The Five Seas Academy of International Studies and Partnership (Black Sea, Sea of Marmara, Aegean Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Adriatic Sea) is the symbolic name for an International Studies Center (distance learning for Master and PhD degrees). It aims at sharing knowledge and skills in order to produce a new generation of innovative specialists, aware of world realities, mastering problem-solving techniques and able to carry out the tasks of regional and global cooperative projects. The project was presented to the Education Working Group of the Graz Process under the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe, Working Table 1, in 2000. It was further discussed on two sessions on the Higher Education Working Group of the Graz Process. Favourably received, the project was improved according to the Working Group's recommendations. The partnership with the Romanian National School of Political Studies and Public Administration - which is authorised to issue diplomas in international studies and management - offers convenient solutions to practical problems of feasibility and administrative support, and guarantees the quality and formal accreditation of the courses.
The International Conference Centre will host more than 100 meetings every year. It is envisaged to obtain a listed historical building for its headquarters, in order to enhance its symbolic value for Romania's permanent presence in the international dialogue of cultures.
Research and Applications of Information Technology in the Higher Education System. BSU Laboratory for Information Technologies in Education (LITE) was created as a research and development unit to address the challenges of today's mapping of technology, knowledge and learning systems on the way towards a knowledge society. It aims:
- to support innovation in the educational system and in the process of building the information society
- to answer the requirements of the knowledge era
- to play an active part in, and to assist the process of educational reforms
- to support the process of building an open and internationally integrated higher education system in Romania and in the region.
Methodology and applications of Research on Risk
BSUF has organized a series of scientific and political meetings in the form of conferences, symposia and round tables, dedicated mostly to its core research themes and projects. Many of them were organized in cooperation with international organisations. Here are a few examples of such events:
- Round table of the World Academy of Arts and Science (President Harlan Cleveland) in preparation for the General Assembly in Minneapolis - Mangalia, 1994
- Regional summer school on Selected Topics in Finance - 1994 (in cooperation with World Bank Institute)
- The Club of Rome Symposium How to Ride the Global Wave: Avoiding Crisis and Wars - 1999 (in cooperation with other NGOs). Its proceedings were published in a special issue of the quarterly Millennium III
- Inter-university workshop on Improving the Contents of International Relations Programmes - 2001 (with the support of the German Rectors Conference, United States Institute of Peace - USIP, UPAZ and CEPES-UNESCO)
- World Futures Studies Federation, General Conference - Brasov, September 2001