Central European University
Közép-európai Egyetem | |
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Latin: Universitas Europae Centralis | |
Type | Private |
---|---|
Established | 1991 |
Endowment | $880 million[1] |
Rector | Michael Ignatieff |
Academic staff | 399[2] |
Students | 1,380[3] |
Postgraduates | 940 |
440 | |
Location | , |
Campus | Urban |
Affiliations | University of the State of New York |
Website | ceu.edu |
Central European University (CEU) is a graduate-level, English-language university accredited in the U.S. and Hungary and located in Budapest. The university offers degrees in the social sciences, humanities, law, public policy, business management, environmental science, and mathematics.
CEU has more than 1500 students from 100 countries and 300 faculty members from more than 30 countries. CEU was founded by philanthropist George Soros, who has provided an endowment of US$880 million, making the university one of the wealthiest in Europe.[1]
CEU has two schools, including the School of Public Policy and CEU Business School, 14 academic departments, and 17 research centers.
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/N%C3%A1dor_Street_9%2C_Central_European_University_Front.jpg/220px-N%C3%A1dor_Street_9%2C_Central_European_University_Front.jpg)
CEU evolved from a series of lectures held at the IUC in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, (now Croatia). In the Spring of 1989, as historical change was gathering momentum in the region the need for a new, independent, international university was being considered. The minutes of the gathering held in April 1989 records a discussion among scholars such as Rudolf Andorka, Péter Hanák, Márton Tardos, István Teplán, Tibor Vámos and Miklós Vásárhelyi from Budapest, William Newton-Smith and Kathleen Wilkes from Oxford, Jan Havranek, Michal Illner and Jiří Kořalka from Prague, Krzysztof Michalski and Włodzimierz Siwiński from Warsaw.[4]
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. It was originally located in Prague, but because of "political and financial conflict between its founder and Czech government"[5] represented by Vaclav Klaus it moved to campus in Budapest.
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. It 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.[6] CEU has extended its outreach and financial aid programs to certain areas of the developing world.[7]
CEU began the region's first master's degree programs in gender studies and environmental sciences. The CEU Center for Media, Data and Society is the leading center of research on media, communication, and information policy in the region.
On 14 October 2007 George Soros stepped down as Chairman of CEU Board. Leon Botstein (President of Bard College, New York), who had previously served as the Vice-Chair of the Board, was elected as new Chairman for a two-year term. George Soros is a Life-CEU Trustee and serves as Honorary Chairman of the Board.[8]
On 1 August 2009 Rector Yehuda Elkana was succeeded by human rights leader and legal scholar John Shattuck.[9]
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.[10] 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.[7]
Departments and programs
Departments
- Business School
- 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
- School of Public Policy
- Sociology and Social Anthropology[11]
Degree programs
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/N%C3%A1dor_Street_9%2C_Building_of_CEU_entrance.jpg/220px-N%C3%A1dor_Street_9%2C_Building_of_CEU_entrance.jpg)
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: Full-Time Master's of Business Administration (MBA); Part-Time Executive MBA (22-month weekend program); IMM Global Executive MBA (20-month modular program)
• MSc Program: IT Management (business school )
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
- MPA program: public policy
- 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; network science
- Doctor of Juridical Sciences (SJD)[12]
Student support
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 aid may take into account priorities connected to the university mission as well as documented financial need.[13]
In addition to its financial aid, CEU rewards academic excellence of its current students through various research grants and achievement awards. Additionally, different schools or departments within the University offer scholarship schemes suitable for their candidates. [14]
CEU library and OSA
The CEU Library has a 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.[15]
The Open Society Archives at CEU (OSA) is a Cold War research facility, holding over 7,500 linear meters of material, 11,000 hours of audiovisual recordings and 12 terabytes of data[16] related to communist-era political, social, economic and cultural life. OSA’s collection includes an extensive archive of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty transcripts and reports, along with a large collection of underground samizdat 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
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2014-2015 placed CEU among the world's top 100 universities in the social sciences category. [17]
All programs of Central European University are highly competitive. The university is placed 29th worldwide in the field of politics and international studies,[18] and among the top 51-100 worldwide in philosophy[19] by the 2015 QS World University Rankings. The University also ranks among the top 51-100 worldwide on the 2015 QS Subject Rankings for sociology. It also places for history (101-150), economics (151-200) and legal studies (151-200). Additionally, despite its small size and young programs (fewer than a hundred students), the Economics department of the university has recently ranked eighth in Europe by the ERC (European Research Council), based on research excellence. [20]
The CEU Business School offers the thirteenth best MBA program in Europe, according to the QS TOPMBA survey 2012.[21] In this survey, CEU Business School is consistently placed among the twenty best business schools in Europe.
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.[22][23]
CEU's Department of Legal Studies was ranked first in Central Europe by the Czech newspaper, Lidové noviny. The survey included Austrian, Czech, German, Hungarian, Polish, and Slovak universities.[24]
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.[14]
Central European University is not present in general world university rankings, for it is only a postgraduate institution and lacks undergraduate programs of study.
Summer University
CEU’s Summer University is an academic program 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.[14]
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.[14]
Notable faculty
- Shlomo Avineri, Political Science
- Aziz Al-Azmeh, Oriental Studies
- Albert-László Barabási, Network theory
- Gareth Evans (politician), School of Public Policy
- 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, former 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
- Elemér Hankiss, Sociology
- Donald L. Horowitz, Law and Political Science
- Philip N. Howard, Political Science
- Zoltán Illés, Department of Environmental sciences and Policy, Environmental State Secretary in the government of Viktor Orbán
- 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 Lissack, (visiting faculty) Business Administration, Public Policy
- Anton Pelinka, Political Science
- Istvan Perczel, Medieval Studies
- Steven Plaut, Economics, Political Science and International Relations
- Howard Robinson, Philosophy
- Jacek Rostowski, Economy, Minister of Finance of Poland
- Michael Roes, Philosophy and Anthropology
- Tibor Várady, Law
- Susanne Baer (visiting professor), on 11 November 2010 elected to the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
- Ugo Pagano, Economics
Notable alumni
- 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
- József Berényi, Chairman of the Party of the Hungarian Coalition
- 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
- Giorgi Margvelashvili, President of Georgia
- Andrei Oişteanu, Romanian historian and ethnologist
- Mailis Reps, Former Estonian Minister of Education and Research
- Tivadar Magyari, Vice-Rector, Babes-Bolyai University, Romania
- Ilgar Mammadov, political activist in Azerbaijan, blogger
- Rashadat Akhundov, political activist in Azerbaijan
- Igor Fedyukin, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Russia
- Dylan Mohan Gray, award-winning filmmaker
- Federigo Argentieri, political science professor
- Ilir Dugoolli, Ambassador of the Republic of Kosovo to Norway
Residence Center
Modern accommodation facilities available at CEU Residence Center are one of the many advantages of studying at CEU. The Residence Center features comfortable, furnished, air-conditioned, non-smoking single rooms for approximately 400 graduate students. Each room has a private bathroom. Rooms are furnished with bed, desk and chair, wardrobe, bookshelves. Free internet connections are available in the rooms through LAN cable. The residence center housing is automatically offered to CEU top students. [25]
Notes
This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2011) |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- ^ a b For President of Central European U., All Roads Have Led to Budapest
- ^ https://www.ceu.edu/about/facts-figures/staff
- ^ https://www.ceu.edu/about/facts-figures/students
- ^ Central European University 1989-1999 - Ten Years in Images and Documents, ISBN 963 85230 4 2
- ^ http://www.praguepost.cz/archivescontent/13126-central-european-university-to-leave-prague.html
- ^ ceu.hu - Welcome from the President and Rector
- ^ a b http://ceu.bard.edu/about/ Bard College: About CEU and Budapest
- ^ George Soros Steps down as Chairman of CEU Board
- ^ ceu.hu - John Shattuck Commences Term as New CEU President and Rector
- ^ https://www.ceu.hu/about/organization/governance/board-of-trustees
- ^ ceu.hu - Schools and Departments
- ^ Central European University – Programs
- ^ ceu.hu - Financial aid
- ^ a b c d Central European University - Contributions to Hungary
- ^ CEU Library Webpage: Mission Statement
- ^ OSA About us
- ^ http://www.ceu.hu/article/2014-10-03/ceu-top-100-universities-social-sciences-latest-times-higher-education-rankings#sthash.UHcNnURE.dpuf
- ^ QS World University Rankings by Subject 2015 - Politics & International Studies
- ^ QS World University Rankings by Subject 2015 - Philosophy
- ^ European Research Council - Economics
- ^ QS Global 200 Business School Report 2012 Europe MBA rating
- ^ Excellence Group: Political Science
- ^ CEU Ranked Before Oxford, Corvinus Ranked Before the University of Vienna
- ^ http://www.lidovky.cz/nejlepsi-fakulta-ve-stredni-evrope-duj-/ln_noviny.asp?c=A110221_000115_ln_noviny_sko&klic=241450&mes=110221_0
- ^ http://residence.ceucenter.hu/?q=en/content/student-accommodation
External links
47°30′2″N 19°2′59″E / 47.50056°N 19.04972°E