The Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology PAS belongs to the leading scientific centers in Poland dealing with archaeology, ethnology, and history of material culture. Established in 1953, the Institute currently edits 10 highly scored scientific journals and many book series and monographs, which stimulate national and regional debates within their fields. 

Initially, the researchers of the Institute were focused on interdisciplinary projects related to the human past beginnings but recently they have been carrying out more and more multidisciplinary projects dedicated to contemporary problems to see the human past and present in a possibly most complex way. The Institute focuses on coordination and participation in both national and international research grants concerning heritage, forensic studies, memory, postcolonialism, local identities, relational spaces, religion, post-socialism, visual studies, performance, refugee studies, modern time archaeology, public archaeology. Projects that the Institute hosts are carried out in Poland, East-Central Europe, but also in Russia (in particular Siberia), India, Spain, Egypt, or Sudan. Fieldwork is an essential part of almost all projects.

The Institute’s headquarters with central library, archives, and bio- and archaeometric laboratory is located in Warsaw, but it has its departments with thematic libraries in Kraków, Wroclaw, Poznan, and Lodz. The Institute cooperates with a large number of scientific units in Europe, including researchers from the Academies of Sciences located in neighboring countries. Moreover, as part of the ongoing work, the Institute collaborates with museums, local administration, conservation offices, and the media.