Intensive Summer School on Serious and Organized Crime (ISSOC)

The Intensive Summer School on Serious and Organised Crime (ISSOC) is an advanced and high quality training programme offered to Masters students eager to promote the study and discussion on the topic of serious and organised crime and to the shifting challenges regarding its prevention. This project will be particularly focused on the relevance of the European financial and economic crises on the criminal activities and on the way of tackling it with the European Union.

ISSOC is addressed to a specific target group made up of excellent students enrolled in masters programmes on topics related to European and International studies, though it focuses on themes not covered by home Masters programmes.

The Summer School has selected among a list of specific thematic focuses, namely:

• Methodological issues: how to research serious and organised crime in Social and Juridical Science?
• The governance of serious and organised crime at EU level in the crisis time: a common policy in the making?
• Organised and Economic crime: Focus on financial crime and related offences – money laundering, financial crimes and white-collar crime, links between legal and illegal business

Specific objectives are:

•     to contribute to the development of common understanding in the field of economic organised crime;
•     to forward excellence, competitiveness and attractiveness of Partners Institutions through stable cooperation;
•     to promote students mobility and to support their intellectual, professional and personal advancement towards careers in the global society;
•     enhancing their competitiveness, employability and growth of an entrepreneurial spirit to work in public and private organisations and agencies in international and multicultural environments;
•     to exchange best practices in teaching and research in view of developing an interdisciplinary and integrated programme of study in the field of the programmes and measures in tackling economic aspects and offences of serious and organised crime activities;
•     to encourage the transfer of results to improve the quality of education and training.

Main activities consist of five core elements:

1. theoretical-academic lectures by an international team of scholars;
2. presentations by law enforcement agencies and other relevant organisations;
3. group work and workshops;
4. roundtable discussions with scholars and local experts;
5. students’ homework, presentations and discussions.

Therefore ISSOC combines front lectures and group work, to equip students with theoretical and practical knowledge and skills and stimulate reflection and debate. In a multinational learning environment ISSOC students are trained to both theoretically analyse these phenomenon and to practically convey its implications into a policy-oriented process.

Expected outputs are:

•           enhancement of mobility and strengthening of multilateral cooperation;
•           advancement of knowledge and professional skills;
•           strengthen the feeling of belonging to a common space through intercultural exchange;
•           establishment of a network of students interested in researching and studying the serious and organised crime.

In terms of learning outcomes, students will: master the main paradigms, key-concepts, debates and focal themes related to the topics addressed; have developed or strengthened abilities in critically interpreting European and International events drawing on different disciplinary methodologies; have gained, applied, enhanced and expanded competences and skills(communication, language, research and report writing skills).