Board of (vice) rectors
CENTRAL is governed by a Board of (vice) rectors, one of each partner university.
This steering group oversee the mission and general strategy of the network.
They also give impetus content-wise, by jointly defining CENTRAL Agenda that sets the scene for multifaceted research and outreach activities within the partner institutions.
Team of five coordinators
This team ensures smooth running processes and collaboration within the CENTRAL network.
Regular meetings of this managing group facilitate the exchange of ideas, balancing of wishes and needs, and the careful planning of upcoming activities.
CENTRAL Executive Committee
A team of five coordinators together with the Heads of the International Offices, they form the CENTRAL Executive Committee.
The general network’s coordination is a rotating role that passes on after four years.
After a very successful period 2021 - 2024 at the University of Vienna, Charles University has taken over the presidency in January 2025 for next four years.
Dr. Emil Brix, born 1956 in Vienna, diplomat and historian, is the Director of the Diplomatische Akademie Wien – Vienna School of International Studies since 2017. After joining the Austrian diplomatic service in 1982, Mr Brix worked as political secretary for the parliamentary group of the Austrian People’s Party. In 1986, he was appointed Head of Cabinet at the Ministry of Science and Research. From 1990 until 1995, he served as Austrian Consul General in Cracow, Poland. Subsequently, he was Director of the Austrian Cultural Institute in London, a position he held for four years. In 2002, Mr Brix was appointed Director-General of Foreign Cultural Policy at the Ministry for European and International Affairs of Austria. After serving five years as the Austrian Ambassador to the UK from 2010-15, he became Austrian Ambassador to the Russian Federation in 2015. He is deputy chairman of the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe and member of the governing board of the Austrian Research Association. He holds a PhD from the University of Vienna and was awarded Dr. hc. by the University of Drohobytsch, Ukraine and by the University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. He is an alumnus of the Diplomatische Akademie Wien and published numerous books and articles on Austrian and European history of the 19 th and 20 th century.
Mr Meitzner was born in 1956. As a law graduate of Bonn University, he joined the German Diplomatic Service in 1982. He served at the German Embassies in Montevideo, Panama, Lisbon and Prague before returning to the Auswärtiges Amt (Federal Foreign Office) in 2005 as Head of Human Resources Division. After an assignment as Deputy Ambassador at the German Embassy in Warsaw, he became Ambassador and Deputy Director-General for Foreign Cultural Policy at the Auswärtiges Amt in 2012. In 2015, he was transferred to Moscow as Deputy Ambassador at Germany’s largest diplomatic mission abroad. In 2017, Mr Meitzner was appointed German Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark. Since his retirement in 2020, Mr Meitzner is engaged – among other volunteering activities – as Programme Director for young foreign diplomats at the Diplomatic Academy in Berlin. He is a member of the German Council on Foreign Relations.
