The REMIT project assembles leading European researchers from nine partners located in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, and the United Kingdom. Our consortium’s main goals are to articulate clear narratives of the status quo, to utilise innovative methodologies and to develop strong, valuable and effective policy recommendations that support effective action towards revitalising global democratic structures.  

The project is led by Maastricht University and funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe programme for research and innovation. REMIT is executed by internationally acknowledged researchers residing in its lead partner, and its other partners, namely, Universitatea Babes Bolyai, University of Bremen, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Luiss Libera Universita Internazionale Degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Finnish Institute of International Affairs, and University of Tartu.

The European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative joins the consortium as an associate partner.

Learn more about our partners:

Maastricht University (UM), the coordinator of REMIT, is the youngest and most international university in the Netherlands. It offers almost all its teaching programs (both BA and MA) in English. UM has been active in developing innovative approaches to higher education teaching, and to multi-disciplinary cooperation. It has around 22,000 students and 4,000 employees from all over the world, contributing to its international profile. UM is renowned for high levels of research excellence in the fields of European and international law, policy, and governance. The location of Maastricht University in the immediate proximity to the Brussels-based EU institutions through its Campus Brussels facilitates the outreach to European policymakers and to national diplomats posted in Brussels.

Researchers from both the University College Maastricht (UCM) and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS) contribute to REMIT. UM is the lead institution of two focus areas, and involved in all others as well.

Babeș-Bolyai Universitea (UBB) has an academic tradition dating back to 1581. It is the oldest and now the largest university in Romania, and since 2016, ranked the best university in Romania.

The Institute of International Relations and Area Studies, Faculty of European Studies at Babeș-Bolyai University is well known for its expertise on Black Sea regionalization, especially regional cooperation that focuses on energy security, the geopolitical significance of the area for European Energy policy, and regional formats of cooperation in the ECE area.

The University of Bremen (UBREMEN) is a relatively young research-strong university in Northern Germany attended by more than 18,000 students. It is a member of a number of bi- and multilateral networks, including YUFE (Young Universities for the Future of Europe), YERUN (Young European Research Universities Network) and the Bremen-Cardiff Alliance. The University of Bremen is well known for its strong department in the field of political science/International Relations and for the Centre for Media, Communication, and Information Research (ZeMKI), from which researchers participate in REMIT. 

Within REMIT, the University of Bremen-based team serves as a lead for the focus area “Normative Construction of Technology Governance”. Additionally, it has smaller roles in supporting the data management and general project management. In terms of original research, the University of Bremen team will focus mostly on Internet, Platform and AI governance deploying a variety of empirical methods, including qualitative interviews, quantitative surveys and a mixed-methods analysis of policy-documents.

The University of Leuven (KUL) is one of the leading European universities providing quality education and highly valued research across academic disciplines, including computer science and technology, law, engineering, and the social sciences and humanities. KUL’s research impact is supported by consistent top rankings globally and by its law faculty’s first place in the 2021 Research ranking of the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings. 

KUL’s contribution to REMIT will come through strong multidisciplinary work. Public Governance Institute (PGI) will be bridging scientific expertise with governance practices, which takes a central role in the project on behalf of KUL. Topical working groups will also be supported by world-class computer security science from COSIC (Computer Security and Industrial Cryptography group), and leading IT law expertise from CITIP, the Center for IT & IP Law at KUL.

Luiss Guido Carli University (LUISS) is a prestigious independent university located in Rome, Italy. It offers an innovative educational approach and produces social sciences research throughout its departments of Economics & Finance, Business & Management, Law, and Political Science. Luiss Guido Carli University’s Politics and International Studies specialty is ranked 1st among universities in Italy, 2nd in Europe, and 14th in the world.

In REMIT, LUISS will contribute to the focus topic “Geopolitics in Technology Governance”, understanding current geopolitical stances and worldviews of the EU, the US and China towards the four policy areas (digital, health bio, security, and defence, and financial), and developing policy recommendations and scenario testing workshops with the goal of sharing knowledge among relevant stakeholders.

The Department of Public Administration and Sociology at Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), the Netherlands, is a world-leading department in the field of public policy, with well-established expertise in European and global governance. Their researchers are established in governance of international security, with the particular attention to governing the modern weapons systems. This expertise also includes the study of emerging technologies and their effects on international security, and from the theory side of things, in social network analysis and study of interplay between the domestic and international policy. 

Within REMIT, Erasmus University Rotterdam studies stakeholders in the governance of artificial intelligence in Europe.

The University of Tartu (UTARTU), in Estonia’s second largest city, was founded by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in 1632. Today, it is a leading centre of research and training, and a member of the prestigious Coimbra Group of European universities. UTARTU is the oldest university in the Baltics and today, it is also the highest ranked university in the Baltics, belonging to the top 1.2% of the world’s best universities according to several international rankings.
Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies at the University of Tartu combines both top-level research with strong teaching capacities on all three levels of higher education. 

The team from University of Tartu is responsible for disseminating the REMIT project results and supporting exploitation activities. Researchers at UTARTU will be involved in the research on the Normative Construction of Technology Governance.

The Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) is an independent research institute operating in connection with the Finnish Parliament. FIIA produces high-quality, topical information on international relations, the international economy, the European Union, and Finnish foreign policy for a broad audience. FIIA’s excellent research is intended for the academic community, relevant decision-makers, and for public debate. The institute’s researchers are also regular commentators in the media, offering expert analysis on current issues. 

The team from FIIA leads research on Geopolitics in Technology Governance in the REMIT project, and will bring in expertise on e.g., US foreign policy, transatlantic relations, great-power politics as well as European security and defence policy, international law and multilateralism.

The European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative (ECCRI) promotes the interdisciplinary study of cyber conflict and statecraft in Europe and beyond. ECCRI is located in the United Kingdom, and exists to make rigorous, objective research on cyber conflict and statecraft accessible to policy-makers and the general public. It encourages and supports high-quality original research, as well as enabling researchers to communicate their findings to policy-makers and the general public. ECCRI runs a wide range of initiatives, from small writing workshops to an annual Big Cyber Ideas Festival, where scholars and practitioners can discuss the latest developments in the field.

Within the REMIT project, the team from ECCRI spearheads a crucial component dedicated to investigating the intricate interplay between technology, society, and governance. The team’s goal is to generate valuable insights and practical recommendations that can inform policymakers, industry stakeholders, and society at large. Their research involves conducting extensive studies, data analysis, and in-depth interviews with key actors in the technology and governance landscape.