Membership of the groups, which number about 30 staff and graduate students, is drawn mainly from the School and other UCL departments, Goldsmith's College, SOAS, LSE, and the BBC Russian Service. Conferences Conferences are an integral part of the School's research programme, providing a forum in which to exchange ideas with academics, students, business people, journalists and those employed in implementing government policy.
Some conferences are major international events.
There is a regular flow of academics and politicians from these areas who are willing to participate in open discussions at the School, and these occasions offer unique opportunities for research students to develop contacts. Students are always welcomed free of charge at these events where they can help to furnish a lively atmosphere for debate about historical and contemporary issues with their academic peers and teachers. They are also often employed to help with the organisation of conferences and of public lectures and presentations. These normally comprise the presentation of a paper followed by informal discussion. Recent seminar series have included Ethnic Minorities and Post-Communism, Reinterpretations of Russian History, Minorities in Poland, Pushkin's Lyric Poetry, Researching East European and Russian History, Integration and Disintegration in Albania, and Spatial Economic Restructuring in Poland.