General information

Learn more about the VUB Institute for European Studies (IES)

In brief: Intensive 2-week Summer School. It's a crash course in EU Policy Making, with focus in 2020 on human security in the EU. While touching upon all EU policy fields, we will offer participants insights into several aspects of security, including security in its traditional sense (defense) but also from a societal perspective (migration, environment, development).

Dedicated website: www.eu-summerschool.eu

Dedicated Facebook page: www.facebook.com/summerschooleu/

Apply by 1 June! - Early-bird deadline 15 March (10% discount)

The Summer School corresponds to 5 ECTS credits.

Organised by: Inter-University programme: Institute for European Studies of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, in collaboration with the University of Vienna.

Who can apply? It is recommended to be in the final year of a Bachelor degree. Candidates from partner countries neighbouring the EU are especially encouraged to apply. All candidates must demonstrate a high level of motivation and interest in their letter of intent.

Programme:

The first week of the summer school takes place in Brussels and reviews the main EU institutions and decision-making procedures, while theoretically exploring questions of governance, participation and legitimacy. During the second week students learn more about EU foreign relations, while enjoying the beautiful city of Vienna. Each year, the programme has a central theme. In 2020, this summer school will focus on ‘Analysing human security in today’s EU‘. While touching upon all EU policy fields, we will offer participants insights into several aspects of security, including security in its traditional sense (defense) but also from a societal perspective (migration, environment, development).

Important update:

Considering the initial interest in the Summer School on EU Policy-Making, and in consultation with our partners in Vienna, we have decided to offer the summer school in synchronous online format during the same period 6th to 17th July 2020.

We will live-stream lectures and provide for interaction between participants and lecturers through coordinated online group work. Similar to past editions of the summer school, we will run a simulation exercise on EU decision-making and invite high-level speakers from the EU and international institutions to share their expertise and experiences.

Other than the benefit of in-person interactions and physical visits to the EU institutions in Brussels and the international organisations in Vienna, we are able to achieve our learning objectives to the same extent, albeit in a different format, online. The summer school will continue to be worth 5 ECTS and will remain a demanding summer school with dedicated and high quality lecturers.

As a result of saved costs due to not meeting in person, and saving on travel and subsistence costs that are normally included in the price, we are able to charge a lower tuition fee (€1,300).

Tuition fee:

The tuition fee for the Summer School is 1300 EUR. 

The Institute for European Studies will grant one full tuition fee waiver to one student of the summer school programme. This waiver will be attributed on the basis of merit and motivation, and will in general, but not exclusively, be granted to a student from a partner country neighbouring the EU. The deadline for applying for the tuition fee waiver is 15 March (same as the early bird deadline).