CEU Partners in New European Doctoral Program for the Human and Social Sciences

Five European universities with solid experience in advanced doctoral and post-doctoral studies have established a European Doctoral Program for the Human and Social Sciences. In recognition of the fact that Italy is leading an international program for high education, the first director of the European Doctoral Program is Aldo SCHIAVONE, Director of The Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane (SUM).

Partner institutions are:

• Central European University (CEU), Budapest
• The École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris
• The École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Paris
• The Humboldt-Universität, Berlin
• The Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane (SUM), Florence

The Inauguration Ceremony of the new doctoral program and its first doctorate in Modern History, “Europe and the Invention of Modernity” took place on 24 February 2010 at the Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane (SUM), Palazzo Strozzi, Altana, Florence. Matteo Renzi, Mayor of Florence, Andrea De Martino, Prefect of Florence, Giuseppe Betori, Archbishop of Florence, and Francesco Tagliente, Quaestor of Florence, were present at the official opening.

Mayor Renzi expressed his gratitude to the Director of SUM, emphasizing the importance which initiatives such as this have for the future of the city. A note from Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Republic, noted “high satisfaction for the birth of this new international institution of advanced education in the human sciences, developed by the collaboration and cooperation between prestigious European research institutions.” Liviu Matei, Chief Operation Officer, Central European University (CEU), in his speech emphasized the idea of collaboration and detailed the extraordinary program which allows students and professors to experiment with different research methods and to integrate their competences and knowledge. “We started a project that only some years ago seemed to be impossible”—he said—“and although we are aware of the difficulties, also with regard to the funding, we are going ahead because it is a project in which we strongly believe.” The idea of sharing knowledge was also the starting point for the speech of Jacques Revel, Professor and Former President of École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. Professor Revel is currently the coordinator of this doctorate program which was inaugurated: “I wish to underline that this is a collective program, developed by all the five universities involved. It suggests an innovative formula which aims to attract the necessary funds to support scientific research in the human sciences.” The presence of Antonio Gherdovich, Director of Ente Cassa di Risparmio, Florence, mirrored the attention the economy is increasingly paying to the human sciences.

While the first four students, coming from Argentina, China, Italy and Poland are ready to start the innovative program for which they have been selected from among 100 candidates, the second curriculum of the European Doctoral School is already under construction: “Sociology and Social Sciences of Religion.” In order to build up this new project, Professors Franco Cardini, Ernesto Galli della Loggia and Leonardo Morlino have already been appointed as representatives of SUM.

For further information, please visit: www.europeandoctoralprogramme.com