A Welcome from the President, Josep Borrell Fontelles

The European University Institute (EUI) is an international postgraduate teaching and research institute. It was originally set up in 1972 by the six founding Member States of the European Communities to provide advanced academic training for doctoral researchers and to promote research in economics, history and civilization,  law and the political and social sciences.

The Institute opened its doors to the first researchers in 1976. Since then it has expanded to include new members of the enlarged European Union and has associate links to other countries, including Switzerland, Norway and Turkey. Thanks to the support of Italy and Spain, grants are also offered to eastern countries beyond the EU, to applicants from the Mediterranean area and to Latin American students.

The EUI currently has one of the most important doctoral programmes for the social sciences in Europe, and welcomes researchers for periods of up to four years for the Ph.D. programme in the four key disciplines. It also welcomes applicants for the one year for the Masters programme in law (LL.M.).

Its teaching staff, fellows and researchers are recruited from across the European Union and beyond. Each year more than 100 theses are defended at the EUI in the disciplines of history, law, economics, and the political and social sciences. EUI doctoral graduates hold key positions in universities in Europe and the USA, in international organizations and the professional private sector.

Since the 1990s, the EUI has developed major post-doc fellowship programmes in the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS) and, most recently, the Max Weber Programme (MWP). The Institute’s range of opportunities for postdoctoral studies is complemented by fellowships provided by foundations, some individual countries and a number of Marie-Curie Fellowships and Fernand Braudel Fellowships.

Comparative, Europe-focused research is encouraged and specific programmes, such as the Mediterranean Programme or the Transatlantic Programme, are funded through private resources and offer grants in their area of specialization.

The Departments and the RSCAS are involved in research projects covering the legal, political, social, historical and economic dimensions of the processes of Europeanization, most of which are run in partnership with universities in Europe and elsewhere.

I hope that you will explore this site to discover the special features that make the EUI unique among its European counterparts.