About
The NC State European Center in Prague is NC State University's only permanent year-round international facility. It welcomes students and faculty and aims to serve as a gateway to Europe for developing international networks and experiences.
Mission
As a unit of the Office of Global Engagement, NC State Prague primarily serves as a study abroad location for NC State students. Over 300 students study at NC State Prague each academic year in various programs offered every summer, fall, and spring. Students take a full course load of NC State credits, taking advantage of Prague’s historically and culturally rich city to enhance content. Students from all academic majors and disciplines are eligible to apply. As part of the “Classic Programs,” courses are taught by local Czech or European faculty, vetted by NC State’s home academic departments. Multiple faculty-led programs are also offered during the summer semester.
Beyond study abroad, an essential aspect of NC State Prague’s vision includes global collaborations and faculty research. With its central European location and outstanding facilities, NC State Prague is poised to collaborate with colleges and departments to develop seminars and symposiums to engage with partner universities in the European region.
Partnerships
NC State partners with top universities in Prague to recruit high-quality instructors, collaborate on instruction, and build academic networks. University-level agreements are established with the following institutions:
- Charles University
- Czech Technical University
- Czech University of Life Sciences
- University of Economics, Prague
For more information on partnerships within Prague and Europe, visit the Office of Global Engagement’s Global Partners Database.
History
The university’s European footprint took a step forward in 1992 with the College of Design’s establishment of a summer program in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. From then until 2004, the College of Design maintained a successful summer program, but further growth was on the horizon. With the support of then-Dean Marvin Malecha, Professor Art Rice sought to establish a year-round study-abroad destination due to the program’s popularity. In January 2005, the Prague Institute officially opened to further serve design students’ needs.
In the summer of 2017, the institute moved to a new location and became the NC State European Center in Prague (NC State Prague for short). Management shifted effective July 1 from the College of Design to NC State’s Office of Global Engagement, offering further experiential education to NC State students and more teaching and research opportunities for university faculty.