Center for Policy Studies

he Center for Policy Studies was established in 2000 to advance teaching of public policy in the CEE and CIS region and, secondly, to promote greater use of social science research in policy making. CPS served as the institutional home of the initial master program in policy studies at CEU and has become a university research center that combines teaching, research and occasionally acting as a university-based think tank managing topical platforms, social policy monitoring, and providing academic research support to policy innovations. CPS activities draw on its existing multi-disciplinary resources from law, economics, political science and sociology but also from its connections with open society driven partners. CPS pursues interdisciplinary research projects in cooperation with both CEU and external partners. Its research is comparative, methodologically diverse and policy oriented, and provides critical perspectives on the formulation, production and implementation of public policy. CPS research is especially focused on cross cutting themes such as equality and social justice, territorial development and social cohesion, governance and policy actors. CPS works with junior and senior researchers, visiting fellows, and provides internships and other research opportunities for MA and PhD students at the CEU and beyond. Many of our research projects feed directly into teaching, summer schools, executive courses as well as the PhD programs of the CEU. Besides its research work, CPS has been involved in mentoring, training and capacity building in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond, and regularly organizing roundtables and workshops. In its ongoing commitment to supporting public policy teaching, CPS manages the largest on-line database of public policy research from CEE and CIS countries, and regularly takes part in initiatives to develop new courses and programs for graduate students and faculty members in public policy.