The Ronald and Eileen Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia (WCEE) at the University of Michigan has signed a memorandum of understanding for academic cooperation with the Robert B. Zajonc Institute of Social Studies (ISS) at the University of Warsaw to promote collaboration in social science education and scientific research.

In recognition of the value of international collaboration, WCEE and ISS plan to foster joint research projects and exchange of academic publications and reports; organize joint symposia, workshops, and conferences; and develop opportunities for faculty development and exchange. The agreement was signed by ISS director Tomasz Zarycki and Anna Grzymala-Busse, director of WCEE and the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies. The agreement will go into effect in 2013-14.

The Ronald and Eileen Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia (WCEE) supports faculty and student research, teaching, collaboration, and public engagement in studying the institutions, cultures, and histories of these regions. WCEE is housed in the University of Michigan International Institute with the Center for European Studies (CES); the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (CREES); and the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies (WCED). Named in honor of Ronald and Eileen Weiser and inspired by their time in Slovakia during Ambassador Weiser’s service as U.S. ambassador from 2001-04, WCEE began operations in September 2008.

The Robert B. Zajonc Institute of Social Studies (ISS) is an interdisciplinary research and teaching unit of the University of Warsaw; it was established in 1991. Its American founder was the University of Michigan social psychologist and former director of the Institute for Social Research, Robert Zajonc, after whom the institute is named.  The main objectives of ISS are monitoring the social, political, and economic changes in society in Central and Eastern Europe; scientific exchange between researchers in Poland, Eastern European, the United States, and other Western countries; comparative analysis of different theoretical perspectives; and developing methods of data collection and processing.

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