The Regional Institute for International Cooperation of the Tyumen State University (RIIC) was established in March 2004 at the suggestion of the Tyumen State University and the Tyumen Region Administration and with the support of the European Commission. The Institute was opened under the Tempus / Tacis project, titled "International Integration of the Tyumen Region". This new structural unit of the university was created, on the one hand, in the aim of addressing the urgent tasks of internationalization of the Tyumen State University, and, on the other, - to promote the development of international ties in the region. It was thus conceived to act as a bridge between the university, the region and the international environment.

The Regional Institute for International Cooperation of the Tyumen State University was set up on the basis of the International Language Center (founded back in 1996 as part of a Tempus project) and has been developed by way of addressing such important tasks as:

• to strengthen and expand the international academic and business ties of Tyumen State University with the aim of accumulating and making use of Western experience for the purpose of the modernization of Russian education and further integration of Tyumen State University into the international educational space;
• to contribute to the process of the integration of the Tyumen region into the global economic and cultural space by implementing joint projects and providing educational, intermediary and support services to administrative bodies and businesses;
• to strengthen the university's institutional links with organizations throughout the region, namely, to strengthen the role of the university in the international integration of the Tyumen region in order to enhance the social image and professional reputation of Tyumen State University in Tyumen and the Tyumen region, as well as in other regions, and to further strengthen its positions in the cultural- economic complex of the region.