The CSCE/OSCE Archives and records
The Documentation Centre in Prague is the chief repository for historical archives created by the OSCE since its foundation as the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE).
The Centre holds all major CSCE/OSCE conference documents, CSCE policy records and documents from 1972 to 1994, and OSCE records from 1995 onwards, in hardcopy and digital formats which form the basis of the Organization’s institutional memory. The primary function of the Centre is to collect, describe, preserve and make these records of permanent value available for research purposes.
Researcher-in-Residence programme
To promote academic research on the OSCE, the Centre organises the OSCE Researcher-in-Residence programme. Since 1998/1999, it provides students, academics and other professionals with access to the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (CSCE) and the OSCE’s rich archival collections as well as a reference library of secondary sources with multilingual books, articles, periodicals and other materials. These publications relate to international and European relations, legislation, human and minority rights, fundamental freedoms and security. In addition, researchers participating in the programme are provided with work station connected to the digital collections, finding aids and search tools.
The research outcome should preferably be in one of the six OSCE official languages: English, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish. Researchers are expected to provide the Centre with their completed work for deposit in the Centre’s library.
The length of stay in Prague is envisaged as being from two to three months, although this period is flexible, depending on the nature of the research.
Please note that while use of the Centre’s facilities is free, accommodation, transport, visas and other associated costs must be paid for by researchers themselves.
For further questions please contact us via email quest@osce.org.
Apply for the programme here.
How to apply
You need to send us:
- a statement of intention that includes your preferred dates
- a full outline of your project, including on how you plan to fund it, and
- your curriculum vitae that includes your academic credentials and, if available, your previous publications
Projects and exhibitions
In 2010 the Centre initiated the CSCE/OSCE Oral History Project, the outcome of which is the book CSCE Testimonies: Causes and Consequences of Helsinki Final Act 1972–1989.
Available in print and online, it includes interviews with prominent officials and public figures involved in the Helsinki process, as well as all three subsequent review meetings (Belgrade, 1977–1978; Madrid, 1980–1983 and Vienna, 1986–1989). The nine testimonies presented here feature different points of view regarding the evolution and development of the CSCE from 1972 until 1989.
To raise public awareness on the CSCE/OSCE history, the Centre prepared, in co-operation with the OSCE Communication and Media Relations Section, a commemoration page on the 30th anniversary of the CSCE Paris Summit and the CSCE Charter of Paris for a New Europe at Paris Summit 1990 and the Charter of Paris for a New Europe | OSCE. Interviews with several eye-witnesses of the Paris Summit are available here.