Prague Security Studies Institute

The IRSEC Hub, or International Relations and Security Affairs Resource Hub, is a new online project created by the Prague Security Studies Institute. The main component of this initiative will be an online information platform that will foster a more active, interconnected international relations and security affairs community within all four Visegrad countries. The goal of the IRSEC Hub project is to support cooperation and information exchange within and between all four Visegrad countries, to elevate the level of public education in the region and to attract greater attention to regional projects, events and research.
 
Coordinator of the IRSEC Hub – Ivana Smoleňová, smolenova@pssi.cz

The mission of the Prague Security Studies Institute is being substantially advanced by its central initiative, the Security Scholars Program. Prior to the establishment of the PSSI-sponsored Masters Degree program in Security Studies at Charles University, students conducting degree work in the Czech Republic had precious few opportunities to pursue the fields of national security and strategic studies.

To address this dearth of opportunities, PSSI launched its flagship project, the Robinson-Martin Security Scholars Program (RMSSP) in early 2002. New courses, accredited by Charles University, were put into place by the Institute (including a comprehensive, two-semester introductory course held on the premises of PSSI), conferences, workshops (mostly with NATO) and roundtables were convened and field trips to NATO, EU headquarters and elsewhere were organized – all in the interest of building an ever-growing regional cadre of young, visionary professionals across a wide spectrum of security-related subjects.

The Charles University Masters Degree program in Security Studies commenced in the fall semester of 2007 within the Faculty of Social Sciences. The current curriculum of this program provides students with solid theoretical training as well as detailed knowledge concerning a number of the leading international security challenges of our time (e.g. global terrorism, WMD proliferation, international energy security, key regional disputes etc.).

In close cooperation with the Charles University, PSSI established the James Q. Whitaker Chair and Lecture Series in Security Studies, focusing on free market economic and geopolitical issues and solution sets of importance to Central and Eastern Europe as well as the security dimensions of the transatlantic relationship. Scores of highly-qualified University students attend these lectures annually, often leading to the decision to undertake associated course work.

Since 2005, our network of security-minded alumni has been significantly bolstered by the sizable number of young, talented students and scholars participating in our NATO Summer School. The main objective of this project is to offer a sophisticated course of study, including bringing in distinguished outside speakers, for graduate students in political science, international relations and other relevant fields from NATO member and partner states on future challenges facing NATO and other pressing issues on the current global security agenda.

PSSI´s distinguished Board and Executive Committee members, as well as its leadership, have afforded the Institute's contributors an impressive “return on investment.”

Such a return is evidenced by PSSI's programmatic accomplishments and the extraordinary educational opportunities that it has extended in the field of security studies to several annual classes of our Security Scholars and hundreds of Charles University undergraduate and graduate students.

The Institute's conferences, roundtables, seminars, internships and field trips likewise offer numerous occasions for our foundation, corporate and individual donors to participate directly in advancing the programs and mission of PSSI. We actively encourage such participation so that our scholars can take advantage of the skills, talents and rich experience of our partners. This interactive philosophy is at the core of the Institute´s close relationships with its esteemed partners.

      Applications Deadline: January 20, 2014

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC SECURITY AFFAIRS? The Robinson-Martin Security Scholars Program (RMSSP) offers highly qualified and motivated Czech university students the opportunity to participate in a two-semesters program covering a broad spectrum of security-related topics.

For more information about the program and the application process, please click here.

      Applications Deadline: January 10, 2014.

Are you interested in the field of energy security? Do you want to learn about the future of nuclear energy? Are you curious about the impact of new technologies and developments on nuclear energy? Would you like to understand energy in the Middle East? Do you want to know how markets are driving change to the Russian gas matrix?

The course will take place in Prague from February 10-14, 2014.

For more information about the program and the application process, please click here.

English

View the website of Prague Security Studies Institute in (English)