The projects aims to develop a Centre of Excellence at the Department of European Studies at Sofia University for teaching and research on the Europeanization of countries from South-Eastern Europe. Since its pioneering establishment in 1995 DES at Sofia University has been spreading knowledge about EU institutions and policies and has engaged with various stakeholders from institutions, civils society, media and the public. The project will strengthen this role of the Department by interrelated objectives – 1) to upkeep excellence of European Studies at Sofia University by enhancing the integration of research and education; 2) to improve their international visibility in academic networks; 3) to improve public perception of EU in Bulgaria by blending the efforts of the university team and NGOs through regular presentation of academic expertise on key topics of the EU via open Internet platform. The project foresees teaching and research activities, the development of an archive of the Europeanization of the Countries from SEE, development of a open access web portal with documentation regarding this process and publishing of weekly analytical reviews on current EU integration topics, as well as international academic conferences. The impact of the project will be 1) to strengthen the emphasis on current EU integration topics and enhance use of original research within the courses of the BA and MA programs at DES; 2) support the systematic research on the processes of European integration with a focus on SEECs; 3) strengthen the international visibility of the achievements of European Studies at SU and supports the development of a sustainable partner institution network; 4) enhance the partnership with the non-governmental sector; 5) improve the awareness of the general public about current EU developments and Bulgarian EU integration; 6) generate systematic up-to-date information flow about the EU developments to the broad public through an open web-portal.