Preparing the faculty for the future
The second year of my mandate as Dean has been marked by a series of comprehensive measures launched internally to prepare our Faculty for the future.
In light of our growing academic community, closer ties to Luxembourg’s professional industry and broader society, and our ambitions to provide students with the best-in-class learning experience, we have put great emphasis on creating a strong and efficient internal organisation.
To that end, the Faculty’s management team has been further strengthened by the appointment of Prof. Isabelle Riassetto as Vice-Dean for Teaching and the confirmation of Prof. Benny Mantin as Head of the Faculty Research Committee.
Closer links to our partners and society
During the past academic year, we have renewed and further enhanced two important partnerships for our Faculty, namely our ADA Chair in Financial Law and the ATOZ Chair for European and International Taxation. The latter partnership, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2019, holds a special place in the Faculty’s development as it was the first chair to benefit from external financing. We are equally proud that the ADA Chair in Financial Law has now become tripartite through the support of the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.
We will also launch three new chairs in 2020. Benefitting from the support of the Luxembourg Ministries of Finance and of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development, we are creating a new Chair in Sustainable Finance and we will start a new dedicated academic track in our Masters programme.
The second new chair, in Digital Procurement, will partner with the Ministry of the Economy to support and enhance procurement activities and knowledge and research in Luxembourg. The launch of its specialised educational offer is planned for 2021-2022.
Lastly, continuing our existing agreement with the Chamber of Commerce of Luxembourg, the Faculty will establish a Chair in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, fostering entrepreneurial skills for our students as well as research activities.
Refined teaching offer
In terms of teaching, our Masters in economics and finance have been refined and converted into two-year study programmes in order to deliver a more modern and in-depth curriculum. This recalibration, which is the fruit of close collaboration with key representatives of the financial centre, demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that graduates are highly-qualified and well-prepared to enter the Luxembourg job market. The new Masters are also accessible to graduates of Bachelors programmes from the University of Luxembourg and beyond, who have completed a three-year degree. As such, as of September 2019 our Faculty offers a complete five-year study programme in finance and economics.
Concurrently, we have started the process for the renewal of the accreditation of these redesigned masters by the Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation (FIBAA), planned for 2020. This follows on from the successful accreditation in November 2019 of our six Masters programmes in law, which I am delighted to report were found by international evaluators to exceed the quality requirements in several respects.
In the future, FDEF will remain a key partner for Luxembourg’s society more broadly, whilst striving to build additional research fields that match and support the country’s vision and strategy for innovation, growth and a more sustainable financial sector.