The Delegation of the European Commission in Washington, DC, is pleased to announce 11 “European Union Center of Excellence” awards to universities throughout the United States. These grant recipients were selected from a strong field of 23 candidates.
The network of EU Centers of Excellence promotes the study of the EU, its institutions and policies and EU-U.S. relations through teaching programs, scholarly research and outreach activities in their local and regional communities. The European Commission funds this initiative as part of a broader effort to promote people-to-people ties across the Atlantic. Visit www.euce.org for more information about this program.
Ambassador John Bruton, Head of the EU Commission Delegation to the United States, welcomed the announcement:
“I wish to offer congratulations to the successful applicants to the most recent cycle of the EU Centers of Excellence, selected from a very strong group of competitors. This underlines the continuing tremendous interest in the EU and EU-U.S. relations within American universities. The EU Centers of Excellence have the crucial task of preparing the students who will take a leading role in the future of the transatlantic relationship, and play a vital role in educating their local communities regarding those developments. These Centers will also continue to produce high quality scholarly research that informs the policy community. As in the past, I aim to visit as many of the Centers as possible during my tenure in Washington.”
Grants totaling 3.42 million euros will fund activities for a three year period at the following universities:
- University of California (Berkeley)
- University of Colorado
- Florida International University and the University of Miami
- Georgia Tech
- University of Michigan
- University of North Carolina
- University of Pittsburgh
- University of Texas
- University of Washington (Seattle)
- University of Wisconsin
- Washington, DC, Consortium (American University, George Mason University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, The Johns Hopkins University)
The University of North Carolina will serve as Network and Outreach Coordinator, with the goal of promoting cooperation and sharing best practices within the network. North Carolina will also maintain the network website (www.euce.org) providing easy access to research and teaching materials produced by the Centers.
This is the fourth cycle (2008-2011) of the EU Centers program that was launched in 1998. The EU Centers program has helped create a foothold for EU studies in U.S. higher education and served as an information resource for a broad U.S. audience, with extensive outreach to regional audiences and the policy community. As in 2005-2008, the recipients of awards in this cycle have been designated ‘Centers of Excellence’ in recognition of the high quality, variety, and depth of their programming.