Drawing on the experience of its NEC and RELINK Programmes in connecting with the Romanian academic milieu, NEC initiated in 2003, with support from Higher Education Support Programme (HESP) in Budapest, a programme that aimed to contribute more consistently to the advancement of higher education in major Romanian academic centers (Bucharest, Cluj–Napoca, Iaşi, Timişoara). Teams consisting of two academics from different universities in Romania, assisted by a PhD student offered joint courses for the duration of one term in a discipline within the fields of humanities and social sciences. The programme supported innovative courses, conceived so as to meet the needs of the host universities. The grantees participating in the Programme received monthly stipends, a substantial support for ordering literature relevant to their courses, as well as funding for inviting guest lecturers from abroad and for organizing scientific events.

Alexandra IONAŞCU was part of a team which also included Alexandra IONESCU, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Faculty of Political Science, University of Bucharest; NEC and NEC-LINK Alumna and Réka HORVÁTH, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Faculty of Political and Administrative Sciences, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca.

Host Institution: Faculty of Political and Administrative Sciences, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca and Faculty of Political Science, University of Bucharest
Title of Course: Political Pluralism and Political Representation after the Downfall of Communism in the Central and East European Countries (optional course)
Targeted Audience: Undergraduate and M.A. students in Political Science