JRC and CEU Initiate Scientific Cooperation

Followed by the signing of MoU, CEU Environmental Systems Laboratory in cooperation with JRC is organizing summer workshops run through the ISEPEI project. JRC experts will contribute to “Geospatial Technologies and Remote Sensing for Monitoring SDGs” and “Innovations in Disaster Risk Reduction” workshops, by presenting latest programs’ impact on monitoring of multilateral environmental agreements, Global Human Settlement Layers, as well as innovative and concrete tools for implementing Sendai Indicators.

BUDAPEST, JUNE 29 - The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Central European University (CEU) that establishes the basis for future collaboration in a series of areas of common interest.

The two organizations will work together in the fields of data and network analysis; economics, finance and international trade; energy, climate and environment; governance in multicultural environment; disaster risk reduction knowledge management; and EU public policy. The MoU sets out the overall framework for the collaboration in terms of general context, technical areas and procedures for formal agreements on specific fields.

The MoU was signed by JRC Director-General Vladimir Sucha and CEU President and Rector John Shattuck on CEU's campus, in the framework of CEU's 25th anniversary celebrations.

“We are assembled for a very special ceremony and we are very grateful for the collaboration with the JRC and now we are here to symbolize it by signing an agreement together,” said CEU President and Rector John Shattuck. “This university is a true reflection of Europe in the sense that all aspects of Europe are reflected here. About half of our students come from the greater Europe, including all the countries east of here – all the way to Vladivostok. And I believe that the strength of this university is drawn from the fact that it is rooted in so many different parts of Europe. What happens here in our classrooms and dorms in the ways in which our faculty and students interact reflects this spirit. You are properly engaging with us as a symbol of the greater Europe and of the EU. We are very pleased and optimistic about moving forward with you.”

The future cooperation will be implemented through joint research projects; thematic workshops, trainings and lectures; exchange of experts; and hosting of CEU students and traineeships.

“I think it is a good sign that there is momentum and good energy behind this agreement and I think we can mutually benefit from this cooperation,” said Sucha. “We will be very happy to offer what we know, what we have – databases, models, knowledge – and we would like to benefit from your knowledge. Obviously, the analysis of the structures of governance for democracy are elements which we need to use and data analytics are giving us new paradigmatic opportunities to understand the attributes of societies. I'm very glad to be here and also to congratulate CEU on its 25th anniversary.”

Reproduced from: https://www.ceu.edu/article/2016-06-29/jrc-and-ceu-initiate-scientific-cooperation