On Tuesday, 5 June, professor Caroline Pauwels, rector of Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and professor François Germinet, rector of the French Université Paris Seine, signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The same day, a previously signed MoU with the University of Warwick was ratified into a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA). In these agreements, the European universities commit to collaborate more closely with regard to research and education in the future. For the Institute for European Studies, this opens up new opportunities for collaboration both in research and education. The commitment is to be seen in light of the call made by the European Council to create a network of European Universities by 2024.

From 28 May until 1 June 2018, KF-VUB Korea Chair holder Dr. Ramon Pacheco Pardo, Dr. Tongfi Kim and Ms. Linde Desmaele participated in a series of events in Seoul (Republic of Korea) to launch the KF-VUB Korea Chair. On top of a high-level panel hosted by the EU Delegation to the Republic of Korea (ROK), they took part in several roundtable discussions with think tanks, including the Korea National Diplomatic Academy and Asan Institute, and ROK officials in which they exchanged views on achieving peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. 

The United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), with which the IES has a close collaboration, cordially welcomes applications from outstanding (post)doctoral researchers looking to enhance their career development and prospects by working abroad. Located in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Bruges, close to Brussels and many institutions of the European Union, candidates at UNU-CRIS will not only find themselves embedded within the global United Nations University research network, which directly supports the broader UN system, but will also be able to take advantage of a unique partnership that UNU-CRIS has with both Ghent University and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Successful candidates will be supervised by the Director of the Institute, Professor Madeleine Hosli. They will furthermore be provided with an office, along with a computer and free access to both the UNU-CRIS library facilities and those of its partner universities.  

On 12 June 2018, the KF-VUB Korea Chair, with the kind support of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Belgium and the EU, organized a conference on “Korea-EU Relations at 55: Leveraging ASEM in Uncertain Times.” As 2018 marks the 55^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the EU and Korea, the conference provided an excellent opportunity to assess the current state of the EU-ROK relationship and to explore opportunities for further cooperation in the future. 

On 21 and 22 June, Irina van der Vet and Florian Lang organized and moderated the Kick-Off Workshop for the Belgian Living Lab on Countering Radicalisation Leading to Violent Extremism as part of the H2020 Mindb4Act project. Developed in collaboration with the European Foundation for Democracy, the closed-door event took place in Brussels and launched the collaborative ecosystem – Living Lab – aimed at creating innovative solutions for tackling radicalization and violent extremism in Europe. The team successfully brought together multispectral Belgian stakeholders from LEAs and grass-root organizations, as well as researchers and educators dealing with various aspects of radicalization.

IES PhD Researcher Klaudia Majcher gave a presentation at 13th Annual Conference of the Academic Society for Competition Law (ASCOLA) on “The Effects of Digitalization, Globalization, and Nationalism on Competition Law”, which took place at NYU School of Law on 21-23 June. Klaudia’s presentation focused on the legal theory of coherence as a framework for analysing intersections between EU competition and data protection law in the digital marketplace.

Students of the University of Southern California, enrolled in the Brussels Programme on European Foreign Policy, were welcomed with a reception on Monday 28 May. They spent their first week getting to know their individual internship places at various institutions. The students will be staying in Brussels for five weeks while attending lectures on topics such as European integration and foreign policy, European security challenges, and European trade and environmental governance. The programme is organized every spring by IES. It is led by Dr. Daniel Fiott and Dr. Luis Simon.

Between 31 May and 1 June Silviu co-organised the 3^rd European Conference on Teaching and Learning Politics, International Relations and European Studies – EuroTLC together with Dr. Heidi Maurer (London School of Economics and Political Science) and Dr. Tomas Weiss (Charles University Prague). After two successful editions in Maastricht (2014) and Brussels (2016), the conference endorsed by the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES), the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), the British International Studies Association (BISA) and the Political Science Association (PSA) was held at the Charles University in Prague where it welcomed scholars from across Europe, China and the US for one of the 20 workshop sessions or 15 paper panels.

On Friday 29 September the IES celebrated its 15th anniversary. Our institute started off as an initiative by our former President Prof. Dr. Em. Bart De Schutter with a handful of people involved. Today, we are an established player in the area of European studies, involved in dozens of prestigious research projects and with 121 people directly associated. 

On 26 September, IES Executive Director Anthony Antoine delivered a keynote speech on "the salient role of the universities in implementing the UN 2030 Agenda and the particular importance of societal impact of multidisciplinary research in developing sustainable and global solutions" at the Helsinki Challenge Global Impact Camp in Brussels. The Global Impact Camp in Brussels was a two-day intensive co-creation session focusing on societal impact of research, funding and collaboration with international experts and EU decision-makers. 

Matilda Axelson presented the new IES report ‘Breaking Through’ at the 10th Annual Meeting of the LCS-RNet in Yokohama, Japan, on 17/7. The presentation featured innovation and transitions, in the context of industrial decarbonisation. The LCS-RNet (International Research Network for Low Carbon Societies) is a global network of researchers that are making close contributions to individual countries’ low-carbon policy-making processes.

Every year, VUB awards the title of “VUB Fellow”, the highest grade of membership at the University, to a series of outstanding personalities. Throughout the year, VUB Fellows meet to discuss challenges facing Europe and education, share business tactics, and exchange ideas in order to improve society. On 21 June, several new Fellows will be inaugurated and welcomed in the VUB community at a VUB Fellowship ceremony in the Concert Noble. IES Academic Director Luk Van Langenhove, who acts as Faculty Fellowship Coordinator for the Faculty of Social Sciences, will present five new fellows. Amongst them is Ms. Shada Islam who receives the title of “VUB Solvay Fellow” on the proposal of the IES.