Dr. Jiang Feng'an, a young faculty member at the Institute Institute of European Law of the College, successfully secured internal approval for his research project titled 'Trusted Cross-Border Data Flows' from the university's Research Office on 22 March. The project was earlier awarded funding under the European Module stream of the EU Jean Monnet Programme, having successfully passed the 2023 application cycle.

Spanning a three-year period, the project would focus on designing and launching new modules on data protection law and cross-border data transfers, organising a series of lectures, roundtable discussions and academic workshops, and publishing scholarly research related to the project themes.

The project team includes senior professors from renowned universities in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and other European countries, as well as experts from international organisations. It aims to further enrich CUPL’s EU law curriculum and strengthen academic cooperation with both domestic and international institutions and practitioners.

In addition to expanding academic offerings, the project would promote student exchange programmes between CUPL and leading European universities and create new pathways for law students to secure internships with international organisations. These efforts would enhance CUPL students' professional skills and competitiveness in fields such as data protection law, cross-border data compliance and international data governance.

The project also benefitted from the guidance of Professor Zhang Tong of the Institute of European Law, who has previously led multiple successful Jean Monnet programmes. Between 2011 and 2023, Zhang served as principal investigator on both European Module and Jean Monnet Chair grants.

The Jean Monnet Programme was launched by the European Commission in 1989 and is named after Jean Monnet, one of the chief architects of post-war European integration. It aims to promote teaching, research, and debate on European integration across higher education institutions worldwide. The programme is highly competitive and rigorously administered, comprising three main funding streams: European Modules, Jean Monnet Chairs and Centre of Excellence.