The Institute of Commonwealth Studies (University of London) exists to promote advanced study of the Comomonwealth of Nations within a research environment. Its activities include the promotion of inter-disciplinary and inter-regional research; courses and supervision for higher degrees; and an imaginative programme of seminars, conferences and publications. Within the Institute's walls are currently housed the British Documents of End of Empire Project and the activities of Dr. Anne Thurston, whose initiatives in the field of archival materials in Commonwealth countries and associated backup programmes of staff training and conservation workshops, have stimulated an awareness of the value of archives in many African countries. The Association of Commonwealth Archives and Record Management has its Secretariat at the Institute.