Joachim Koops awarded with Jean Monnet Chair on ‘The EU’s Role in Security and Global Affairs’
Joachim Koops, Professor of Security Studies and Scientific Director of Leiden University’s Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) has been awarded a ‘Jean Monnet Chair’ with a focus on ‘The European Union’s Role in Security and Global Affairs’ (EURISGA). The Chair will also benefit from accompanying funding for activities by a wide range of associated ISGA colleagues with an aim to create a strong ISGA EU hub.
Koops: ‘I am absolutely delighted and very grateful to ISGA’s Research Support Team – particularly the RST Head Silviu Piros- and various colleagues for their excellent work in supporting the application. The funding will also allow a great group of talented colleagues to advance innovations in various topics related to the role of the EU and Europe in Security and Global Affairs'.
As Jean Monnet Chair, Joachim Koops and a team of initially 10 colleagues will be funded to carry out a wide range of new initiatives aimed at connecting Leiden, The Hague and Brussels across policy-maker networks, students, researchers and the wider public interested in how Europe’s and the EU’s role can be strengthened in addressing core security challenges in a global context. Colleagues involved in the associated projects include Tahir Abbas, Bert Koenders and Antoaneta Dimitrova, Eamon Aloyo, Vanessa Newby, Silvia D’Amato, Jan Melissen, Nikki Ikani and Lydie Cabane as well as PhD researchers Sophie Vériter, Silviu Piros and Clara Cotroneo. 'This Jean Monnet Chair is not a one-off, one-man-show, but I consider it as collective base funding to build on in various directions.'
Ambitious agenda for innovative education and societal impact
Named after Jean Monnet – one of the key architects of the early European Integration process- the Chair and three-year worth of accompanying funding is awarded by the European Commission to Professors with an ‘excellent profile and expertise in European Studies’ and with an ambitious agenda for innovative education and societal impact. Jean Monnet Chairs are funded to advance innovative teaching formats, high-level research, impactful dialogue between academia and core societal stakeholders as well as ‘knowledge and insights that can support EU policy-making and strengthen the role of the EU in a globalised world.’
Activities will range from four dedicated courses at BA and MA levels (resulting in curriculum innovation and the creation of an entirely new Model EU simulation course) to annual lectures and high-level events for the broader public, teaching workshops and a Hague-Brussels Forum for policy-makers. All activities and outputs address core aspects of the EU’s past, present and future role in core security and global affairs policy fields from a ‘glocal’ (i.e. local, national, regional and global) perspective. Funding will also cover podcasts, an online microcredential course, a dedicated project portal as well as open access teaching materials and research outputs.
Strong hub and platform on core EU Security issues
Koops: ‘The Chair and three-year funding will allow my colleagues and myself to create a strong hub and platform for bringing together colleagues working on core EU security issues across the Institute, the faculty and university and will advance exciting opportunities to increase ISGA’s and Leiden University’s visibility and impact in Brussels. I am particularly looking forward to creating the Hague-Brussels Forum and connecting students, policy-makers and civil society in order to come up with impactful policy solutions for some of the most pressing security and international affairs challenges we are currently facing as Europeans and globalists.’
More information about the Chair, its activities and the wider project will soon be available on a dedicated website.