An international academic committee on behalf of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Commission (EACEA), has chosen to establish a "Jean Monnet Regional Eastern-Mediterranean Centre for Excellence in Research and Teaching of European Studies" as a collaboration between Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and the University of Piraeus in Greece.
Prof. Sharon Pardo noted: "The new regional centre places the Eastern-Mediterranean region in the heart of the academic research focusing on European integration and it puts Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the University of Piraeus at the forefront of the European Studies discipline, not only in Israel and Greece, but throughout the entire world."
The Jean Monnet Programme was launched by the EU in 1989 in memory and in honor of Jean Monnet, one of the founders of the EU. The Programme’s mission is to encourage excellence in research and teaching of European Studies in institutes of higher education around the world. The Centres of Excellence are considered the “jewel in the crown” of the Programme and there are approximately 162 such centers around the world.
Prof. Sharon Pardo (Ph.D., Ghent University, Faculty of Political and Social Studies) is a Jean Monnet Chair ad personam in European Studies and the Chairperson of the Department of Politics and Government at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (2016-2018).
In 2015, Pardo was awarded the prestigious Jean Monnet Chair ad personam – the first to be awarded to a scholar in Israel. The lifetime chair recognizes the outstanding calibre of Pardo's research and teaching on the European integration process. It is the highest award the European Commission can bestow on a European Studies scholar.
Prof. Asderaki is the Director of the Laboratory of Education Policy, Research, Development and Interuniversity Cooperation (ERDIC) at the University of Piraeus. She had been an Advisor at the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs, a Member of the Board of the International Bureau of Education, UNESCO, Geneva (2016-17), and a Bologna Follow-Up Member (2004-09). She has been the academic coordinator of several European projects as well as of the Teachers4Europe network and the European Parliament Ambassador School Programme.