WURCES

The key project objective is to establish a Western Ukrainian Research Center for European Studies (WURCES) at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, which will provide independent multidisciplinary teaching and research platform to support academically the adjustment of Ukrainian social, legal and business practices to EU standards. Institutional structure of Ukrainian Universities is vertically divided into traditional disciplines which prevents from building on available teaching and research potential in different disciplines. Therefore, the establishment of the WURCES at the IFNUL will help to overcome existing constraints and will become a first Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in Western Ukraine.

The WURCES aims to serve:

• as a regional hub for research and teaching activities on the EU,

• as an innovative training institution for evidence-based policy making in EU-related issues,

• as one of the poles of expertise within Ukraine on the European Union for both local and national stakeholders,

• as a venue for cooperation and dialogue with other Ukrainian and international partners in the field of European Studies,

• as an instrument for disseminating information on issues relevant for EU-Ukraine cooperation.

The project activities will include research, teaching, seminars, workshops with project stakeholders and set of publication activities. The WURCES agenda includes the individual research activities of senior research fellows. The teaching will be linked to the WURCES capacity-building through certified trainings and to a European Studies Winter School for students and young professionals usually not covered by EU studies. This center would also serve as the basis for policy advising in EU-related matters. The joint seminars are designed to strengthen the cooperation with other Jean Monnet Centres of Excellence aiming to facilitate the transfer of best practices and foster academic discussions in different fields of European Studies. The WURCES activities will be reinforced by establishing and maintaining strong publication record, including 5 monographs, 5 policy papers and 5 articles. The series of public discussions on the policy papers will be organized after their release. Project dissemination activities aim to build strong long-term links with different stakeholders like governmental bodies, NGOs, businesses, etc. The project will conducted by academic staff from the Faculty of International Relations and Faculty of Financial Management and Business.

Impact of the project

Within the framework of this project the University established a multidisciplinary research center in European Studies which aims to build model of fruitful cooperation between the university, the policy-makers, civic society and wider public in order to adjust the social life, democracy and education standards to best European practices. The ceration of this center will support interdisciplinary research in European Studies and srtehnthening the image of the University as research university.

Project coordinator: Oksana I. Holovko-Havrysheva, PhD in Law, associate professor of the European Law Department