and Russia. Another purpose of the project is to get acquainted with the existing infrastructure of US organizations and institutions assisting victims of domestic violence.
“Teaching Math in the USA:
Professional Integration of High-Skilled Female Immigrants from Russia and the FSU”
2020-2021
The object of the study is so-called “Russian math education”—a specific professional and educational niche within the sector of supplementary after-school education created by Russian (female) immigrants.
“Academic
Freedom”
2020-2021
The project implies monitoring, analyzing, and raising awareness of issues surrounding academic freedom in Russia and post-Soviet countries.
“Russian Youth
and Corruption”
2019
The study of attitudes towards corruption among Russian Generation Z including nine focus groups with university students in three Russian cities.
CISRus Blog
Academies at the Crossroads
Aikerim Bektemirova
The Evolution of Academies of Sciences in Post-Soviet Central Asia
January 8, 2025
“We in the Russian Federation Must Focus on Ourselves”
Elena Pavlova
What are anti-war Russians in academia saying?
November 29, 2024
“Do Your Job and Don’t Try to Do Someone Else’s”?
Dmitry Dubrovsky
Debates on models of academic freedom. Part 2
November 13, 2024
“Do Your Job and Don’t Try to Do Someone Else’s”?
Dmitry Dubrovsky
Debates on models of academic freedom. Part 1
October 30, 2024
CISRus Partners
Foreign agents
The term ‘foreign agent’ was initially introduced in Russin federal law in 2012
Autonomy of universities
has been decreasing after launching the Federal Universities project
rubles in a year
The average salary of rectors of public universities in 2018
Leading Universities
Participants of the Project 5-100 to be more competitive globally
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