My work as professor of Russian Politics focuses on issues such as political regime dynamics, political institutions, governance and policy-making, elections, political parties and political protests, and sub-national politics in Russia. During 2012-2017, I served as the Finland Distinguished Professor at the Aleksanteri Institute and was a cluster leader in the Centre of Excellence “Choices of Russian Modernisation”, funded by the Academy of Finland. I taught at the European University in St. Petersburg as professor of political science and specialized on Russian politics in a theoretical and comparative perspective. I also have expertise in authoritarianism, electoral and party politics, contentious politics, and regional and local government. I am an author and/or editor of more than twenty books and author of more than 150 research articles, published in English, Russian, Finnish, and other languages. My current research concentrates on political and institutional foundations of quality of governance and policy conduct in Russia and post-Soviet Eurasia. My teaching duties include classes on the international MA Programme in Russian Studies as well as other special courses and programmes coordinated by the Aleksanteri Institute. I’m also a co-director of FRRESH (Finnish-Russian Network for Russian and Eurasian Studies in Social Science and Humanities) and YRUSH (Young Russian Scholars Helsinki Visiting Fellowship programme), both projects funded by the Kone Foundation.