User:MVES2002/sandbox

= Department of International Relations and European Studies, Masaryk University =

The Department of International Relations and European Studies (abbreviated: DIRES, in Czech: Katedra mezinárodních vztahů a evropských studií) at Masaryk University, Faculty of Social Studies was established in 2002.

DIRES is an academic institution providing undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate education about international relations, energy security and European politics and governance. The department was formed and evolved in tight interconnections with International relations and European studies - a study program which started in 1999 at the Faculty of Arts.

Organization
DIRES is one of 7 departments at the Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University. The current head of the Department is doc. PhDr. Zdeněk Kříž, Ph.D. The position was previously held by PhDr. Petr Suchý, Ph.D who is currently vice-dean for internationalization and student affairs for the Faculty of Social Studies.The Department has 2 professors, prof. PhDr. Petr Fiala, Ph.D., LL.M., and prof. PhDr. Vít Hloušek, Ph.D., 8 associate professors, and 19 assistant professors.

Programs
The Department provides undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate study programs both in English and Czech.

Undergraduate Study Programs:

 * European Studies (Czech)
 * International Relations (Czech)
 * International Relations and European Politics (English)

Graduate Study Programs:

 * Economic policy and international relations (Czech)
 * Energy Policy Studies (English)
 * Europe from the Visegrad Perspective (English)
 * European Governance (English)
 * European Studies (Czech)
 * International Relations (Czech)
 * International Relations and Energy Security (Czech)
 * International Relations and European Politics (English)

Post-graduate Study Programs:

 * International Relations and European Politics (Czech, English) As of 25 January, the Department had 30 doctoral degree students.

Scientific research
Department researchers’ main research fields include comparative studies of the Central and Western European area and their ties with respect to the integration processes, the issue of political and institutional development of the European Union, expansion of EC / EU, US foreign policy , strategic and security studies  , international relations theories , integration theories and issues of energy security.

Researchers working at the Department also intensively develop their activities regarding national and international grants. DIRES participated in the Jean Monnet Project, European projects for education and competitiveness and many more projects such as Maximizing EU restrictive measure signaling; Reflecting the EU energy relations; Europe in a changing global environment; bEUcitizen - All Rights Reserved? Barriers towards EUropean CITIZENship.

The Department’s cooperation with the International Institute of Political Science of Masaryk University (IIPS MU) is of special importance. IIPS MU is focused on the studying of contemporary Czech and European politics and legal and socio-economic developments of the society, democracy and democratization, international security and electoral studies.

DIRES is the main organizer of an annual Summer School on Energy Security which takes place at the Masaryk University Centre in Telc. In 2019 the centre hosted the 8th Summer school with the topic “Energy in Europe: Sources and Politics”. Previous years dealt with topics such as energy infrastructure and policy repercussions, comparison of approaches to energy policy and energy security issues from the perspective of the United States and European countries.

International cooperation
The list of department’s international partners include the following universities: Sciences Po Paris (France), University of Maryland (USA), Central European University Budapest (Hungary), Missouri State University (USA), University of Haifa (Israel), University of Bergen (Norway), University of Tartu (Estonia), Universidade de Porto (Portugal), Universita di Bologna (Italy), and many more.