PACS, the Peace and Conflict Studies Centre at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, is an inter-faculty scholarly network for research on the causes of political violence, on strategies to build peace and on the governance of conflict. These issues require an interdisciplinary approach. Researchers from five faculties – law, social sciences, behavioral and movement sciences, religion and theology as well as humanities – collaborate in PACS.
PACS was initiated by the VU Vereniging under the name IOVIS in 2017 when the VU Vereniging brought together researchers from many disciplines at the VU who share an interest in the study of political violence, conflict, war and peace.
PACS is closely connected to the university minor Peace and Conflict Studies, that was launched in 2018/19 with the support of the VU Vereniging.