University of Luxembourg and LISER seal their partnership

Plans for joint appointment of four professors

The University of Luxembourg and the Institute of Socio-Economic Research LISER (formerly CEPS/INSTEAD) are to create and fund four joint professorships. The shared recruitment of top academics is at the heart of the plan to increase the number of joint research projects, events, and doctoral students supervised, and so work more closely together. In their recent meetings a few days ago, the Supervisory Boards of the two institutions gave the green light for a "Memorandum of Understanding" to this effect.

The four new professorships are to be created in the fields of social policy, labour economics, urban development and mobility. Each institution will cover half the costs. The appointments, based on a jointly written job description, will be made in accordance with the university's regulations and in close cooperation with LISER. The academics who are recruited will have the status of a professor at the University of Luxembourg and will play a role in research, teaching and administration there; at the same time, however, they will also have clearly defined responsibilities in the areas in which LISER works. Any research results and copyright will also belong to both institutions.

Academics from the university and LISER have worked together for a long time on a number of research projects. "The agreement will now formalise this partnership. I am very pleased about that," declared Rainer Klump, President of the University. The university's partnership with LISER could also serve as a blueprint for cooperating with other research institutions in Luxembourg on appointing staff, said the President.

"This agreement serves as a pilot project in the development of Luxembourg as a centre for science," said Hilmar Schneider, CEO of LISER. "For us, this partnership marks a decisive step towards closer networking of the research institutions in Belval from which all sides can benefit enormously."

The partnership will begin with a five-year pilot phase and is intended to be for the long term. A joint steering committee will monitor all the activities of the new partnership.

Communiqué par l’Université du Luxembourg
Luxembourg, 14 July 2015