Research is the central element of the RRPP. During the three-year implementation phase (2008-2011), the Programme strives to achieve the following:

By 2011, a number of social research projects of good quality on transition relevant topics are implemented throughout the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia).

Main activities:

• Implementation of 25-30 social research projects (regional and focusing on individual countries)
• Providing support  to research teams through mentoring and access to international conferences
• Publishing of research results 
• Organisation of the regional research-related conferences, especially the RRPP Annual Conferences

The research projects will be linked with each other under the common umbrella topic "Political, Social and Economic Change in the Western Balkans".

The following thematic groups were identified as the most relevant for social sciences research in the region:

Albania: Citizenship, Social Cohesion and Development
Bosnia and Herzegovina: State and Nation-Building
Kosovo: Governance, Identities and Development
Macedonia: Power, Knowledge and Social Change
Serbia: Governance, Social Change and Information Society