Description of research and teaching

Markku Kivinen is one of the leading social theorists in Russian studies. He has been the Director of the Aleksanteri Institute – the Finnish Centre for Russian and Eastern European Studies since 1996, and the Director of the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Russian Studies: Choices of Russian Modernisation since 2012.

Professor Kivinen is a broad generalist in Russian studies and has original contributions both in theory and in empirical research. He has 20 years of experience leading a multidisciplinary research community, promoting interdisciplinary and multi-positional approaches.

Markku Kivinen has acquired an exceptional experience in institution building. During his leadership the Aleksanteri Institute has become a dynamic research community and one of the largest research institutes in Russian studies in the world. He has led several ground-breaking projects and has profound experience in project management in many undertakings funded by e.g. the Academy of Finland, the European Union, and various Nordic funds.

During his years as professor at the University of Lapland, Kivinen founded the Department of Sociology and started a successful graduate school in this field in Northern Finland. Since 1998 he has been the Director of the Finnish graduate school in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies (REEES), which has produced close to 50 PhD degrees up to 2015. He has long-term experience in academic teaching, as well as in supervision of dissertations.

Markku Kivinen is a well-known figure in the Finnish society. He is frequently interviewed both by the Finnish and international media and invited to give briefing for diverse decision makers in politics and the business world. Markku Kivinen is a prominent keynote speaker on international forums, not only in Finland and Russia but also in Europe, Japan, China and the U.S.