Since 1993, the Institute has been home to the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSC), which focuses on the critical issues facing Europe, fostering problem-centred research and serving as a bridge between academia and policymaking.

At the 1955 Messina Conference, when the members of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) gathered to assess that organisation's progress, the German secretary of state, Walter Hallstein, called for the establishment of a training centre for nuclear sciences.

[citation needed] The six member states – Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands – signed a convention in 1972 establishing the EUI as a pillar for research and development.

[8][9] The EUI Department of Economics provides PhD researchers and MRes students with formal course-based training at the level needed to pursue successful academic or professional careers in leading universities or other research-oriented organisations.

The Department takes a broad approach to the study of history that includes social and economic analysis, as well as the history of cultural, scientific, and intellectual developments, researching the tensions, contradictions, continuities, and sharp breaks that characterise both Europe’s past and the study of that past, with a view to shedding light on present questions and chart possible futures.

Through the ASPIRE programme, the Department extends its reach to researchers from developing countries and emerging economies, offering them the chance to pursue a funded PhD in Law at the European University Institute.

Located in Palazzo Buontalenti in the heart of Florence, the STG is a hub for exchanges bringing together academia, civil society, policymaking, business, NGOs, the media, and more.

The first director of the newly established Centre was Yves Mény (1993–2001), followed by Helen Wallace (2001-2006), Stefano Bartolini (2006–2013), Brigid Laffan (2013–2021), and Erik Jones (2021–present).

The centre's mission is to "contribute to research on the major issues facing contemporary European society, including questions associated with the construction of Europe."

The Global Governance Programme (GGP) is a large framework for several strands of research covering, international trade, development, climate change, citizenship, security cooperation, and regional integration.

The FSR organises policy events dealing with regulatory issues, provides academic training for practitioners, produces regulation research, and promotes networking and the exchange of ideas in the areas of energy and climate, transport, and water and waste.

The programme is committed to combining solid theoretical foundations to analyse the interaction between European integration and national politics with analysis based on data collection.

It serves governance needs at European and global levels, from developing, implementing, and monitoring migration-related policies to assessing their impact on the wider economy and society.

The EUI offers fully funded structured doctoral programmes in the field of economics, history and civilisation, law, and political and social sciences.

Around 130 research grants are awarded annually[citation needed] by the EU Member States and other European national authorities to successful candidates.

In addition, the EUI provides workshops and training designed to foster academic and professional development, opportunities for international exchange programmes and placements, support for wellbeing, and many extra-curricular activities.

[citation needed] There are funding options available to doctoral researchers, with the majority of EU member states offering grants that cover living costs and tuition fees.

There are additional agreements with non-EU member states, while the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the EUI itself provide grants pertaining to several other countries.

Additionally, whilst the EUI pays the same grant to all fourth-year PhD researchers (€1,505 the amount it estimates as necessary to live in Florence[11]), several States top this up.

The EUI campus also includes Palazzo Buontalenti in the historic centre of Florence at the Casino Mediceo di San Marco, which has been home to the STG since 2021.

The funded projects touch on fundamental social science and humanities themes such as identity, and the nature of tolerance, inclusion, and solidarity; key histories of capitalism, globalisation, financial risk and economic thought; challenges at the top of policy agendas today, such as digitalisation, migration and democracy, risk and crisis management, and the provision of social welfare.

Many researchers who have taken doctorates at the EUI are employed as professors or lecturers in leading universities, officials in European Institutions and international organisations, or hold positions in government administration.