T
he Institute is entering a second chapter in its development. The first saw the merger of the two predecessor institutions and the reorganisation and strengthening of our administration, teaching, research and executive education. It witnessed the creation of the Campus de la paix and the transfer of most of our faculty and staff into the Maison de la paix last September. For the first time since 1927, after changes were made to the law on public education, the Institute was legally recognised, on par with the University of Geneva, as an institution of higher education supported by the State of Geneva. This new chapter will focus on reinforcing the Institute’s substance. We will continue attracting students from around the world and selecting the best from a constantly growing pool of candidates (we received close to 2,200 applications this year). We will continue to engage accomplished professors, as well as promising young faculty, to broaden and deepen our expertise, with an eye on improving how we communicate our knowledge and results. We will continue to expand our visiting programmes for professors, researchers and post-doctoral students to become, in close cooperation with International Geneva, a hub of expertise on global challenges. Finally, we will continue to extend our academic network, which gives our students the opportunity to study at one of nearly 30 institutions around the world, the majority in emerging countries.
This academic network is now moving beyond the exchange of students. We will soon renew an agreement with Harvard Law School that was concluded in 2006, together with the University of Geneva, which encompasses faculty exchanges. We have just established a dual degree programme with the Kennedy School, which strengthens our cooperation with Harvard and creates a model for simi lar agreements with institutions in other parts of the world. With this approach, and through other complementary measures, this new cycle of development will enable us to pursue the objective of constant amelioration that we have set for ourselves and thus to improve our capacity and influence.
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