Who we are - General Information about PECOB

Maria Zalambani graduated in Russian Language and Literature at the University of Bologna in 1980. During the following years she was awarded some fellowships and she carried out her researches in the major Moscow libraries. In 1985 she obtained a fellowship awarded by the Italian National Research Council (CNR) and got the D.E.A. (Diplome d’études approfondies) at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris. In 1993 she persued a Ph. D. in History and Civilization at EHESS.
From 1998 to 2000 she tought Russian Literature at the School for Interpreters and Translators (SSLMIT), University of Bologna. In 2000 she was appointed associate professor in Russian Language and Literature at the University of Chieti (Pescara campus). Since 2003 she has been associate professor at SSLMIT (University of Bologna, Forlì campus). Since the same year she has been member of the scientific board of the Centre for Central Eastern and Balkan Europe (CECOB). From 2004 to 2008 scientific coordinator of the linguistic area for the Interdisciplinary Master in East European Researches and Studies (MIREES, University of Bologna). Since 2004 member of the scientific board of “Mediazioni” (Online Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies on Languages and Cultures). Since 2007 member of the board of the Doctoral School at the University of Padua. Since 2008 member of the board of the Doctoral School at the University of Bologna-Forlì.
She attended many national and internation meetings and conferences.
Her research interests focus on the 20th century Russian Literature, Culture and History of the Ideas.

After graduating in International and Diplomatic Sciences at the University of Bologna - Forlì campus, he has worked as analyst in geopolitical issues for the Italian think tank Equilibri.net.
He is currently employed at the Istituto per l'Europa Centro-Orientale e Balcanica as responsible of the Monitor Unit Research Activities.

David is a current MIREES student at the University of Bologna (Forlì campus), where his research is focused on the region of South East Europe. David has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Southern Maine where he wrote his senior thesis on Football, Politics and Civil Society. Apart for an unhealthy obsession with football, he also enjoys spending time in the mountains and reading.

Daniela has a Bachelor and Master's degree in International Relations from the University of Bologna. During her Bachelor she was an exchange student at the University of Cyprus and in 2009 she completed an internship at the NGO Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeast Europe (CDRSEE) in Thessaloniki, Greece. Thanks to a scholarship awarded by the Faculty of Political Sciences "R. Ruffilli" (University of Bologna), she conducted research for her Master's dissertation at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague and at the University of Sarajevo. Her main interests include transitional justice and reconciliation in the Balkan region, post-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Cyprus dispute. She collaborates with PECOB's editorial staff since February 2012.

Paolo Sorbello coordinates the Energy Policy Studies branch and contributes to the publication of research material while supervising the activities of the group. His interests include the energy and foreign policies of the former Soviet republics, especially in the Central Asian region. He has worked at several think-tanks and online publications based in Europe and the United States. He has published a book entitled The Role of Energy in Russian Foreign Policy towards Kazakhstan (Lambert Academic Publishing, Saarbruecken, June 2011).

Elvira Oliva obtained her Master's degree in political science at University of Bologna, with a thesis on the effects of EU energy market integration on the security of supplies. She did part of her research while on a student exchange program at the International Relations Department of the State University of Petrozavodsk (Russia).
After an internship at the Energy Office of the Italian Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels, she is now an energy analyst at the Italian think-tank Nomisma Energia and she contributes to the activities of the University of Bologna's Portal on Eastern and Central Europe and the Balkans (PECOB), through contributions to the new Energy Policy Studies branch.
Her research interests include energy politics, and legal and economic regulation of energy sources, with a geographical focus on the EU's eastern countries and the EU-Russia energy dialogue.

Eleonora Fuser acts as Researcher and Social Media Officer for the Energy Policy Studies branch at PECOB, the Portal on Eastern and Central Europe and the Balkans, where she produces and coordinates web content for PECOB on several social networks. She is also associate researcher for the Energy Policy group, focusing on the policies of NATO and the European Union toward Central Asia and Russia in the field of security and energy. She graduated with a Master's thesis on the NATO-Russia Council at the "R. Ruffilli" Faculty of Political Science of the University of Bologna and is now International Analyst for Russia and the Caucasus for Geopolitica, an Italian Journal of Geopolitics. Her interests also encompass military and energy competition in central, south and east Asia. She has worked as Public Affairs Officer in Asia and Italy in both the not-for-profit and private sector.

Ludovico Grandi has a background in international relations, cultivated through his Bachelor degree in Bologna and mobility programs at the ULB (Brussels) and Corvinus (Budapest) Universities. His Master's program focuses on Russia and its energy role, especially in relation to Central Asian countries. He is an active researcher and contributor to PECOB's Energy Policy Studies Branch.

Giovanni Cadioli completed his BA in Sociology at the University of Trento in 2010, with a final thesis on Russia's foreign policy from 2000 to 2010; he is in the process of completing his MA studies at MIREES, University of Bologna, and spent his MIREES mobility period at the Faculty of Economics of Budapest Corvinus University.

He is mainly interested in Soviet and post-Soviet foreign policy, Russian politics as well as contemporary energy issues.