CIVICA – The European University of Social Sciences has received funding to strengthen its research dimension from the EU’s program Horizon 2020, under the chapter “Science with and for Society.”
The activities funded under this call aim to establish “CIVICA Research,” a joint long-term research and innovation environment. CIVICA Research will complement CIVICA’s education strategy supported by Erasmus+, which already includes a work package dedicated to research in four areas in particular: Societies in Transition and Crises of Earth; Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century; Europe Revisited; and Data Driven Technologies for the Social Sciences.
Central European University is the coordinating institution for the design of CIVICA’s strategic scientific agenda. “We look forward to implementing our work package's ambitious action plan as set out by CIVICA Research”, noted Carsten Schneider, Professor in the Political Science Department and leader of the research workpackage of CIVICA. “We will leverage our complementary strengths to lay the scientific foundations essential to a world-leading European University in the social sciences.”
Guillaume Plantin, Vice President for Research at Sciences Po, the coordinating institution of the CIVICA alliance added that CIVICA is thrilled that the European Commission has decided to support the development of our common research environment through the Horizon 2020 programme “as research is an important dimension of our transnational cooperation as a European University alliance”. CIVICA alliance will receive 2 million Euros in funding to stimulate institutional transformation at the research and innovation level. Among the objectives of CIVICA Research are the design of a joint research scientific agenda, the emergence of a CIVICA scientific community, the development of shared research platforms and tools, and the implementation of Open Science practices.
The CIVICA Research activities will begin in 2021. They will take place in close synergy with the CIVICA activities defined under the Erasmus+ pilot call from 2019.
CEU’s Vice President for Academic Cooperation and Research Management Zsuzsa Gabor said “Along with imparting knowledge to the next generation through world-class teaching, creating new knowledge—via research and knowledge exchange—is key to generating impact. Through opportunities provided by this and other funding initiatives, CIVICA partners aim to unlock value for the world to come."
CIVICA brings together eight leading European higher education institutions in the social sciences, humanities, business management and public policy, with a total of 50,000 students and 10,000 faculty members. Together, they build on an ever-stronger combination of teaching, research and innovation to mobilize and share knowledge as a public good and to facilitate civic responsibility in Europe and beyond. CIVICA’s members are: Bocconi University (Italy), Central European University (Austria and Hungary), European University Institute (Intergovernmental), Hertie School (Germany), National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (Romania), Sciences Po (France), Stockholm School of Economics (Sweden) and The London School of Economics and Political Sciences (United Kingdom).
