Upon returning from the recent visits, the CEU faculty discussed the value that mobility can offer researchers in shaping and deepening academic collaborations.

Enlargement of the EU in the Context of War 

During Piroska’s visit to LSE from March 31-April 2, she delivered a talk at the university’s Department of Management about a recent study conducted with Matthias Thiemanna (Sciences Po) and Dan Mocanu (University of Oxford). The study, “The European Enlargement State and the Modalities of European Integration,” focused on how the European Union’s enlargement process to Ukraine and Moldova has given rise to a new institutional configuration involving the European Commission, European development banks and blended finance. 

More specifically, it traced the genealogy and configuration of the Directorate-General Enlargement and Eastern Neighborhood (DG ENEST) since 1999 and its cooperation with development banks in designing and distributing financial instruments. Over time, DG ENEST has grown to coordinate investment programs that support EU country candidates in implementing necessary political and economic reforms in preparation for the rights and obligations required with EU membership. DG ENEST plays a central role by coordinating between multilateral development banks, EU priorities and the goals of the candidate countries.  

The research findings show how the employment of financial instruments and focus on infrastructure investments shape European investment through the requirement of bankability. In their writing, Piroska and her collaborators conclude that: “This tight mode of collaboration with the development banks, primarily the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, imposes a top-down approach to integration, which limits the influence of candidate countries.” 

In addition to presenting this research at LSE, Piroska took part in a workshop conducted by LSE Associate Professor Dorrotya Sallai, with whom she has participated in various workshops together in Budapest and Vienna and has jointly contributed to a special issue of the Journal of Common Market Studies (JCMS). The workshop supported networking among researchers interested in the global political economy of Eastern Europe to explore potential collaboration in research and teaching under the CIVICA framework. 

Exploring Human Rights and Judicial Outcomes 

The short visit conducted by Cesario Alvim at EUI was built around exchange with Professor Silvia Suteau. Cesario Alvim said: “The visit offered a valuable opportunity to deepen collaboration, allowing us to refine our methodological approach and explore synergies between our case studies on gender, judicial behavior and constitutional change.” 

Cesario Alvim also participated in an April 11 interdisciplinary workshop, “Court Responses to Human Rights Misappropriation”, co-organized by Grainne de Burca (EUI) and Katharine Young (Boston College). It brought together distinguished legal academics specializing in human rights and constitutional adjudication.  

“The discussions provided a nuanced, comparative lens on how domestic and international courts navigate the strategic appropriation of human rights discourse—an exchange that was both intellectually stimulating and highly relevant to my work on the Inter-American System and the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court,” said Cesario Alvim. She said that the visit to EUI has paved the way for a potential special issue on the (mis)use of human rights and also helped build new academic networks that may lead to future collaborations on the topics of gender, courts and illiberalism. 

Advancing Discourse on Academic Freedom 

Peto’s CIVICA Faculty Short Visit hosted by SNSPA in Bucharest supported her participation in an April 7 public talk: “Where is Academic Freedom Now? University Life in Times of Global Insecurity”. The event was hosted at Random House Bucharest by the “Protecting Academia at Risk” research project, financed by the Gerda Henkel Foundation. This project that grew from a CIVICA-funded seed research project called “Protecting Academic Excellence and Academics in Europe” (PROAC). PROAC focused on identifying examples of good practices in academic inclusion that can be used by EU policymakers.  

The April discussion at SNSPA addressed the erosion of academic freedom globally in light of political interference, war and institutional fragility. It brought Peto into conversation with Dina Gusejnova (LSE); Bernhard Kleeberg and Nadiya Kiss (University of Erfurt); moderated by Alina Dragolea (SNSPA). Peto said the discussion moved beyond abstract definitions to explore where and how academic freedom persists or is suppressed across contexts like Hungary, Ukraine, the United States, the U.K. and Romania.  

Attendees included students from the CIVICA joint master’s course “Gendering Illiberalism” co-taught by Peto and Dragolea. They examined how to navigate repression and precarity, with examples ranging from underground education networks to institutional exile. Reflecting on the visit, Peto said: “Co-teaching the CIVICA course ‘Gendering Illiberalism’ is one of the most valuable pedagogical experiences, so meeting the students in person was the most remarkable part of the visit.” She said that planning joint courses and joint publications together was also advanced during her time in Bucharest. 

The short visit – one built upon a previous CIVICA Collaborative Research Project award and that incorporated relationships cultivated through a CIVICA Joint Course – is an example of how various CIVICA funds and opportunities can be combined for longitudinal impact, advancement of research and engagement with students. 

Article credits: CEU

Photo credits: CEU