The IES 2007 Activity Report
Compared to other years, 2007 can be marked as “more of the same but better”. Indeed, the Institute’s main goals were set out in the Strategic Plan 2006-2010, and in the past year all efforts went to achieving these goals. No major changes in this challenging plan were to be expected. But we’ve had more research projects, more researchers, more activities and more external projects than ever before, which inevitably leads to the conclusion that the Institute has performed ‘better’ ! With two full lecture series, a summer school, research colloquia, policy fora and numerous other events, the IES has put itself on the map of renowned academic institutions in Brussels and beyond.
2007 also marked the 35th anniversary of the Programme on International Legal Cooperation, the advanced Master programme that leads to the diploma of MA of International and Comparative Law. Through the good efforts of its academic staff, this law programme obtained very positive results in the international auditing process that was launched by government. Resulting from the audit is the name change of the programme to “MA of International and European Law” for which administrative steps have been taken.
However, the most memorable event of the year is the decision by the University Board to attribute the advanced MA of European Integration and Development (or so-called Euromaster) to the IES. The decision recognizes that the Institute fully obtained its place at university as the coordinating body for advanced Master programmes of European studies. By giving the Institute organizational capacity in both the PILC and the Euromaster programmes, the IES can fully exploit its vocation of interdisciplinary research and education institute.
Prof. Dr. Bart De Schutter
President IES
The Institute for European Studies sailed the waves of 2007 on full cruising speed. Almost all of the benchmarks set out in the strategic plan issued in 2006 were met, and nearly all of the foreseen research functions filled. Significantly, the research capacity of the Institute - and with that its overall capacity - improved further as all Senior Research Fellow posts were filled. In addition, 2007 marked the start of a new cluster within the Institute: with one additional Senior Fellow for Training and E-learning, the IES ventured into a new field that had thus far remained under explored.
In the field of education, the Institute obtained similar coordinating capacity for the MA of European integration and development (the so-called Euromaster), as it had had for the MA of International and Comparative Law (the renowned Programme on International Legal Cooperation, or PILC) for which it has held responsibility for the past six years.
Both programmes remain under the academic responsibility of their respective faculties (the Faculty of Economics, Sociology and Political Science on the one hand, and the Faculty of Law and Criminology on the other) yet the IES especially coordinates recruitment, enrolment and other administrative functions. To this end, the IES published a new information brochure. Both programmes also follow similar decision-making rules and procedures.
In the PILC programme, 25 diplomas were delivered at the end of the academic year 2006-2007, which is less than the 30 diplomas that are foreseen as an annual average in the strategic plan for 2006-2010. However, it is expected that this shortfall can be compensated in 2007-2008 for which a total of 42 students have enrolled.
In the field of research, the Institute started two new research projects in the field of Environment and Sustainable Development. Subsequently, two new researchers started their PhD in 2007.
The new Senior Research Fellows also gave the research functions new impetus through the successful acquisition of external funds, which doubled in comparison to 2006. In collaboration with and under the auspices of the Academic Director, they also continued to supervise the PhD research in their respective clusters. In turn, this led to further academic publications (37 in total) and to the start of an IES working paper series. In the IES Book series, one new volume was published in 2007, and two more were under development for publication in early 2008.
The IES continued its Research Colloquia, which took place 15 times in the past year. The Research Colloqiua are organized to enable IES researchers to present their findings and to obtain information on research methodology and PhD-writing - a part that was seriously enhanced in 2007. In addition, the Institute also continued to organize Policy Fora. Four of those, in the field of environment and sustainable development, were organized in collaboration with the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP).
A few figures:
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In the field of academic services, the IES organized two lecture series (one on European Identity and one on the External Relations of Justice and Home Affairs), the afore mentioned research colloquia and policy fora and three workshops (two on EU-China and one on global governance). It hosted an additional four seminars on various research topics and co-organized an international colloquium on marine law.
IES is a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the 