The Research Centre for East European Studies (Forschungsstelle Osteuropa – FSO) is an independent research institute attached to the University of Bremen. It is funded jointly by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs and the State of Bremen. Founded during the Cold War in 1982, the FSO today combines two goals: the (re)examination of societies and cultures in the Eastern Bloc and the analysis of contemporary developments in the region. 

The guiding concept of the centre's research is "Dissent and Consensus". This posits that deviant opinions, political opposition, defiance or forms of obstinacy can only be understood in the context of the political system, its discourses and repressive measures. To this end, historians, political scientists, sociologists, and specialists in literary and cultural studies collaborate using interdisciplinary approaches. 

This approach places particular emphasis on the following areas: 

• the shared worlds of representatives of dissent, consensus, state and party; 

• networks and corruption; 

• the functioning of (post-) authoritarian regimes.