Dr Donnacha Ó Beacháin is Associate Professor at the School of Law and Government, Dublin City University (DCU) where he lectures on post-Soviet politics, unrecognised states, Irish studies and foreign policy. He is lead researcher in the €3.6million FP7/Marie Curie Initial Training Network in Post-Soviet Tensions (2013-2017). Dr Ó Beacháin is also lead researcher in the €3.8million Horizon2020 project on the Caspian region (2015-2019). These consortia, involving 19 partners, are coordinated by the International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction (IICRR) at DCU. During 2011-12, Dr Ó Beacháin was a recipient of an 18-month major research grant from the IRCHSS/Department of Foreign Affairs Conflict Resolution Unit to lead a research team to examine the role of the OSCE and EU in the post-Soviet protracted conflicts. The project was designed to assist the Irish Government as it chaired the OSCE in 2012 and hosted the EU Presidency in 2013. In January 2012, Dr Ó Beacháin also received an additional commission from the IRCHSS/Department of Foreign Affairs to conduct field research in Abkhazia and Transnistria and write two reports evaluating electoral politics in these two unrecognised states. Dr Ó Beacháin held a three-year (2008-11) Marie Curie Fellowship awarded by the European Commission to conduct research on the ‘colour revolution’ phenomenon. The term “colour revolutions” is shorthand for a series of election-related protests that led to regime change in the post-Soviet space most notably in the Georgian “Rose Revolution” and Ukrainian “Orange Revolution”. Previously, between 2000 and 2005, Dr Ó Beacháin held visiting fellowships in Georgia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. He has organised several major international conferences at DCU including one devoted to the conflict in Ukraine (https://www.dcu.ie/news/2015/feb/s0215g.shtml) Dr Ó Beacháin is a regular contributor to national and global media and is frequently employed by international organisations as a consultant.