Annual Report 2007-08.

This report accounts for an academic year in which the Center for Policy Studies did not have to face or
plan radical changes in its personnel, status, and engagement in the life of the University.
The CPS staff with the affiliated researchers continued to implement one of its major comparative
research projects called QUING which examines the quality of gender equality policies in Europe. This
project gathered the largest community of resident and non-resident researchers in the Center and also
involved two advanced Ph.D. students from the CEU during this period. The CPS is proud of being the
coordinator of a larger field within the project. In the second half of the academic year, we embarked on
implementing the EDUMIGROM research initiative, which addresses the role of education in shaping the
life of minority ethnic youth in old and new members states of the European Union. CPS is the
coordinator of this initiative which was awarded funding in the first round of calls for collaborative
research within the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Program. Our colleagues also worked on
projects in the field of monitoring transparency and accountability of developmental assistance, and
furthered their inquiries in the field of rural development and social capital mobilizing a network of
internal and external fellows.
The fellows of the Center offered a number of courses in different degree programs of the CEU and
organized summer university courses in old and new topics. The CPS remained an important partner to
the Department of Public Policy not only by offering elective courses but by assisting with the
recruitment and selection of the new cohort, mentoring students, as well as facilitating and offering
internship placements. The CPS is a diligent member of PASOS, a network of policy centers in the region
and cultivates mutually rewarding relationships with a number of programs at the Open Society
Institute.
The CPS colleagues worked intensively to explore new avenues for cooperating with faculty members at
the CEU, other research centers within and outside the university, and involving advanced and freshly
graduated Ph.D. students in smaller and larger research duties. We trust that the multiple efforts made
this academic year, often remaining invisible to the external world, will result in new challenging and
inspiring research projects and related professional work for our researchers, research administrators,
visitors, and partners.