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ntroduction We are delighted to devote this issue of EUI Times to ‘Women in Europe and the World’, the theme of the EUI’s 2016 State of the Union Conference which will bring together academics, policymakers and civil society to engage in high-level reflection on the European Union, in Florence on May 5th-7th. The past decades have seen a dramatic shift in the positions occupied by women in societies across the world. Exploring these developments, the 2016 State of the Union will address the extent of change in women’s lives, as well as the challenges to freedom and equality that remain. This 8 March edition of EUI Times previews some of the topics to be covered in May. In our Features section Professor Ruth Rubio Marin outlines why a State of the Union on women this year is so important, highlighting the persistence of violence against women, pay gaps and threats to reproductive autonomy. EUI Times also interviews U. S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and speaks with International Relations Professor Jennifer Welsh on women in conflict. Professor Brigid Laffan, Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS) focuses on the corporate realm, offering her take on how to close the gender gap at the highest levels. The precarity of female migrants is the focus of our three opinion pieces. Professor Anna Triandafyllidou looks specifically at the gender dimension of migration, while Research Associate Dr Sabrina Marchetti writes on paid domestic laborours and Dr Letizia Palumbo addresses the exploitation of agricultural workers, many of whom are migrant women. In our Profile section, EUI Times takes a look at the research of Professor Deirdre Curtin, who is working on transparency in European governance, and Professor Vanessa Grotti, who works on migrant maternity. In our Publications section we interview Dr Jan Skopek regarding a volume produced by EUI Professor Hans-Peter Blossfeld’s ‘EduLIFE’ project—a comparative study of gendered outcomes in labour market achievement for young women. Finally, we cover Beyond Trafficking and Slavery, a new teaching and research tool co-edited by Marie Curie Fellow Neil Howard. As ever, we sincerely hope you enjoy the EUI Times. In the spirit of debate and exchange, we welcome your thoughts and comments. Stephan Albrechtskirchinger Director, Communications Service