USTAV MEZINARODNICH VZTAHU V.V.I.

Their core work

The Institute of International Relations (IIR) is a Prague-based public research institute and think tank specializing in EU governance, foreign policy, and European integration processes. Their core work involves analyzing how the EU manages differentiation — the varying levels of integration among member states — and producing policy-relevant advice for decision-makers. They also contribute cybersecurity research expertise, particularly in malware detection and information hiding techniques. IIR bridges political science analysis with security research, serving as a knowledge provider within large European consortia.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

IIR's H2020 activity is concentrated in a narrow window (2019–2022), so evolution is subtle rather than dramatic. Their initial entry into H2020 was through EU governance and political integration research (EU IDEA), examining Brexit, accountability, and constitutional questions. By their most recent activity, they had expanded into cybersecurity (SIMARGL) while continuing EU policy work (DiCE), suggesting a broadening of their research scope beyond pure political science into digital security domains.

IIR appears to be diversifying from pure political science into the intersection of EU governance and digital security, which could make them a valuable policy analysis partner in future cybersecurity or digital sovereignty projects.

How they like to work

IIR consistently operates as a contributor rather than a leader — zero coordinated projects, two as participant, and one as a third-party expert. Despite only three projects, they have connected with 39 unique partners across 19 countries, indicating they plug into large, well-established consortia rather than building their own. This pattern suggests a reliable specialist contributor that brings policy expertise to broader teams without requiring project management overhead.

Despite limited H2020 participation, IIR has built connections with 39 partners across 19 countries, reflecting the large consortium sizes typical of EU governance research projects. Their network spans broadly across Europe rather than clustering in any single region.

What sets them apart

IIR is one of the Czech Republic's premier foreign policy think tanks, bringing deep institutional knowledge of EU governance that few technical research organizations can match. Their unusual combination of EU political analysis and cybersecurity research positions them at the intersection of digital policy and technical security — a niche that is increasingly relevant as the EU develops digital sovereignty frameworks. For consortium builders, IIR offers credible policy dissemination and analysis capacity grounded in decades of think tank expertise.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SIMARGL
  Their largest funded project (EUR 235,000) and an unexpected pivot from political science into machine learning-based malware detection, showing research versatility.
• EU IDEA
  Comprehensive EU integration study spanning Brexit, EMU, migration, and defense policy — demonstrates breadth of their governance expertise across multiple EU policy domains.