Mirror laboratories first appeared in the post-Soviet space in the early 2000s in the system of universities in the Russian Federation. Initially, such laboratories were created between partner universities of one state. Later, foreign partners joined in this form of research. The degree of effectiveness of such laboratories varied. The purpose of the mirror laboratories was to attract to research activities those representatives of science who, as a result of the collapse of the USSR, emigrated to foreign countries. In modern conditions, the appointment of mirror laboratories goes beyond politicized ideas.