Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies Bologna Center
	Share

Just a few steps away from Via Belmeloro, the Bologna Center has taken a leap toward increasing the visibility and impact of its faculty research with the creation of the Bologna Institute for Policy Research (BIPR).

The institute brings together SAIS faculty who are resident in Bologna and the wider network of adjuncts, associates and alumni from across the globe who have worked at the Center. Over the long term, the BIPR expects to strengthen research linkages between Bologna and Washington, D.C., and between SAIS and the Johns Hopkins University at large.

The BIPR will focus initially on four major themes: transatlantic relations and the changing world order; implications of the global economic and financial crisis; ethnic conflict and post-conflict resolution; and energy, technology and the global environment. The institute will take advantage of the Bologna Center's long history and unique geographic location to promote research on comparative regional integration in Europe and elsewhere and political transition in Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean. Resident faculty will take the lead in each of these areas, drawing on the expertise and enthusiasm of the entire Bologna Center community to form a program of seminars, workshops, conferences, visiting scholar residencies, and publications.

"The Bologna Center community has always been very research-active," says Erik Jones, professor of European Studies and BIPR director. "The seminar series and conferences have been a great strength of the institution, and the wider adjunct community is its strongest asset. The challenge we face now is to communicate this wealth of activity to the outside world, foster greater synergies across the different dimensions of the Bologna Center community, and strengthen the Bologna Center as an asset for SAIS and for Johns Hopkins as a whole."

The organization of the new institute is proceeding at a dramatic pace. Bologna Center Director Kenneth H. Keller announced the idea to his Advisory Council last March as it met to greet Johns Hopkins University President Ronald J. Daniels. Daniels immediately warmed to the idea and offered to provide generous support for the BIPR during its first five years of operation. The Center's staff quickly identified suitable rental space, and Keller appointed Jones as director.

The initiative has drawn immediate and enthusiastic support. Kathryn Knowles (BC01/DC02, U.S./Italy) has assumed a leading position consulting with Director Keller to help Jones launch the BIPR. Recent graduate Valeria Calderoni (BC11, Italy) has also joined the team to provide essential research writing and administrative support.

Many policy researchers have expressed interest in contributing to BIPR's activities, on issues ranging from political leadership in the Middle East to post-conflict stabilization in the Balkans, and from corporate social responsibility to Europe's sovereign debt crisis. With strong support from its alumni base, the BIPR is also carving out an agenda dealing with energy security and adaptation to climate change.

The institute will launch formally with the start of the academic year in Bologna this October.

To find out more about the BIPR and research at the Bologna Center, email.

To contact the BIPR director, email

		|

Add your thoughts to this article Name Email Comment please enter the six digits you see above: