Founded on 13 March 2013 at the University of Rijeka, the Center for Advanced Studies Southeast Europe (CAS SEE) was established as a platform for high-level research in the social sciences, humanities, arts, architecture, and urbanism, with a focus on issues relevant to Southeast Europe. Since its founding, CAS SEE has brought together scholars from across the world, developed international research cooperation, and created a framework for knowledge exchange that strengthens regional academic excellence while supporting the circulation of researchers and a long-term brain gain strategy in the region.

CAS SEE was shaped by its founding directors Vedran Džihić, Petar Bojanić, and Snježana Prijić Samaržija. As former Rector of the University of Rijeka (2017–2025), Prijić Samaržija contributed to the Center’s institutional continuity and to its connection with broader forms of regional academic cooperation. In this context, the importance of RECAS, the Regional Network of Centres for Advanced Studies in Southeast Europe, is especially significant: through this network, CAS SEE is linked to partner centres across the region and positioned within a wider platform for scholarly exchange, collaboration, and mobility. With Petar Bojanić playing an active role in promoting these regional connections, RECAS has become an important framework for strengthening cooperation and supporting early-career researchers through fellowship and mobility schemes. These programmes have been sustained through funds raised from private philanthropic foundations, including the ERSTE Foundation, Robert Bosch Stiftung, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Open Society Foundations.