Organisation
Amsterdam Centre for European Studies - ACES
Organisational Structure and People
At the core of the organisation of the Amsterdam Centre for European Studies are the five theme research groups:
The Theme Groups are coordinated by the Theme Group Leaders, representatives from the different participating faculties. The ACES Governing Board has five members, also representatives from the faculties and takes the major policy decisions concerning the centre.
The ACES office supports the Centre’s activities, including the organisation of events, and external communication, including the website and a monthly newsletter and other forms of publicity.
ACES receives funding from three different paths. ACES is a Research Priority Area funded by both the University of Amsterdam and the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences. ACES is also a recipient of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence fund from the European Union. In the light of these different subsidies, different events are organised and different projects are being highlighted. You can read more about the specific subsidies are their pages.
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ACES Governing Board
ACES is organised as an equal partnership among the four participating faculties (FEB, FGw, FdR, FMG). A four-person Governing Board is responsible for major policy decisions concerning the Centre, including strategic planning and budget allocation. The Governing Board comprises one representative per participating faculty.
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Advisory Board Members
The ACES external Advisory Board gives requested (and non-requested) strategic advise on key issues.
Tom de Bruijn (chair) He was member of the Council of State between 2011 and 2014, and Permanent Representative of the Dutch Government to the EU 2003-2011. Before that he was among others Director-General for European Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Jonathan Zeitlin, Founding Director of ACES. Professor of Public Policy and Governance, and Distinguished Faculty Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences (FMG) at the University of Amsterdam.
Linda Bouws Director Metropool International Art Projects. Before that she was among others General Director of Felix Meritis (2002 – 2014). She is member of the European House for Culture and member of the Supervisory Board of the Duitsland Instituut.
Sabine Gimbrère Director of the International Office of the City of Amsterdam. She is charged with positioning Amsterdam internationally as a responsible capital, merging economic, social and cultural ambitions. She is strategic adviser to the Mayor of Amsterdam and the vice-mayors on all international affairs.
Caroline de Gruyter Foreign correspondent for NRC Handelsblad in Oslo. She started her corresponding career in the Middle East (first Gaza, then Jerusalem) She spent nearly 15 years in Brussels and Vienna, and in 2013 received the Anne Vondeling award for her reporting on the EU and the economic crisis.
Erik Jones Professor of European Studies and International Political Economy at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a Senior Research Associate at at the Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale (ISPI) in Milan. From 1 September 2021, Professor Jones will be Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute.
Jean-Pierre Kempeneers Ambassador/National Coordinator for International Positions at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ben Knapen Member of the Dutch Senate for the CDA. Until July 2015 he represented the European Investment Bank at the EU. He was State Secretary for Foreign Affairs between 2010 and 2012. Before that he was, amongst others, foreign correspondent in Germany and the United Stated and editor-in chief of NRC Handelsblad, and member of the Scientific Council for Government Policy.
Brigid Laffan Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies and Director of the Global Governance Programme at the European University Institute in Florence. A prominent EU scholar, she was previously Professor of European Politics, Director of the European Institute and Vice-Dean at University College, Dublin.
Monika Sie Dhian Ho General Director of the Clingendael institute. Formerly Director of the Wiardi Beckman Foundation, the think tank of the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA), she was Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, Utrecht University and Leiden University, and researcher at the Scientific Council for Government Policy (1997-2005).