Research at ECERS is focused upon regionalism, ethnicity, minorities and human rights in Slovenia and South East Europe. Current research programmes include: a transfrontier regional co-operation model for North- Eastern Slovenia; Slovenian nation-building and integration into Europe; protection of ethnic and religious minorities in Bosnia Herzegovina. In co-operation with the faculty of Law at the University of Maribor, ECERS organises postgraduate training on international law.

The Institute for Ethnic Studies, founded in 1925 as the Minority Institute, is the oldest European academic institution specifically devoted to ethnic issues (see Part 4 of the Institute's report on Slovenia). Today the Institute has a staff of 24. An important part of the Institute is its INDOC centre, which has five full-time documentalists. The collection of newspapers, covering seven decades, the historical and current archives, and the library (about 30,000 books, 600,000 documented units) represent a unique asset. The Institute’s primary activity is basic and applied research drawing from several disciplines: ethnology, sociology, liguistics, philosophy, law, political sciences, and history. Current research projects include: ‘Ethnic dimension of integration processes in plural societies and the management and resolution of conflicts’, ‘Ethnic identity and interethnic relations in Slovene ethnic territory’ and ‘Interethnic relations in the border territory between Slovenia and Croatia’.