Mission Statement
SEERC's mission is to support the stable and smooth development of South-East Europe by conducting pure and applied research throughout and for the region. To accomplish this, SEERC employs the existing research capacities of the University of York and CITY College by facilitating the collaboration between their research staff, and by developing multi-disciplinary networks of researchers from across South-East Europe.
SEERC Objectives
- To promote independent, objective analysis and public discussion on issues related to the development of South-East Europe.
- To provide a forum for researchers in the SEE region.
- To initiate common research by the University of York, CITY and other academic institutions throughout the SEE region.
- To disseminate findings to academics, professionals, NGOs, and policy-makers through conferences, advising, published research papers, monographs, and working papers.
- To disseminate important data and findings to interested members of the general public through open forums, web and other media-based means.
- To promote cutting-edge methodology both within existing disciplines and for the development of multi-disciplinary perspectives through workshops and seminars.
- To assist in the integration of researchers from universities and research centres of the SEE region in networks of excellence.
Message from the Director of SEERC, Nikos Zaharis
The Role of SEERC as a Multidisciplinary Research Centre in the SEE Region
SEERC is fortunate that South-East Europe has for some time been the focus of a very large number of exceptionally talented and dedicated scientists, researchers, and policy analysts both within the region and throughout the world. The region has further benefited from the numerous high quality, forward thinking centres, institutes, journals, laboratories and think tanks that have chosen it as an area of concentration. The result of these efforts has been that the level of knowledge and data and calibre of analysis available to citizens, students, academics, policy-makers, politicians, NGOs, corporations and others years has increased dramatically over the past 30 years. One of SEERC's main tasks is to draw together these vast quantities of data and interpretation, in order to make them accessible to different audiences and at different levels of sophistication and interactivity.
The presence of SEERC adds knowledge and talent of researchers and analysts from York, CITY and affiliated faculties from inside and outside the region. SEERC research faculty represents a very wide array of disciplines -including economics, political science, international relations, social policy, computer science, history, sociology, anthropology, information technology, geography, geographic information systems, engineering, management, urban planning, cultural studies, public health, health care informatics, and education- and will undertake research at both micro and macro levels, employing quantitative and qualitative methods. SEERC haves the practical advantage of being located in Greece, which allows it to function within the EU, while being physically located within the SEE.
In addition, SEERC serves as an information clearing house, distilling the essence of research into the region for use by researchers, policy makers, civil society and business in the region. The centre's output includes timely policy briefs, working papers and surveys of ongoing and recently completed research in the area, as well as journal articles and monographs. Through its multi-disciplinary research activities and its archival, synoptic and dissemination efforts, SEERC intends to position itself as a cross-border institution that aims to empower those countries, that are currently on the edge of Europe, to collaborate in playing their full part in an expanded Europe.
