The Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS) brings together the Robert Schuman Centre and the European Forum, both created in 1992 as complementary initiatives to develop inter-disciplinary research and to encourage work on contemporary challenges of European integration. It is based in the European University Institute founded in 1976 by the Member States of the then European Community, now European Union. Its main objectives are to provide advanced academic training for PhD students and to promote research at the highest level. The central purposes of the RSCAS are: to produce research of the highest intellectual quality; to collaborate with other centres of research excellence; to provide opportunities for promising young scholars working in our key fields; and to promote dialogue with the world of practice. It draws on cooperation with the Departments of the Institute (Economics, History and Civilisation, Law, and Social and Political Sciences).;The research agenda of the Centre focuses on the challenges of European integration (broadly defined) and across Europe (also broadly defined), as well as on relationships with neighbours and partners elsewhere in the world. It continuously evolves, reflecting the changing agenda of European integration and the expanding membership of the European Union. The Centre consists of senior faculty, holding Joint Chairs with EUI departments (Economics, History and Civilisation, Law and Social and Political Sciences), part-time professors, research fellows and assistants, and post-doctoral fellows-in-residence and occasional visitors, as well as a core administrative staff. The Centre hosts major research programmes and projects, and a range of working groups and ad hoc initiatives. The annual European Forum on a topic of current relevance brings together scholars from the EUI with fellows from other research institutions. The Centre draws its funding from a variety of sources, including various EU programmes, foundations and the business community.