Centers and Institutes

Center for International Science and Technology Policy
The Center for International Science and Technology Policy is a locus for research and the exchange of information and ideas. In addition to overseeing the M.A. program in science, technology, and public policy, the Center organizes seminars and meetings, sponsors research, and hosts visitors from elsewhere in the United States and abroad.

Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies
The Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies (IERES) is a research center within the Elliott School. IERES’s research associates include University faculty members and visiting scholars in the disciplines of international affairs, political science, economics, history, geography, sociology, and relevant languages and literatures. Cross-disciplinary work is strongly encouraged. The Institute hosts numerous foreign visitors and brings ten to twelve distinguished foreign and American scholars to the University as visiting fellows each year. Institute members develop and conduct their own research projects, often with the support of funding sources outside the University; develop and participate in scholarly conferences, seminars and colloquia; and present public lectures. Many are called upon to advise leaders and agencies of the U.S. government and to provide expert commentary to the media. Most members of the Institute are full-time members of the GW faculty and play a major role in teaching graduate students in discipline-based master’s and doctoral programs and in interdisciplinary master’s programs. Institute faculty also administer and teach in the Elliott School’s M.A. program in European and Eurasian Studies.

Institute for Global and International Studies
The mission of the Institute for Global and International Studies (IGIS) is to foster intellectual exchange and collaborative research on international and global studies, including international organizations and law, trade regimes, international development, international security, U.S. foreign policy, global governance, and the links between all of these. The Institute particularly supports research that “brings practice to theory” by focusing on challenges that real world problems pose to disciplinary debates, spurring theoretical innovation. It sponsors a variety of related events, forums, and funding opportunities related to its goals, including the research and policy program Culture in Global Affairs, which seeks to promote the recognition of culture and its policy relevance to global affairs.

Institute for International Economic Policy
The Institute for International Economic Policy (IIEP) supports high-quality academic and policy research that addresses critical issues surrounding the emerging global economy. Faculty members and research scholars focus on economic, political, legal and historical analysis on international trade, international finance, and development.

Institute for Middle East Studies
The Institute for Middle East Studies (IMES) is a research organization housed in the Elliott School to support the work of faculty and students focusing on the modern Middle East — including the Arab world, Turkey, Israel, and Iran.

Sigur Center for Asian Studies
The mission of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies is to increase the quality and broaden the scope of scholarly research and publication on Asian affairs, promote scholarly interaction between the U.S. and Asia, provide a major center for policy discussion and outreach, and prepare a new generation of students, scholars, analysts, and policymakers to take advantage of the rapidly expanding role of Asia in world affairs. The Sigur Center sponsors research projects, study groups, conferences, and lectures on political, social, economic, and security issues in Asia.

As the institutional home of the Asian Studies program, the Sigur Center also coordinates undergraduate and graduate instruction in Asian affairs throughout the university. This program is one of the nation’s leading programs for the study of modern and contemporary Asia. It boasts an internationally recognized faculty with particular strengths in East Asia and policy issues and with coverage of South and Southeast Asia as well. This faculty is the largest of any university in the Washington, D.C., area.