The European Centre of Excellence Jean Monnet of the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) was founded in 2000, by formal agreement between the NKUA and the European Commission and since then it has been operating without interruption.
The research and educational activities of the Centre contribute to the international promotion and increased standing of the University of Athens and play a significant role in the improvement of the position of NKUA in international evaluations (given the importance given to the Centres of Excellence in such procedures).
In the last five years, five research and education project proposals have been selected for co-financing by the EU Education and Culture Executive Agency (EECEA) under the Erasmus + Jean Monnet Projects. Four of them have been successfully completed (“Promoting European Values and Citizenship in Multicultural Classrooms”, 2016-2018 – “European Governance in Key Sectors for Greece’s Recovery: Agriculture, Tourism and Maritime Policies”, 2014-2017 -” Learning EU at Schools “, 2014-2016 – “European Governance of Migration: The External Dimensions”, 2017-2020), while the Centre is currently implementing the Jean Monnet project “EU Policies towards its East Mediterranean Maritime Space: Energy and Security (2019-2022). The Centre is also currently implementing the project “Specialization of Strategic Tourism Plan Actions & Strategic Study of Human Resources Development in the Tourism Sector”, funded by a private company (from 2015 onwards).
During 2022 the Centre shall launch the implementation of the, already approved by the EECEA, Jean Monnet project “Migration Challenges from Eastern and Central Mediterranean: EU Policies & New Responses” (2022-2025). The Centre also carries out two training programmes of the NKUA Centre for Lifelong Learning, in the fields of immigration and of foreign policy and security, respectively. In the past five years, the Center has offered another 12 educational programmes in addition to those co-funded by EU funds, https://jmce.gr/portal/courses/
During the more than twenty-year operation of the Center, 3,360 students of all levels, university graduates and researchers attended our educational programs and the 30 conferences, seminars, workshops, lectures and public debates. The Centre’s scientific network includes 197 academics and other specialists who contribute to the implementation of the Centre’s educational programmes and research activities.
The publications of the Centre include 5 books (in collaboration with Athens publishers), 12 papers in the series “The Athens Jean Monnet Papers” and 4 in the series “National Strategy Papers”. For the above series, there is a peer review committee at the Center, with internal and external (non-NKUA) judges. Furthermore, the Centre publishes in a special section of its website, the “Researchers’ Tribune”, research papers by postgraduate students, doctoral candidates and young scientists prepared in the framework of the Center’s research programmes. The papers published in the “Researchers’ Tribune” are currently over 90.
The Centre is cooperating on a permanent basis with the Hellenic University Association for European Studies, the European Public Law Organization (EPLO), the Jean Monnet Chairs in Greek Universities, the W. Martens Center for European Studies in Brussels, the Zurich Elite Business School ( ZEBS), the Anna Lindh Foundation, the Kalliopi Koufa Foundation for the Promotion of International and Human Rights Law, as well as with other Universities, think tanks and public entities in Greece and abroad, but also with international and local businesses (Google, PricewaterhouseCoopers Business Solutions, etc.).
