Central European University

For other uses, see European University (disambiguation)

Central European University
Közép-európai Egyetem
Latin: Universitas Europae Centralis
Established	1991
Type	Private
Endowment	US$880 million
Rector	John Shattuck
Academic staff	305
Students	1,600
Postgraduates	900
Doctoral students	410
Location	Budapest, Hungary
Campus	Urban
Affiliations	University of the State of New York
Website	ceu.hu

Central European University (CEU) is a graduate-level, English-language university promoting a distinctively Central European perspective. The university offers degrees in the social sciences, humanities, law, public policy, business management, environmental science, and mathematics. The university is located in Budapest, and is accredited in the United States and in Hungary.

CEU has more than 1500 students from 100 countries and 300 faculty members from more than 30 countries. In 2010 the value of CEU's endowment was US$880 million, making the university one of the wealthiest in Europe.

History

CEU Building

CEU evolved from a series of lectures held in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, (now Croatia) before 1989. The University was founded in 1991 in response to the fall of the Socialist Bloc. The founding vision was to create a university dedicated to examining the contemporary challenges of "open societies" and democratization. The initial aim was to create a Western-modeled yet distinctly Central European institution that would foster inter-regional cooperation and educate a new corps of regional leaders to help usher in democratic transitions across the region.

In its second decade, CEU broadened its focus from regional to global, with a special emphasis on democracy promotion and human rights around the world. CEU has since developed a distinct academic approach, combining regional studies with an international perspective, emphasizing comparative and interdisciplinary research in order to generate new scholarship and policy initiatives, and to promote good governance and the rule of law. CEU has extended its outreach and financial aid programs to certain areas of the developing world.

CEU began the region's first master's degree programs in gender studies and environmental sciences.

On 14 October 2007 George Soros stepped down as Chairman of CEU Board. Leon Botstein (President of the Bard College, New York), who had previously served as the Vice-Chair of the Board, was elected as new Board Chairman for a two-year term. George Soros is a Life-CEU Trustee and serves as Honorary Chairman of the Board.

On 1 August 2009 Rector Yehuda Elkana was succeeded by distinguished human rights leader and legal scholar John Shattuck.

Legal basis

CEU is organized as an American-style institution, governed by a Board of Trustees, with a charter from the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York, for and on behalf of the New York State Education Department. In the United States, CEU is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. In Hungary, CEU is officially recognized as a privately maintained and operated university. The university was accredited by the Hungarian Accreditation Committee in 2004.

Departments and programs

Departments

• Cognitive Science
• Economics
• Environmental Sciences and Policy
• Gender Studies
• History
• International Relations and European Studies
• Legal Studies
• Mathematics and its Applications
• Medieval Studies
• Nationalism Studies
• Philosophy
• Political Science
• Public Policy
• Sociology and Social Anthropology

Degree programs

CEU Entrance

One-year Master’s degree programs

• MA programs: Central European History; Economic and Legal Studies; Gender Studies; Human Rights; International Relations and European Studies; Medieval Studies; Nationalism Studies; Philosophy; Political Science; Public Policy; Sociology and Social Anthropology
• MS program: Environmental Sciences and Policy
• LLM programs: Comparative Constitutional Law; Economic and Legal Studies; Human Rights; International Business Law
• Business programs: Transnational Master's of Business Administration (MBA); International Executive MBA (18-month program)

Two-year Master’s degree programs

• MA programs: critical gender studies; economic policy in global markets; environmental sciences, policy and management (MESPOM, Erasmus Mundus); economics; historical studies; philosophy; political science; public policy (Erasmus Mundus program), sociology and social anthropology; women's and gender studies (GEMMA, Erasmus Mundus); women's and gender history (MATILDA, Erasmus program)
• MSc program: applied mathematics
• Business programs: Executive MBA (International Master's in Management)

Doctoral programs

• PhD in: cognitive science; comparative gender studies; comparative history of central, southeastern and eastern europe; economics; environmental sciences and policy; mathematics and its applications; medieval studies; philosophy; political science; sociology and social anthropology
• Doctor of Juridical Sciences (SJD)

Student support

In order to attract outstanding individuals – no matter what their financial situation – CEU offers a wide range of Financial Aid packages to the majority of its students. CEU rewards financial aid primarily on the basis of academic merit. Decisions on financial aid may also take into account priorities connected to the university mission as well as documented financial need.

This academic year (2011-12), 153 Hungarian students are attending CEU tuition-free and five others are receiving partial tuition waivers. Also, 123 of these students receive a full or partial scholarship.

CEU library and OSA

The CEU Library is one of the largest English-language libraries in Central Europe, with comprehensive on-site and digital collections in the social sciences and humanities. The library contains more than 255,000 documents in various formats and includes access to a range of academic databases.

The Open Society Archives at CEU (OSA) is a notable Cold War research facility, containing 7,000 linear meters of material related to communist-era political, social, economic and cultural life. The OSA’s collection includes an extensive archive of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty transcripts and reports, along with the world’s largest collection of underground literature and materials from Central and Eastern Europe under communism. The archive also houses a growing collection of documents and audiovisual materials on international human rights and war crimes.

Rankings

Central European University is placed among the TOP 51–100 worldwide on the field of Politics and International Relations, among the top 101–150 worldwide in Philosophy and among the top 151–200 worldwide in Sociology on the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2011.

CEU Business School is consistently placed among the top 20 best Business Schools in Europe in the QS TOPMBA survey.

According to a study published by German newspaper Die Zeit, the CEU Department of Political Science is among the top five Political Science Departments in Europe.

CEU's Department of Legal Studies was ranked first in Central Europe by the Czech newspaper, Lidove noviny. The survey included Austrian, Czech, German, Hungarian, Polish and Slovakian universities.

A recent report prepared by the Magyar Rektori Konferencia stated that CEU faculty has the highest number of international publications per capita (recorded in the Web of Science) among Hungarian universities. The same applies to the amount research support grants received in the framework of EU’s Sixth and Seventh Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development. In the recent round of the European Research Council Starting Investigator Grant – the most prestigious grant for young researchers in Europe – Central-East European countries received a total of eight grants. Of the three that came to Hungary (the highest number of among C/EE countries), two were awarded to CEU faculty.

Summer University

CEU’s Summer University is one of Central and Eastern Europe’s most important academic programs for young scholars in the humanities and social sciences. Since 1996, CEU’s Summer University has involved 269 Hungarian faculty members and 516 Hungarian participants. Tuition was waived for all but 3% of the Hungarian participants, most of whom were junior academics (graduate students, faculty, and researchers) who received guidance on their research, ideas for developing their own courses, exposure to a variety of teaching methodologies, and access to international and academic and professional networks.

CEU Press

CEU Press is the largest English-language publisher in Central and Eastern Europe. Since its founding in 1993, it has played an important role in publishing books on the economic, social, and political transformation of the region, including titles by Hungarians or on Hungarian themes. Four of its top-10 best-selling books worldwide are related to Hungary.

Distinguished faculty

• Shlomo Avineri, Political Science
• Aziz Al-Azmeh, Oriental Studies
• Péter Balázs, International Relations, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary
• Lajos Bokros, Public Policy, former Minister of Finance of Hungary
• András Bozóki, Political Science, Sociologist, political scientist, Minister of Culture of Hungary
• Wai Chee Dimock, English and American Studies
• Cole Durham, Law
• Yehuda Elkana, History of Science
• Allen Feldman, Cultural Anthropology
• Patrick J. Geary, History
• Ernest Gellner, Philosophy and Social Anthropology
• Herbert Gintis, Economics
• Gabriel Gorodetsky, Russian Studies
• Péter Hanák, History
• Elemér Hankiss, Sociology
• Donald L. Horowitz, Law and Political Science
• Julius Horvath, Economics
• Zoltán Illés, Department of Environmental sciences and Policy, Environmental State Secretary in the government of Viktor Orbán
• John Doyle Klier, History
• Don Kalb, Sociology and Social Anthropology
• János Kis, Political Philosophy
• János Kornai, Economics
• Friedrich Kratochwil, (visiting faculty 2012) International Law International Relations
• Will Kymlicka, Political Theory
• Michael Miller (academic), Nationalism Studies
• Wiktor Osiatyński, Law
• Anton Pelinka, Political Science
• Istvan Perczel, Medieval Studies
• Steven Plaut, Economics, Political Science and International Relations
• Alfred J. Rieber, History
• Howard Robinson, Philosophy
• Jacek Rostowski, Economy, Minister of Finance of Poland
• Michael Roes, Philosophy and Anthropology
• Robert Sauer, Economics
• Diane Stone, Public Policy
• Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, Environmental Sciences, team member of IPCC
• Tibor Várady, Law
• Susanne Baer (visiting professor), on 11 November 2010 elected to the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
• Ugo Pagano, Economics

Notable alumni

• József Berényi, Chairman of the Party of the Hungarian Coalition
• Anna Brzezińska, Polish author
• Ruxandra Cesereanu, Romanian poet, essayist, short story writer, novelist and literary critic
• Srđan Cvijić, Serbian political scientist
• Darko Angelov, Macedonian Diplomat, Ambassador to Hungary
• Lívia Járóka, Hungarian Romani politician, Member of the European Parliament
• Romaniţa Iordache, Romanian Human rights activist
• Jasna Koteska, Macedonian author and psychoanalyst
• Monica Macovei, Minister of Justice of Romania
• Sorin Ionita, Research Director of the Romanian Academic Society
• Andrei Oişteanu, Romanian historian and ethnologist
• Mailis Reps, Estonian Minister of Education and Research
• Tivadar Magyari, Vice-Rector, Babes-Bolyai University, Romania

External links

• Central European University