UW-Madison wins grant for European Union Center of Excellence

The European Union Center of Excellence (EUCE) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has received a grant of about $450,000 from the European Commission in Brussels, renewing its funding through 2011.

Since the establishment of the center, UW–Madison has emerged as one of the major centers of European studies in the United States, says professor Jonathan Zeitlin, who co-founded the center with law professor David Trubek in 1998.

“Our center has supported a vigorous program of faculty research, graduate training, and public outreach together with a steady two-way flow of people, projects and ideas across the Atlantic,” Zeitlin says. “In some areas, such as the study of new forms of EU governance, we have become key players in European academic and policy debate.”

With the renewal, UW–Madison remains part of a select group of 11 U.S. universities named as European Union centers of excellence.

Faculty, graduate students, visiting scholars, the regional Midwestern media, the K-14 community and public policymakers will focus on a unique series of research projects on Europe from a trans-Atlantic perspective.

Participation is interdisciplinary, involving UW–Madison faculty in law, journalism and mass communication, engineering, sociology and medicine. They will research topics as diverse as energy security and product safety.

The three core themes for 2008-11 are “The EU as a Global Actor,” led by history professor Jeremi Suri; “Transformations of European Law and Governance,” led by assistant political science professor Nils Ringe; and “Exporting EU Governance,” led by Zeitlin, a professor of sociology, public affairs, political science and history.

“This renewal strengthens our university’s position as a leading institution investigating the origins, contemporary manifestations, and future prospects of the European Union — and international society in general,” says Suri, incoming EUCE director this fall. “The emergence of a strong, stable, and prosperous European Union at the end of the 20th century is one of the most significant developments of our time. It will shape the next century in diverse and enduring ways.”

The center’s success is attributable to the reputation, creativity and hard work of its faculty and staff and to Zeitlin’s leadership, says Gilles Bousquet, dean of the Division of International Studies.

“The EUCE is a model for the way international education serves Wisconsin and the world,” Bousquet adds.