ESAANZ support for ANUCES

Following the public announcement of the plans from the ANU to disestablish the ANU Centre for European Studies, as part of the change proposal, the ESAANZ President has forwarded a letter of support for ANUCES.

Re: ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences Organisational Change Proposal – ANU Centre for European Studies (ANUCES)

Professor Bronwyn Parry,
Dean of the College of Arts and Social Sciences

On behalf of the European Studies Association Australia and New Zealand (ESAANZ), I would like to express my strong support for the ANU Centre for European Studies (ANUCES) which has been a cornerstone of the European Studies research in Australia since 2001, and I appeal to the ANU’s leadership to exclude the Centre from its reduction plan. We hope the below reasons will make a convincing argument:

Consistent and prestigious external income:

• The ANUCES has been one of the most successful European research hubs in Australia and the wider region consistently generating external income to cover its research and engagement activities on an annual basis.
• Its declining external income is consistent with the overall global trends in decreased access to funding for research, teaching and engagement, and not, in any way, the manifestation of the Centre’s engagement and quality.

Exceptional among the G8 institutions:

• It has been awarded two Centre of Excellence status funding which positioned ANU as one of the most prestigious Europe-focused research centres across the Asia-Pacific.
• None of the Australian universities (including other G8 institutions) has been more successful in gaining such status and the funding from the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union and other European funding bodies as the ANUCES has been consistently for over two decades.

Exceptional staff and networks:

• ANUCES’ strength lies in its established network of hundreds of researchers, teachers and students on a single site, with strong links to governments and industry.
• Through its networks, the ANUCES was instrumental in assisting with the successful appearance of  Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Australian National University in August 2023.

These are just a few selected examples that prove the ANUCES’ unique quality and role in the academy and we plead with the ANU against disestablishment of the Centre at the ANU.

Yours sincerely

A/Prof. Gosia Klatt
President, the European Studies Association Australia and New Zealand (ESAANZ)