Ricardo Martín de la Guardia is Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Valladolid, of whose Institute of European Studies (Jean Monnet Center of Excellence) he was director between 2009 and 2013.

He has been Senior Visitor and Senior Associate Member of the Center for European Studies at Saint Antonys College, Oxford University, and, on several occasions, Salvador de Madariaga Fellow of the Ministry of Education and Culture at the University Institute of Florence. He has taught specialization, master's and doctoral courses at various European and Latin American universities.

In his line of research on the history of international relations, he is the author, co-author or coordinator of some thirty books and several dozen articles and chapters; for example, among the books are The Soviet Union: from perestroika to disintegration (1995), Baltic Europe. From Soviet republics to integration into the European Union, 1994-2004 (2010), Chechnya, the Balkan hell (2012), 1989, the year that changed the world (2012), Europeanism, a permanent challenge for Spain (2015) Konrad Adenauer. Architect of a new Germany, promoter of a united Europe (2015), Post-Soviet conflicts. From the secession of Transnistria to the dismemberment of Ukraine (2017) and The Soviet Union before the mirror of the European Communities. From Sovietized Europe to the European "common home" (2017). He is currently secretary of the Contemporary History Association and a member of the editorial board of specialized magazines such as Yesterday, Current History, History and Politics and History of the Present.

He has participated in numerous national and international research projects on the topics of his specialty.