Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ALF (Advancing cooperation on the foundations of law)
Reporting period: 2022-10-01 to 2025-12-31
ALF (Advancing Cooperation on the Foundations of Law) addresses a structural gap in the European Research Area: strong legal scholarship and talent in the Western Balkans, but weaker institutional capacity to sustain internationally visible research and high-level teaching in the foundations of law, and to compete consistently in EU-funded projects. The project combines institutional strengthening with intensive academic cooperation to support the Faculty of Law University of Belgrade (BGL), in becoming a widely recognized European research and teaching institution.
ALF is organized around three mutually reinforcing strands: 1. Building durable institutional capacity at BGL through the establishment and consolidation of core support structures for research development and project implementation, such as a Project Administration Office and a Centre for Legal Fundamentals. 2. Delivering a programme of academic knowledge transfer through research visits and student seminars, focused on three interrelated thematic areas in contemporary legal theory: logic of law, language of law, and practical rationality. 3. Developing a joint research stream on practically oriented legal fundamentals, translating the transferred knowledge into research outputs and a sustainable research agenda capable of generating follow-on projects and internationally visible publications.
The project aims to create a stable administrative and research-management capacity for BGL, establish a durable academic hub for legal fundamentals, strengthen international networks, upgrade training formats, and generate research outputs and dissemination products. Its dissemination, exploitation, and communication approach, including a project platform and complementary channels, ensures long-term visibility and reuse of results.
ALF is organized around three mutually reinforcing strands: 1. Building durable institutional capacity at BGL through the establishment and consolidation of core support structures for research development and project implementation, such as a Project Administration Office and a Centre for Legal Fundamentals. 2. Delivering a programme of academic knowledge transfer through research visits and student seminars, focused on three interrelated thematic areas in contemporary legal theory: logic of law, language of law, and practical rationality. 3. Developing a joint research stream on practically oriented legal fundamentals, translating the transferred knowledge into research outputs and a sustainable research agenda capable of generating follow-on projects and internationally visible publications.
The project aims to create a stable administrative and research-management capacity for BGL, establish a durable academic hub for legal fundamentals, strengthen international networks, upgrade training formats, and generate research outputs and dissemination products. Its dissemination, exploitation, and communication approach, including a project platform and complementary channels, ensures long-term visibility and reuse of results.
ALF implemented a structured capacity-building and research-development programme combining institutional strengthening with intensive academic knowledge transfer and joint research.
On the institutional side, the action established and consolidated the core structures needed for sustainable research performance: a Project Administration Office supporting proposal development and EU-project implementation, and a Centre for Legal Fundamentals serving as a hub for research in legal fundamentals.
On the academic side, ALF delivered a sustained programme of knowledge transfer through research visits and student seminars, focused on logic of law, language of law, and practical rationality. These activities strengthened research competence and upgraded teaching capacity by providing advanced conceptual and methodological training, supporting supervision and early-stage researcher development, and creating repeatable academic formats. The action further consolidated the transferred knowledge through intensive scholarly events (seminars, workshops, and conferences), enabling structured peer exchange and fostering research collaboration.
A core scientific outcome of ALF was the development of a joint research stream on “practically oriented legal fundamentals.” This research line translated the thematic knowledge transfer into a coherent research agenda and tangible outputs, strengthening connections between foundational legal theory and practical legal reasoning. The work supported emerging scholars through participation in research activities and integration into international academic networks.
By the end of the project, ALF had delivered: (i) operational institutional capacity for participation in European research, (ii) strengthened research and teaching expertise, (iii) durable international cooperation routines through mobility and recurring academic formats, and (iv) a joint research trajectory with outcomes capable of supporting scholarly production and follow-on projects.
On the institutional side, the action established and consolidated the core structures needed for sustainable research performance: a Project Administration Office supporting proposal development and EU-project implementation, and a Centre for Legal Fundamentals serving as a hub for research in legal fundamentals.
On the academic side, ALF delivered a sustained programme of knowledge transfer through research visits and student seminars, focused on logic of law, language of law, and practical rationality. These activities strengthened research competence and upgraded teaching capacity by providing advanced conceptual and methodological training, supporting supervision and early-stage researcher development, and creating repeatable academic formats. The action further consolidated the transferred knowledge through intensive scholarly events (seminars, workshops, and conferences), enabling structured peer exchange and fostering research collaboration.
A core scientific outcome of ALF was the development of a joint research stream on “practically oriented legal fundamentals.” This research line translated the thematic knowledge transfer into a coherent research agenda and tangible outputs, strengthening connections between foundational legal theory and practical legal reasoning. The work supported emerging scholars through participation in research activities and integration into international academic networks.
By the end of the project, ALF had delivered: (i) operational institutional capacity for participation in European research, (ii) strengthened research and teaching expertise, (iii) durable international cooperation routines through mobility and recurring academic formats, and (iv) a joint research trajectory with outcomes capable of supporting scholarly production and follow-on projects.
ALF delivered results that go beyond the state of the art, primarily in the form of institutionalised research capacity, structured international knowledge-transfer mechanisms, and a consolidated joint research trajectory in the foundations of law. In many legal-theory environments, high-level scholarship is produced through individual excellence and informal networks. ALF moved beyond this model by creating durable structures and repeatable cooperation formats that enable a Western Balkans institution to participate continuously and visibly in European research and teaching at the highest level.
At the scientific level, the project strengthened contemporary research and teaching competence in three interrelated strands through an integrated programme of research visits, expert visits, and student seminars, complemented by intensive scholarly events. This created a sustainable training ecosystem for researchers and established a pathway from advanced conceptual work to publishable outputs. The joint research stream on practically oriented legal fundamentals further extended this by translating transferred knowledge into a coherent research agenda.
The potential impacts are threefold. First, ALF increases the quality and international visibility of research and teaching in legal fundamentals at the Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, and strengthens its embeddedness in European scholarly networks. Second, it improves the institutional capacity to initiate and manage complex international projects, lowering structural barriers that prevent excellent SSH groups from competing effectively in EU funding. Third, it produces reusable formats and seminar series, and research pathways that can be replicated and used as the basis for follow-on cooperation and future proposals.
At the scientific level, the project strengthened contemporary research and teaching competence in three interrelated strands through an integrated programme of research visits, expert visits, and student seminars, complemented by intensive scholarly events. This created a sustainable training ecosystem for researchers and established a pathway from advanced conceptual work to publishable outputs. The joint research stream on practically oriented legal fundamentals further extended this by translating transferred knowledge into a coherent research agenda.
The potential impacts are threefold. First, ALF increases the quality and international visibility of research and teaching in legal fundamentals at the Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, and strengthens its embeddedness in European scholarly networks. Second, it improves the institutional capacity to initiate and manage complex international projects, lowering structural barriers that prevent excellent SSH groups from competing effectively in EU funding. Third, it produces reusable formats and seminar series, and research pathways that can be replicated and used as the basis for follow-on cooperation and future proposals.