Thanks to an agreement between the International Visegrad Fund and the European University Institute, young scholars from Central and Eastern Europe researching European integration have an important new opportunity at the Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU).
On 10 February 2021, Ambassador Edit Szilágyiné Bátorfi, Executive Director of the International Visegrad Fund (IVF) and Professor Renaud Dehousse, President of the European University Institute, signed an agreement establishing the IVF’s postgraduate research grant programme on European integration.
Under the scheme, young scholars from the IVF’s member states, the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership region may apply to conduct research at the HAEU, where the archival memory of European integration is preserved.
Up to ten postgraduate grants will be funded over the period 2021 and 2022. To the extent that travel to Florence is permitted under current pandemic measures, grant recipients will be allowed to carry out their research on-site, benefitting also from the international scholarly community of the EUI. However, the HAEU shall offer the digitalisation of archival files needed by researchers on demand, thus ensuring operational continuity of the grant programme.
This first formal agreement between the two institutions marks an important milestone in the relationship between the EUI and the IVF.
“I am delighted to sign this agreement with the International Visegrad Fund,” stated EUI President Dehousse. "Welcoming more young academics from Central Europe and neighbouring countries to the EUI to study the history of European integration represents a fantastic opportunity for the Institute to achieve one of its key priorities: building closer links with scientific communities in these countries. While conducting research at the Historical Archives of the European Union, these scholars will enrich and diversify the EUI’s research community.”
“We strongly believe our funding will offer the opportunity not only to V4 scholars but also to scholars and researchers who are citizens of the non-EU members states in the neighbourhood. As both the Eastern Partnership and the Western Balkan regions are long-term priority targets for our grant and scholarship funding, this cooperation with EUI only complements our long-term efforts and is in full synergy with it,” says Ambassador Bátorfi.
The International Visegrad Fund (IVF) is an international donor organisation, established in 2000 by the governments of the Visegrad Group countries—Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia—to promote regional cooperation in the Visegrad region (V4) as well as between the V4 region and other countries, especially in the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership regions. The Fund does so by awarding €8 million through grants, scholarships and artist residencies provided annually by equal contributions of all the V4 countries. ‘
Application information and eligibility requirement for the new postgraduate fellowships may be found here.