Research Centres
The Centre for Austrian and European Higher Education Law and Governance (ZHR), is an interdisciplinary research centre at REWI Graz. It is primarily dedicated to researching fundamental and current issues of Austrian and European higher education law as well as higher education governance and management in an interdisciplinary and thematically broad perspective and started its work on 1 October 2020.
The Centre for East European Law and Eurasian Studies (ZOR) is a research unit focusing on comparative constitutional and public law and the law of international human rights protection with a special emphasis on Eurasian studies. The Centre is involved in a number of projects and activities, including the publication of a Handbook of the Russian Constitution.
Centre for Southeast European Studies (CSEES) is an interdisciplinary and cross-faculty institution established with the goal to provide space for the rich teaching and research activities at the university on and with Southeastern Europe and to promote interdisciplinary collaboration. CSEES is publishing a peer-reviewed open access online journal "Contemporary Southeastern Europe" and a book series "Southeast European Studies" with Routledge. It also runs a Visiting Fellow program that has included over 60 fellows to date. The policy and research blogs also encourages its researchers to contribute to public outreach activities regularly.
The Centre, in cooperation with the European Fund for the Balkan, has initiated the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG). BiEPAG is a platform to bring closer political and developmental stakeholders of the Western Balkans and the bodies and branches of the European Union and the governments of its constituent countries on the other.
Centre of European Private Law (CEPL) focus on private law issues in a cross-border context, in particular in the areas of tort law, insurance law, consumer protection, commercial law, corporations, choice of law and civil procedure. The centre works in close cooperation with the European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law (ECTIL) and the Institute for European Tort Law (ESR/ETL) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The centre offers a Doctoral Programme in European Tort Law.
The Research Centre on Climate Protection Law (ClimLaw: Graz) aims to critically observe and analyse current developments in climate protection law, especially from an Austrian perspective, and to conduct research projects with a focus on climate protection and environmental law together with national and international partners from science and practice. Due to the close links with climate research, climate economics, climate ethics, etc. and the intensive cooperation with stakeholders, ClimLaw: Graz has a transdisciplinary orientation and acts as a competent contact for scientific opinions, expert information and legal advice.
The European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy at the University of Graz (UNI-ETC) is engaged in interdisciplinary research, teaching and science-to-public activities in the field of human rights. The Centre is a clearing house for human rights at the University of Graz, hosts the UNESCO Chair on Human Rights and Human Security and cooperates with the International Centre for the Promotion of Human Rights in Communities and Regions, which is also under the auspices of UNESCO.
In addition to participating in numerous projects, the Centre coordinates the interdisciplinary research cluster "Human Rights, Democracy, Diversity and Gender" at the Faculty of Law, the interdisciplinary doctoral programme "Human Rights, Democracy, Diversity and Gender" and publishes the European Yearbook on Human Rights.
The Research Center for Professional Law (CPL) aims to fill a research gap in the Austrian academic landscape, where the professional and ethical law of lawyers, accountants and other liberal professions has so far played a subordinate role. REWI Graz in particular represents the ideal breeding ground for closing this gap, especially because of the many practice professors employed. The ZBR works in close cooperation with the Institute for Procedural and Lawyer's Law (IPA) at the University of Hannover.