ISEA is one of the leading and politically independent think-tanks in the Czech Republic. Its main goal is to serve as a beacon to state institutions and civic society, supplying qualified and unbiased analyses of various social phenomena and bridging academic research and key public policy domains. It is dedicated to both basic and applied research and in fostering public debate on the fundamental questions facing Czech society, particularly in education, human resources, and competitiveness. ISEA contributes to the formation of politically and intellectually independent debate aimed at specifying the necessary steps of transformation that are required for the Czech Republic to participate in the European Union as an economically competitive, socially coherent, culturally open, and politically stable and trustworthy country. The Institute strongly believes that these goals may be achieved only via consistent and lasting evidence based contributions to the public debate. Towards this goal, the Institute publishes its research results widely through several channels, both professional and popular. The Institute has created over the ten years of its existence a relatively small, but highly qualified and motivated team of researchers and professionals who are shaping the Institute’s profile by creating and managing important projects. Currently ISEA counts among its researchers some of the most cited and publicly recognized Czech social scientists, who have led dozens of research projects funded by GDN, OECD, UNDP, the European Commission, the Czech Science Foundation, Open Society Fund Prague, and many other domestic and international institutions. Recent books published by experts affiliated to ISEA have focused on educational inequalities and the reform of the educational system, corruption and anti-corruption policy, poverty and the welfare system, political participation and the transformation of civil society, all in historical and international perspective.