History

The LIEIS was formally founded in October 1990. It grew out of a special relationship between Harvard University and former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jacques Santer. A first major academic conference was held in December 1987 on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Marshall Plan, to be followed one year later by a second conference on the Western community and the Gorbachev challenge.

The key project of the LIEIS has been "The Vitality of Nations". After two conceptual conferences in 1990 (March 1990 in Luxembourg and September 1990 at Harvard), many more conferences have been organised. These conferences analysed in greater detail the vitality of a specific country, region or city, or focused on a specific aspect of vitality, such as social capital and nurture. More recently the Institute has turned its attention towards topics that are more directly related to Luxembourg and to the European Union. It has set up a long-term project on the future of Luxembourg and the wider European social models.

The Institute has always involved students and young researchers into its endeavours. Initially, the LIEIS, together with Harvard and other universities, organised several simulation conferences, simulating the US Congress, EU institutions and Central and Eastern European parliaments. This activity has been replaced since 1994 by summer courses, which are organised in association with several East European research centres. Furthermore the Institute supports advanced students in their studies. It offers scholarships for its summer courses and gives internships to researchers who want to use the Institute and its proximity to the EU institutions to pursue their own research project besides being involved in the Institute's projects.

Aims & Focus

The Institute aims to engage in an extensive range of high quality, innovative research, by keeping in contact with universities and research centres all over the world. Our goal is to provide innovative, practical recommendations. We strive to publish works that are academically relevant, but also of interest for political and economic decision-makers. Our general approach has been multidisciplinary and multinational: we do our best to invite people from different academic disciplines, different countries, both theorists and practitioners, people from the academic as well as from the political, economic, and cultural spheres of life, looking at the past, the present and the future.

Fields of Interest:

Structure

The LIEIS is an independent, non-profit organisation based in the City of Luxembourg (a.s.b.l.).
It is made up of the following bodies, as detailed below:

The Board meets once or twice a year to adopt the Institute's general policy.
It consists of high-level representatives of the political, economic and cultural life of the country.

The Executive Committee is a small body, meeting between the sessions of the Supervisory Board.

The Budgetary Committee coordinates the preparation, implementation and control of the Institute's budget.

The staff consists of a director, some permanent research assistants and fellows, and external researchers.

Permanent Staff

Finances

The bulk of the finances stems from an annual subsidy by the Government of Luxembourg. A minor part of the budget comes from grants, offered for specific projects, by international organisations.