The Robert Schuman Centre has been my intellectual home for several months each year. Come the month of May, Gary Marks and I migrate from Chapel Hill to one of the most dynamic and stimulating environments for research on European and global politics. There is always a lot going on at the Schuman Centre: a lecture on Brexit, a roundtable on the European elections, a workshop on the future of the WTO, and more besides. Yet perhaps the Centre’s most valuable role is to broker, day after day, thoughtful conversations among researchers from across the globe. The production of knowledge and understanding is a social endeavor. I am incredibly thankful to the Robert Schuman Centre and Director Brigid Laffan, the EUI and President Renaud Dehousse, for welcoming me to be part of this.
Liesbet Hooghe, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Robert Schuman Fellow
My time at the Robert Schuman Centre has been enormously productive as well as enjoyable. The EUI provides that rare commodity in today’s academic world: a supportive, research-intensive and highly collegial environment that offers unparalleled opportunities to connect, formally and informally, with other scholars from around the world who share and enrich the research experience, as well as plenty of opportunities for a focused work program that enables high quality thinking and writing to take place. I am deeply grateful for the excellence and care that the Robert Schuman Centre brings at all levels to the support of its visiting Fellows, and cannot speak highly enough of my experience at EUI.
Michele Grossman, Robert Schuman Distinguished Scholar Fellow
The ten months I spent as a Fellow at the Schuman Centre, and at the EUI more generally, was very enriching: it offered me a great opportunity to dive deeper into the academic side of the matters I cover at the European Parliament. I interacted with top scholars and highly qualified researchers.The exchange with them has had an important impact on me and has been fundamental for my research on EP management methods. I particularly appreciated the Centre’s inter-disciplinary approach under the solid steering of its Director, Brigid Laffan. The facilities, including the EUI’s excellent library, are great and the setting in the hills of San Domenico di Fiesole is both beautiful and inspiring. I wish to thank the faculty who gave me a warm welcome and put their trust in me on many occasions, as well as the staff members, who supported me consistently during the stay.
Giancarlo Villela, EP Fellow 2018-2019
I arrived from the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, where my work was dominated by the buzz of day-to-day political agenda, by media requests, policy-events and short-notice visits. Fiesole felt so different. There is no better place to step-back and reflect about what is really going on in Europe and the world than the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. At the same time, it would be wrong to describe the Centre as disconnected from the policy world. There are so many like-minded academic researchers and policy-fellows who share the desire to analyze EU politics over a thoughtful lunch about Brexit, a morning panel discussion about the elections in Germany, or at the outstanding State of the Union Conference which focuses on Europe, but from a perspective very different to Brussels or the other European capitals. I am incredibly thankful to the RSCAS and Director Brigid Laffan, the EUI and President Renaud Dehousse for hosting me. The year at Schuman was a breath of fresh air.
Henrik Enderlein, Visiting Fellow 2017-2018 (President of the Hertie School of Governance, Professor of Political Economy and Director of the Jacques Delors Institut – Berlin)
The year I spent as a Fellow at the Schuman Centre, and at the EUI more generally, was very enriching, professionally and personally. The Centre provided an ideal environment to pursue my research on migration. It allowed me to interact with top scholars and highly qualified researchers working on migration issues. It also helped me keep abreast of leading international research and ideas through numerous workshops and conferences in which renowned experts and high-level policy makers participate. I particularly appreciated the Centre’s inter-disciplinary approach and its focus on policy-relevant research, all under the competent and sensitive steering of its Director, Brigid Laffan. My collaboration with the Migration Policy Centre proved particularly rewarding and fruitful. The facilities, including the EUI’s excellent library, are great and the setting in the hills of San Domenico di Fiesole is both beautiful and inspiring. But perhaps the most incredible thing about the Schuman Centre is its combination of excellence with a friendly, informal and very motivating working atmosphere, which actually helps you focus on your research and deliver.
Heliodoro Temprano Arroyo, EU Fellow 2017-18 (Advisor at the international department of the Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN))
My one-year EU Fellowship at the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University Institute, Florence offered a fantastic opportunity to dive deeper into the academic side of the policy I usually cover at the European Commission. The exchange with top researchers from around the world was incredibly invaluable and has imprinted a long lasting impact on me. At the same time one does not run the risk of being stuck in an ivory tower, thanks to the wide range of lectures from EU politicians and policy makers. I very much appreciated this output oriented way of researching as well as the possibility to get an idea of policy fields that I do not usually cover. Finally, it was great to be part of the vibrant EUI community, including the many extracurricular activities. My secrete tip: join the EUI Choir!
Katharina von Schnurbein, EU Fellow 2017-2018 (European Coordinator on combating antisemitism)
Page last updated on 24 March 2020