University Times

Pitt’s European Union Center of Excellence (EUCE) has been re-designated as a European Union Center of Excellence. In recognition of the award, the Delegation of the European Commission recently presented grants totaling 3.42 million euros (about $4.7 million) to 11 EU centers at U.S. universities.

The grants will fund center activities from 2008 to 2011.

Pitt’s EUCE, directed by Alberta Sbragia, the Mark A. Nordenberg University Chair and Jean Monnet Chair ad personam, was established in 1998 — the year the EU centers program was launched and Pitt won a national competition to host an EU center.

The network of EU Centers of Excellence in the United States promotes the study of the EU, its institutions and policies and EU-U.S. relations through teaching programs, scholarly research and outreach activities. The European Commission funds the initiative as part of a broader effort to promote people-to-people ties across the Atlantic.

The EU centers program has helped create a foothold for EU studies in U.S. higher education and served as an information resource for a broad U.S. audience, with outreach to regional audiences and the policy community. The Centers of Excellence designation recognizes centers’ high quality, variety and the depth of programming.