CEU Pro-Rector for External Relations Carsten Schneider and Mateusz Chmurski, Director of CEFRES signed a Memorandum of Understanding, confirming that Central European University (CEU) will be keeping a close cooperation with the French Research Center in Humanities and Social Sciences (CEFRES).
CEFRES, founded in 1991 to restart the scientific exchanges between France and Central Europe as it underwent major changes after the fall of communism, has a network of research teams between France, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. It supports researchers' mobility from France and the Visegrad countries and hosts a team of young researchers and of statutory researchers.
Since 2015, CEFRES had offered year-long research scholarships on Doctoral and Post-Doctoral levels to CEU PhD students, while the institute was based in Hungary. The MoU singing makes it possible for PhD students from CEU, now based in Austria, to continue benefitting from CEFRES offers.
"Due to the good historical relationship between CEU and CEFRES, we have the pleasure to continue and expand this cooperation," said Philippe Sutter, Scientific Councilor, French Embassy, Austria, and Director of the French Institute in Vienna.
"We are pleased that through this Memorandum of Understanding our CEU PhD Candidates and recent graduates can continue to apply for CEFRES Scholarships," added Schneider. "CEFRES contributes in a valuable way to the opportunities CEU PhD Candidates have. In the medium run, further activities also involving faculty members will be developed. Our partnership with CEFRES is an important element of CEU's anchoring in Central and Eastern Europe."
The two institutes have also established a CEU-CEFRES Joint Committee of Experts to propose activities of collaboration, support joint research projects and evaluate the cooperation over time. The academic members of the Joint Committee are Mateusz Chmurski, Director of CEFRES; Philippe Sutter, Scientific Councilor, French Embassy, Austria and Director of the French Institute in Vienna; and CEU faculty members Carsten Schneider; Jasmina Lukic, Professor at the CEU Department of Gender Studies; and Michael Merlingen, Director of the CEU Doctoral School of Political Science, Public Policy and International Relations.
