Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia
Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (UKIM) is the oldest and largest public University in the Republic of North Macedonia, founded in 1949, initially with three faculties. At the moment, the University represents a functional community of 23 faculties, 5 research institutes, 4 public scientific institutions – associate members, and 8 other types of associate members. UKIM implements research and study programmes in all scientific fields – natural sciences and mathematics, technical and technological sciences, medical sciences and health, biotechnical sciences, social sciences, humanities and arts. Except for the faculties, the research work is carried out in the independent research institutes as an integral part of the University. Over 28,400 students enrolled in the first cycle and 1,100 students in the second cycle of studies are part of the teaching and educational process. The third cycle – doctoral studies is realized within the School of Doctoral Studies, with a total of 1,071 students. Over 3,100 teaching, research, associate, as well as administrative staff is employed at the faculties and institutes. The University has produced around 134,600 graduated high-professional staff (with obtained Bachelor degree); 13,800 candidates obtained Master’s and Specialist’s degree and around 4,000 candidates obtained the doctoral degree in all teaching and scientific fields. The overall activities of the University also include sport, artistic, informative, recreational and other activities organized within many associations, clubs etc.
For more information on UKIM, please visit the following Link
For more information on the Institute of Sociological, Political and Juridical Research at UKIM, please visit the following Link
For more information on the PoSIG program at UKIM, please visit the following Link
Contact Persons
Prof. d-r Aneta Cekikj
Project Coordinator
Aneta Cekikј is professor of Political science at the Institute for sociological, political and juridical research, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (ISPJR-UKIM) and head of Doctoral programe in Political science at the same institutions. She completed her PhD on the topic of Lobbying in the European Union and the small states at ISPJR-UKIM in 2011. In 2010 she was a visiting academic staff at Centre for EU studies at the University of Gent, Belgium (Erasmus Mundus Basileus scholarship). From November 2013 to May 2014 she was a postdoctoral researcher (Erasmus Mundus SIGMA) at the University of Salzburg, Austria. Her areas of research interest and teaching (MA and PhD level) include EU lobbying, interest groups, democratization, ethnic conflict study, social science research methodology and social science research infrastructures. She has published a number of articles and book chapters in her areas of research interest in domestic and international publications. She was the national coordinator of the Round 10 European Social Survey in North Macedonia, which was conducted for the first time in the country in 2021-2022 and coordinator of activities for establishment of a Social science data archive in North Macedonia within ISPJR-UKIM, and CESSDA ERIC related projects.
Prof. d-r Marijana Markovikj
Quality Management
Prof. Marijana Markovikj is working at the Institute for Sociological, Political and Juridical Research (ISPJR), Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (UKIM) since 1998. She completed her studies in Psychology in 1992, and received MSc degree in 2002, at the Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, UKIM Skopje. She is gestalt psychotherapist and EMDR practitioner. She successfully defended her doctoral thesis in the field of Communication (political culture) in 2010, at ISPJR-UKIM. In 2015 she was elected as associate professor, and in 2020- full professor in Communication. She is one of the founders of the Psychological Laboratory at the ISPJR from 2006. She is teaching several master and doctoral level courses at the ISPJR and has realized a number of workshops in the domain of Psychology and Communication. Her theoretical and research interests are in the fields of interpersonal communication, mass communication, online communication, developmental psychology, trauma literacy, political culture and ideology. As a result of these interests, she has been participating in numerous national and international projects and conferences, and has published papers in national and international journals.
Academic Staff (UKIM)
Prof. d-r Pande Lazarevski
pande.lazarevski@isppi.ukim.edu.mk
Prof. Pande Lazarevski has graduated International Politics and Diplomacy at the University of Belgrade (1984) and defended doctoral thesis in the field of policy studies at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (1993). As a Fulbright Scholar (1995-1996), he accomplished his study program at the University of Pittsburgh - Graduate School for Public and International Affairs (Public Policymaking), Johns Hopkins University - School of Advanced International Studies (Crisis Simulation) and Ohio State University - Merchon Center for Studies in International Security & Public Policy (Political Psychology). Prof. Lazarevski, university professor in policy studies and research methodology, was Director of the Institute for Sociological, Political and Juridical Research at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (1999-2006) and member of the (national) Board for Accreditation of Universities (2001-2003). Before being appointed as Ambassador to Romania and to the Republic of Moldova (2013-2017), he was member of the Security Council of the Republic of Macedonia (2009-2012), National Coordinator for Disaster Risk Reduction (2010-2012), Director of the Crisis Management Center at the Government of the Republic of Macedonia (2006-2010) and Chairman of the European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction (2010-2011).
Prof. d-r Goran Janev
Goran Janev is Professor of Social anthropology at the Institute for Sociological, Political and Juridical Research, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Macedonia. He teaches courses in Social Anthropology; Political Anthropology; Globalization and Communication; City, Society and Culture; and Culture in the New Millennium at several postgraduate (master and doctoral) study programmes. He has completed a DPhil in Social Anthropology at the Oxford University exploring the interethnic relations in Macedonia. He completed three-year post-doctoral fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Goettingen where he worked on the project “Manipulating diversity in South East Europe”. His main research interests are within the field of political anthropology, ethnicity, nationalism, urban studies and public sphere and public space.
Prof. d-r Natasha Gaber Damjanovska
ngaberdamjanovska@isppi.ukim.edu.mk
Natasha Gaber Damjanovska is a professor of political science and law at the Institute for sociological, political and juridical research, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (ISPJR-UKIM). She graduated at the Faculty of Law Iustinianus Primus, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius – Skopje (1984) and defended her PhD in political science at the ISPJR-UKIM. Professional experience: since 1985 employed at the Institute for Sociological and Political-Legal Research Skopje, University "Ss. Cyril and Methodius", following the career from junior assistant to full professor; 2008-2017 served as Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of North Macedonia; 2017-2018 employed at ISPJR-UKIM; 2018-2024 served as the Director of the national Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors "Pavel Shatev" (AJPP) Skopje; since July 2024 is employed at ISPJR-UKIM. Her training also includes Chevening Scholarship (1993/94), numerous study visits and course activities on topics of human rights, civil society and politics. Gaber Damjanovska trained and tutored initial and continuous training participants at AJPP on the topics: ethics for judges and prosecutors, justice for children, environmental protection, introduction to the ECHR, access to justice for women, non-discrimination and civil society. Her latest written works include training methodology on various legal themes (small scale corruption; ending impunity of human trafficking), constitutional law issues, the phenomenon of femicide in North Macedonia, as well as analysis of cases brought before the ECtHR. Being a long-term civil society activist, she has been involved in drafting the law on Associations and Foundations (1998 and 2011) and participated in numerous research in this area.
Prof. d-r Bojana Naumovska
Bojana Naumovska graduated at the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law ‘Iustinianus Primus’, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. She obtained her master's degree in Political science in 2008 at the Institute for Sociological, Political and Juridical Research (ISPJR), Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. With the defense of the thesis "The Impact of Electoral Models on the Smaller Political Parties in the Republic of Macedonia" in 2011 she obtained PhD in Political Science, also at the ISPJR. Since 2006 she works at the ISPJR, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. Today Bojana Naumovska is Professor in the fields of: Political parties, Electoral systems and Public opinion. She is involved in teaching MSc courses on: Electoral systems and Political Parties, Public opinion, Media and Politics, and on PhD courses: Methodology of scientific research with application examples in the field of social sciences, Designing and conducting qualitative research, Public opinion and globalization. She is the Coordinator of the MSc program Political science and human rights. Since 2019, she Director of the Institute for Sociological, Political and Juridical Research. Her areas of scientific/research interest are: Political parties, Ethnic parties, Public opinion. She has published a number of publications on these topics in domestic and international publications, and has been involved in a number of research projects on these and similar topics.
Ass. prof. Jovan Bliznakovski
Jovan Bliznakovski is an Assistant Professor of Political science at the Institute for Sociological, Political and Juridical Research, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (ISPJR-UKIM). He holds a PhD from the University of Milan and MSc from the University of Ljubljana. Bliznakovski’s research mainly focuses on political mobilization and voter behaviour in the Western Balkans and he has authored and co-authored studies on political clientelism and informal high-level politics in the region, identity politics and populism in North Macedonia. In 2020, Bliznakovski co-edited the volume We Against the Others: Symbolic Divisions in North Macedonia (Skopje: CINIK), and in 2021 a collection of conference papers Political Clientelism in the Western Balkans (Skopje: ISPJR-UKIM). Bliznakovski holds expertise in mixed-method research methodology, as well as quantitative and qualitative data analysis. He has attended trainings in multi-level regression methodologies, structural equation modeling, weighting of survey data and qualitative text analysis trainings organized by the ECPR, SERISS, University of Milan and the RRPP. In the period 2021-2022 he was a member of the team implementing the 10th wave of the European Social Survey in North Macedonia. In 2021, he co-authored the methodological approach (as well as the questionnaire for a representative survey) for the project which assessed the demand for populism in North Macedonia, implemented by the Skopje-based think-tank, the Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis” (IDSCS).
Ass. prof. Milka Dimitrovska
milka.dimitrovska@isppi.ukim.edu.mk
Milka Dimitrovska is an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Sociological, Political and Juridical Research at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. She has obtained the degree BA in Law at the Faculty of Law ‘Iustinianus I’ at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, followed by an LLM obtained at the Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, on the TEMPUS programme of European Integration. Dimitrovska became a PhD in International Law and Politics at the Faculty of Law at ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’ University in Bitola in where she’s been a Research and Teaching Assistant for several years, teaching the subjects: EU Legal and Political System, Political System, Constitutional Law and Local Government. Her professional interest revolves around human rights, democracy, good governance and EU policies. She has participated in every stage of research projects - from their conceptual phase to their realization, including developing methodology, field work, empirical activities, reports, analytical work etc. Some significant recent engagement is the participation in the realization of R10 of the European Social Survey in North Macedonia.