Irina Bystrova is leading research fellow at the Institute of Russian History (since 2003). She was trained in the Academy of Sciences Institute of Russian History. She received several scholarships, e.g. at the Russian Science Foundation, Senior Fulbright Scholarship, Maison des Sciences de'Homme Scholarship and many more. She published, amongst others: The Soviet military-industrial complex: problems of creation and development (1930s-1980s), Moscow, the Institute of Russian History, 2006; The military-industrial complex of the USSR in the international arena, Otechstvennaja istorija, 2006, no. 2-3; The military-industrial complex of the USSR during the Cold Ward (second half of 1940s - early 1960s), Moscow, Institute of Russian History, 2000.