With the establishment of a research centre in Lviv, the Max Weber Foundation (MWS) is continuing its reorientation in Eastern Europe since the beginning of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Munich-based historian Iryna Klymenko is leading the centre.

In November 2024, the MWS Foundation Council decided to establish a "Research Centre Ukraine," and now the project is gaining momentum with Iryna Klymenko as its director. In cooperation with Ukrainian partners, another location in Eastern Europe is being established in Lviv. It serves to promote academic exchange, support young researchers, and foster understanding between Germany and the host country. The research centre focuses on the transnational history of the region, which is marked by the political borders of today's Ukraine. The focus will be on the communication processes through which the region has been intertwined with Western and Central European actors and institutions since the early modern period. 

Historian Iryna Klymenko is leading the establishment of the research centre

Iryna Klymenko is an experienced historian specialising in the history of European interdependence. She studied in Kyiv and Munich and received her doctorate and habilitation from the History Department of Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. Her international research experience includes stints in Cambridge, Berkeley and at the German Historical Institute in Rome. She has received fellowships from the Historisches Kolleg München (2023/24) and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (2025/26).