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By George Soros
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| During their tenure at CEU, they
enroll in courses, consult with faculty, and take advantage
of the library and archival resources available at the university.
The rigorous education offered at CEU is well-complemented by
study or research at other institutions. Exceptionally talented
CEU students are encouraged to apply for doctoral support grants
to supplement their studies and research at other institutions.
In addition to individually-tailored doctoral support, CEU currently
has special institutional scholarship agreements with Oxford,
Cambridge, the University of London, the European University
Institute-Florence, Columbia, Rutgers, Maryland and elsewhere.
Affiliated with CEU, the Open Society Institute mobilizes the
intellectual resources of the university in support of various
activities of the Soros foundation network. It acts both as
a grant- giving and an operational institution. In this way
teaching, research and practical participation in the transition
process mutually reinforce each other. All three activities
benefit from being regional in scope. The most important program
administered by the Open Society Institute is the Higher Education
Support Program (HESP) which administers grants to educational
institutions of higher learning. CEU acts as the core of this
growing network of institutions, offering programs for faculty
in the region to spend short periods of time at CEU to gather
knowledge which will help them develop courses and curriculum
similar to those at CEU. In this manner, CEU’ s impact stretches
far beyond its physical presence in Budapest and Warsaw. Based
on the university’ s progress to date, I have taken steps to
ensure its permanent existence. To this end, I have allocated
funding for operating expenses for at least 20 years, as well
as provided permanent and appropriate buildings and facilities
for CEU. The university’s library holdings represent the largest
collection of social science and humanities materials in the
English language on Central and Eastern Europe in the region.
In addition, publications by CEU Press are now widely available.
In 1997, a new facility was opened to house the Open Society
Archives which links the Budapest complex and brings this unique
resource in closer proximity to the university for use by its
students and faculty. Although I have been reluctant in the
past to establish permanent institutions, I am satisfied enough
with the spirit and accomplishments of the founding period to
make an exception in the case of Central European University.
I look forward with confidence to the continued development
of the institution. |
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