EU-Russian relations stagnated for long before they came to a crisis in 2014. The past and the present are conceptualised differently in Russia and abroad, which reveals both the information was and a divergence in research agendas. The window of opportunity for the studies of EU and EU-Russian relations is rapidly closing in Russia. This threatens that present difficulties will persist. Therefore, the existing expertise of teaching and researching EU integration and EU-Russian relations should be strengthened. The objective of this Centre of Excellence “Building Knowledge and Expertise to Overcome the Current Crisis in EU-Russian Relations” is to provide unbiased information on the EU, to reveal the differences in research agendas, and to facilitate the emergence in Russia of a new generation of experts on the EU and EU-Russian relations, able to reboot EU-Russian relations. This project will build on the success of MA ‘European Studies’, Jean Monnet Chair, and of the EU Information Centre. The Centre of Excellence will have teaching and research functions. The teaching activities will include:• Enhanced teaching of EU integration disciplines with open education resources, available on line;• Updated EU-related information, put online in English and (where possible) Russian;• Training of university professors;• Enhanced use of active methods of learning (role-play simulation games, student debates).The research objective of the Centre will be to explore issues and methodologies in the study of EU-Russian relations in Russia; and to compare these issues and methodology with those, outside of Russia. To achieve its research objectives, the Centre will• Establish online connections with relevant websites;• Provide information on Russian experts on the EU and EU-Russian relations;• Conduct research on issues and methodologies in EU-Russian relations in Russia;• Hold two academic conferences;• Produce a series of academic articles and a book.