At a welcome reception on the University’s Belval Campus last Friday, President Rainer Klump and Academic Affairs Vice-President Romain Martin welcomed the 40 CVCE staff members (photo). The CVCE’s move from its current home at the “Château de Sanem” to the ”Maison des Sciences Humaines” will begin on 22 July, and on 25 July the CVCE staff will arrive for their first working day in their new offices at Belval.

All the CVCE’s projects and contracts were transferred to the University on 1 July, to be progressively adapted and incorporated into the University’s overall strategy. The University will ensure the sustainability of the digital research infrastructure on European integration, developed by the CVCE, and will provide further opportunities for its development. The infrastructure, which remains accessible at the address www.cvce.eu, represents a vital source of information for researchers, the media and the teaching community, as well as all those interested in Europe. It has built up a considerable international following, with some two million documents consulted each year. Its content and collections will continue to be enhanced, and its publications and digital tools will remain available.

The CVCE’s integration into the University of Luxembourg follows the decision taken by the Government Council on 5 June 2015 to reorganise the country’s research landscape in the field of humanities, particularly by setting up an Institute for Contemporary History (known as the “Institut d’histoire du temps présent”) within the University. The idea is to pool research activities in European integration studies and digital humanities with the aim of positioning Luxembourg as a leading player in European and international research in these fields.

“Outstanding cooperation between the two institutions has paved the way for a successful integration process, ” explained Rainer Klump. “This integration is perfectly in line with the University’s digital strategy, which is based on digital learning, the University’s European vocation and its close links with Luxembourg.”
Since the CVCE was set up in 2002, it has successfully risen to the challenge of developing an innovative approach to European integration studies. In 2010 it concluded a partnership agreement with the University. The legal, scientific, HR and logistical aspects of the CVCE’s integration have been the focus of intensive preparations for several months. Each member of staff has received individual HR support during this period. The key skills of the CVCE’s researchers in the areas of history, European integration and digital humanities will boost the University’s expertise in these fields, while the researchers joining the University will benefit from its facilities and reputation.

For a 12-month transitional period, the researchers will initially be working within a temporary research infrastructure entitled “Digital European Integration Studies” (DEIS). When the newly appointed Director of the “Institut d’histoire du temps present”, Prof. Dr Andreas Fickers, takes up his post in September, the partial integration of the CVCE into this new institute will begin.

On 1 July 2016, the “Centre d’études et de recherches européennes Robert Schuman”, the “Centre de documentation et de recherche sur la Résistance” and the “Centre de documentation et de recherche sur l’enrôlement forcé” also joined the University.