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Amsterdam Centre for European Studies (ACES) ACES

Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence

UvA's ACES has been a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence since 2014, and is embedded in a broader institution as a University of Amsterdam university-wide Research Priority Area (RPA).

Through a vibrant and wide-ranging programme of public lectures, workshops, conferences, and outreach activities, it has created a highly visible interdisciplinary forum for dialogue and exchange on urgent questions concerning the dynamics and direction of contemporary Europe, between academic researchers and a wide range of public and private stakeholders: local, civic, national, European and international.

Building on the experience of successive Jean Monnet Centres (2014–2017, 2018–2022 and 2023–2025), the current UvA ACES Centre of Excellence responds to a moment in which Europe faces profound challenges, both geopolitical and internal. It convenes outstanding researchers from four UvA faculties — Law, Humanities, Economics and Business, and Social and Behavioural Sciences — to pursue genuinely interdisciplinary research, education and public debate on the European Union and its member states.

Our objectives

  • Research: to facilitate interdisciplinary research across the full range of Europe's urgent challenges, enriching academic and public debate and supporting policymakers.
  • Education and training: to educate and train early-career scholars in EU and European studies in a genuinely interdisciplinary way, melding academic and policy-relevant skills.
  • Outreach and dialogue: to foster wider and deeper engagement on European issues with new audiences and partners, across different levels (local to global), age groups and stakeholder communities.

Our focus areas

The Centre works through five ACES focus areas, each drawing together researchers from all four faculties and speaking directly to the European Commission's 2024–2029 priorities:

  • Contested Economic Challenges: Europe's economic conditions and policies
  • Tech, Power and Policy: Europe's navigation of global technological change
  • Environmental Dissensus: Europe's environmental conditions and policies
  • The Future of European Democracy: Europe's democratic practice and institutions
  • Global Europe: Europe's engagement with geopolitical security and solidarity

Our programme

With this grant, ACES runs a linked programme of Summer Schools, Practitioner Series, Public Events and Annual Conferences.

Explore our upcoming events
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.