Director's Message

Four years on The Institute has just completed its fourth year of activities. The changes that have taken place in that time are striking both in their scale and level: A new institution has emerged and enjoys the full support of its staff; A large number of new faculty members have joined us (25 new professors, including eight women) and among the students, carefully selected and closely supervised, the rate of completion is high; The seven research centres and programmes are focusing on themes of global importance in which Geneva and Switzerland have a comparative advantage; There is an academic network comprising some twenty partners, including half a dozen from emerging countries, the demographic reservoir of humanity; Executive education continues to grow; Finally, completion of the “Campus de la paix” means that the Institute will shortly have brand new state-of-the-art infrastructure.

The support of the public authorities has been key to these developments. Similarly, the backing of a growing circle of foundations and patrons has enabled us to raise more than CHF 90 million – thereby nearly matching the one-off contribution of CHF 100 million from the Confederation and the Canton of Geneva (principally to fund the “Maison de la paix”). But we also owe this success to the Institute’s faculty and staff, the quality of their work and the strength of their engagement, as well as to the support and loyalty of our alumni and friends throughout the world.

At the end of the first four years, the time has come to evaluate the implementation of the agreement that binds us to the public authorities (“Convention d’objectifs”). The report of the Committee of Experts appointed to carry out this task will be published in the near future. It will yield precious suggestions about how we can maintain our momentum and at the same time strive to improve the use of our valuable assets:

• A size and governance structure that are especially well-suited to the definition of a long-term strategy;
• Application of the principle of selectivity at all levels;
• A legal status and management flexibility that are particularly well matched to public-private partnerships, a rarity in the field of social sciences.

Philippe Burrin, Director

For more information: Globe N09, Spring 2012