Beginnings_240806 by Point Nemo Publishing

BEGINNINGS

Looking back on twenty years in the Conseil de Gouvernance de l’Université du Luxembourg

Michel Goedert

Aerial view Boulevard Royal, Luxembourg City [1954]

Photo: Tony Krier

© Photothèque de la Ville de Luxembourg

BEGINNINGS

Looking back on 20 years in the Conseil de Gouvernance de l’Université du Luxembourg

Michel Goedert

There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory.

Francis Drake

‘Letter to Francis Walsingham’

Sydney Brenner (1927-2019), one of the leading biologists of the 20th century, compared scientific research to a chess game. Here is what he said: ‘There is the opening game, there is the middle game and there is the end game. Now, of course very few people get a chance to play the end game. Most people are in the middle game. But I find the most wonderful thing in science is the opening game, when there is nothing else there. That’s when I think you can exercise a tremendous amount of freedom, of intellectual choice’1.

This is the story of the opening game of the University of Luxembourg, as seen through the eyes of someone who was a member of its Conseil de Gouvernance (CG) from 2004 to 2023. Looking back, it becomes clear that, from the very start, the ambition has been to produce worldclass research, which will in turn attract talented people and enhance the University’s international standing. The teaching of undergraduate courses by such top experts is ideal for fostering a passion for research in students and will ultimately have beneficial effects, both on the wider cultural environment and on the economic prosperity of the country. It is nation branding at its best.

I was born and bred in Luxembourg, but I have lived and worked abroad for over fifty years. This position as both an insider and an outsider has shaped my views of Luxembourg, of its University and of life more generally. I have therefore included some personal thoughts and impressions that are independent of my

views of the University. I do believe that one must write down reminiscences, even though they are bound to be selective and may be overhauled in future. What’s more, memory can be fickle in that one tends to insert one’s wishes and suspicions - and call them facts.

Luxembourg-Belair [around 1960]

Photo: Marcel Schroeder

© Photothèque de la Ville de Luxembourg

Size matters

Map of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, with the localities mentioned in this memoir highlighted by red arrows. Between 2004-2023, the main campuses of the University were in Luxembourg-Limpertsberg, Luxembourg-Kirchberg and Esch-Belval. Luxembourg (the capital and largest city) and Esch-sur-Alzette (the second largest city) are indicated by thick red arrows. The GrandDuchy of Luxembourg is one of the world’s smallest countries; it is bordered by Belgium in the West and Northwest (356 km of shared border), Germany in the East and Northeast (135 km of shared border) and France in the South (73 km of shared border). The Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg is 82 km long (maximum distance North-South) and 57 km wide (maximum distance East-West). Its area is 2,586 km2 and no point of its territory is more than 30 km away from the border with another country.

BELGIUM

From top to bottom, left to right

Grand-Rue, Luxembourg City [around 1960]

Photo: Théo Mey

Replacing the paving stones, Grand-Rue, Luxembourg City [1962]

Photo: Léon Stirn

Grand-Rue, Luxembourg City [1972 ]

Photo: Marcel Tockert

Hämmelsmarsch, Grand-Rue, Luxembourg City [1957]

Photo: Batty Fischer

© Photothèque de la Ville de Luxembourg

Procession d‘Octave [1954]

Photo: Tony Krier

© Photothèque de la Ville de Luxembourg

BEGINNINGS: Twenty years in the Conseil de

Remember, Grand-Rue, Luxembourg City [1957]

Photo: Inconnu © Photothèque de la Ville de Luxembourg

Gouvernance

From top to bottom, left to right

Boulevard Royal, Luxembourg City [around 1957]

Photo: Edouard Kutter

Boulevard Royal, Luxembourg City [1974]

Photo: Robert Thill

Place de Bruxelles [1974]

Photo: Marcel Schroeder

Luxembourg-Kirchberg [around 1930]

Photo: Betty Fischer

© Photothèque de la Ville de Luxembourg

From top to bottom, left to right

Building the Pont Grande-Duchesse Charlotte [around 1962]

Photo: Roger Obry

Building the Pont Grande-Duchesse Charlotte [around 1965]

Photo: Roger Obry

Aerial View Luxembourg-Kirchberg [1965]

Photo: Théo Mey

Aerial view Luxembourg-Kirchberg [2024]

Photo: Ken Geschwind © Optimus Drone

THE UNIVERSITY AND I

Until the age of 19, I lived in the city of Luxembourg with my parents and sisters Janine and Annemarie. It was the period of the trente glorieuses (‘thirty glorious years’) [1945-1975], when the country’s prosperity was underpinned by ARBED (Aciéries Réunies de Burbach-EichDudelange). I attended primary school in LuxembourgBelair and secondary school at the Athénée; I took part in two national Concours Jeunes Scientifiques (‘Young Scientists Competitions’) and in the ‘5th European Contest for Young Scientists and Inventors’ in London in 1973. The latter encouraged me to become a research scientist.

After secondary school, I left Luxembourg to study Medicine at the University of Basel, Switzerland, where I also read Philosophy under the guidance of Hansjörg Alfred Salmony (1920-1991)2. During my medical studies, I worked part-time on the protein Nerve Growth Factor at the Biozentrum of Basel University, under the supervision of Hans Thoenen (1928-2012). For several years I liked Biomedical Research best, followed by Philosophy and then Medicine proper. After obtaining a Medical Doctorate (MD), I moved to Cambridge University, United Kingdom, in 1981, where I worked towards a PhD in Pharmacology at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Neurochemical Pharmacology Unit directed by Leslie Iversen (1937-2020).

In 1984, I believed that I had to choose between

practising medicine and doing scientific research. I felt that it was preferable to do one thing well than two things poorly, and doing research seemed to suit me better. They are two quite different undertakings, with research being less predictable. Also, as a physician, one tends to improve with experience, which is not necessarily the case with research in Biology. In fact, it has often been said that research is a young person’s game. Like many other people, most scientists live by the adage attributed to Ashley Montagu (1905-1999): ‘The idea is to die young as late as possible’3. Easier said than done! In any case, one soon learns that ‘Science is not a quiet life’4.

For more than twenty years, I only returned to Luxembourg about once a year to visit my family. So, when Germain Dondelinger (1953-2015), Premier Conseiller de Gouvernement in charge of the University (and a former teacher of English at the Lycée de Garçons de Luxembourg), contacted me in January 2004 on behalf of Erna Hennicot-Schoepges, Minister for Higher Education and Research, and invited me to serve as one of the seven members of the Conseil de Gouvernance, his call came as a complete surprise. I still wonder where he had heard of me (apparently, there is a list…). It took me a while to accept, the workload being a major concern. At the time Dondelinger assured me that it would not be too onerous a task. Little did I suspect then that I would be a member of the CG for twenty years.

Without a doubt, the new role allowed me to reconnect

with my roots. Statistically, you are unlikely to be born in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, and the fact that we have no control over the place or time of our birth is important for how we lead our lives. We are literally thrown into the world5. My own Geworfenheit (’thrownness’) meant Luxembourg on May 22, 1954, but my Entwurf (‘Project’) took me away from the Grand-Duchy. I have often asked myself why I did not return after university. No doubt, a major factor was my choice of career, which left me with few options.

But there was more. I felt that the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg had an identity problem. Society was still largely dominated by the Catholic Church, and one was constantly looking for guidance abroad. Those were the years when Jours tranquilles à Clichy, a 1970 movie by Jens Jørgen Thorsen (1932-2000), and Le dernier tango à Paris,

Pioneers of the Université du Luxembourg [2004]

Left to right: Germain Dondelinger, Erna Hennicot-Schoepges

a 1972 movie by Bernardo Bertolucci (1941-2018), were censored in Luxembourg6. But it was also after 1968, famously referred to as la première année du monde (‘the first year of the world’)7.

From 1919, the year general suffrage was introduced, up to 1974, except for 1925/26, every Prime Minister of Luxembourg belonged to the Rietspartei (‘Political Party of the Right’) or Chrëschtlech Sozial Vollekspartei (CSV) (‘Christian Social People’s Party’), the name adopted from 1944 onwards. I remember the prevailing atmosphere in the 1960s as being one of narrow-mindedness and provincialism. The words from Michel Lentz’s De Feierwon, a popular song composed to mark the inauguration of the first cross-border railway in 1859: Mir wölle bleiwe wat mir sin (‘We want to remain what we are’) struck me as an expression of mere self-satisfaction [even though Lentz (1820-1893) himself may have intended them to exclusively refer to national independence].

Prejudice was anchored institutionally. As an altar boy at the Eglise Saint Pie X in Luxembourg-Belair in the early 1960s, I recall the Good Friday prayer: Oremus et pro perfidis Judaeis (‘Let us also pray for the perfidious Jews’). And when the Monument de la Solidarité Nationale (‘Monument of National Solidarity’) was inaugurated in 1971, the Shoah was not even mentioned. In the 1950s, many Catholic churches carried plaster money boxes on top of which sat the figure of an African boy, who nodded his head whenever a coin was inserted. Any donation, we

were told, would go to one of the numerous missionaries from Luxembourg in the Belgian Congo and elsewhere.

‘De Jangli fiert den Houwald erop’ (a popular song) talks specifically about the Congo: ‘All Neger ass geschwënn gutt drun. Wann si emol de Jhängelchen dohannen hun’ [‘Every Negro will soon have it good, once they will have the Jhängelchen (a type of train) over there’].

In some respects, the country has moved on. Thus, the Luxemburger Wort, the daily newspaper with the largest circulation, is no longer owned by the Catholic Church and Luc Frieden, Spëtzekandidat (‘leading candidate’) of the CSV in the Parliamentary Elections, and now Prime Minister and President of the CSV, said in August 2023:

‘Den C steet net fir eng Relioun. Den C steet fir Grondwäerter, den Humanismus, deen an eiser Gesellschaft extrem wichteg ass’ 8 (‘The letter C does not stand for a particular religion. The letter C stands for the fundamental values, for the humanism which is extremely important in our society’). I cannot help but wonder what Jews, Muslims and followers of other religions might make of this statement, in view of their fraught interactions with Christianity over the centuries. Moreover, by their very nature, Humanistic movements are non-religious. Will the CSV have to drop the C sooner or later? Or perhaps change its meaning from ‘Christian’ to ‘Conservative’?

I am told by people of my generation that changes for the better have taken place. Both the size and the composition of the population are now very different. By 2022, the

number of inhabitants of Luxembourg had grown to 640,000, from 315,000 in 1961. The percentage of people with a nationality other than Luxembourgish was 47% in 2022, compared to 13% in 1961. In 2021, only around half the population (49%) gave Luxembourgish as their main language, followed by Portuguese (15%) and French (15%). English was the main language of 4% of people, while another 4% spoke Italian, followed by German (3%) and other languages (10%)9. An increase in the number of New Luxembourgers and their interactions with Old Luxembourgers may have helped to create a more vibrant environment10. On the other hand, when I walk by the luxury boutiques in the city centre or drive past the glass palaces in LuxembourgKirchberg, I am reminded of a tax haven, which was definitely not the case in the 1960s. So, might there still be a lack of identity today?

I must admit that even in the 1960s there were genuine positives too, and I would like to thank four people in particular. Norbert Schroeder, my Biology teacher at the Athénée, unleashed an interest that is still with me. René Weis (1915-2001), from the Cours Universitaires, reinforced my belief that scientific research can lead to an interesting and fulfilling life, though not necessarily in Luxembourg. Fernand Schwachtgen (1910-2000), from the Institut d’Hygiène et de Santé Publique (‘Hygiene and Public Health Institute’, Staatslaboratoire) said that Neurobiology was the discipline of the future. Later, I learnt that Schwachtgen, alias Jean l’Aveugle (‘John the Blind’), had been a member

of the Resistance during World War II. He passed on to British Military Intelligence what he had observed during the Reichsarbeitsdienst (’Reich Labour Service’) in Peenemünde on the island of Usedom in northern Germany. Intelligence on the V1 flying bomb and the long-range V2 rocket (Vergeltungswaffen or ‘revenge weapons’) led to the raid by the Royal Air Force of August 194311. Last, but not least, I want to thank Fernand Wagner (1928-2007), from the Lycée des Arts et Métiers, who initiated the Concours Jeunes Scientifiques in which I participated in 1971 and 1972.

I was born only nine years after the end of World War II (Luxembourg had been rebuilt), which is probably why the events of 1933-1945 keep influencing my outlook on life. People of my parents’ generation lived through this period and were marked deeply by it. My father Pierre (1922-2018), his brother Jean (19211944) and his sister Marianne (1926-1995) grew up in Luxembourg-Limpertsberg. In October 1942, following five months of Reichsarbeitsdienst, Jean and Pierre were forced into the Wehrmacht [becoming enrôlés de force (‘forcibly conscripted’)]. Pierre deserted in December 1943 and lived in hiding until September 10, 1944, when large parts of the country were liberated by the 5th Armoured Division of the United States Army. Jean’s fate encapsulates the tragedy suffered by many enrôlés de force. He was killed in Romania in November 1944, while fighting the Russians in a German uniform.

Of the 10,200 men from Luxembourg who were forced into the German Army, 2,848 lost their lives or went missing between 1942 and 1945; 3,510 men were either réfractaires (they refused to join the Wehrmacht and went into hiding) or déserteurs (they joined the Wehrmacht and went into hiding after having deserted). If réfractaires or déserteurs were caught, they were put before a military tribunal and many were executed; their families were resettled, mainly to Silesia, which then belonged to Germany and is now part of Poland. Families that were considered politically unreliable were also moved East. Around 4,000 individuals from the Grand-Duchy were resettled.

My mother Nini Bové (1925-2020), her sister Suzette (1924-2000) and their parents lived in Wiltz. They remained trapped there during the heavy fighting of the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945, which they referred to as d’Rundstedtoffensiv.

Like many people of my own generation, I developed an ambivalent view of Germany. On the one hand, it was perhaps the most culturally advanced of all countries; on the other hand, the Germans had revealed themselves to be a nation capable of the most terrible atrocities. This sharp contrast is key to an anecdote that Fritz Stern (1926-2016), a German-born American historian who was a Professor at Columbia University, relates in his 2006 book entitled ‘Five Germanys I have known’: ‘When General Charles de Gaulle made his first trip to Russia,

in the winter of 1944-1945, he went to Stalingrad, site of the farthest advance and greatest defeat of the German army. In the First World War, de Gaulle had been wounded fighting against the Germans at Verdun and been imprisoned by them for more than two years, and in the Second he was leader of the Free French fighting them. Legend, with a proper touch of verisimilitude, has it that amid the ruins of Stalingrad he muttered to an aide, “Quel peuple!” The translator enquired, “You mean the Russians?” “No,” said de Gaulle, “the Germans”’12.

Many Germans were implicated directly or indirectly in the atrocities of World War II, and some of those who were involved in the events of 1933-1945 came to positions of power in Germany after 194513. This was also the case for Germans active outside the Fatherland. Thus, Leonhard Drach (1903-1996), the prosecuting attorney who condemned to death the Luxembourgers who took part in the strikes of 1942, was amnestied by the Luxembourg Government in 1954. Later, he was to become Oberstaatsanwalt (‘Chief Public Prosecutor’) at the Landgericht (‘District Court’) in Frankenthal14.

Still, no one can deny that over the decades, and especially since the 1960s, West Germany’s efforts at Vergangenheitsbewältigung (‘the process of coming to terms with the past’) have been extensive. These efforts culminated in the speech by Richard von Weizsäcker (1920-2015), the President of West Germany, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the end of World War

II, even though he said: ‘Es geht nicht darum Vergangenheit zu bewältigen. Das kann man gar nicht.’ [‘This is not about coming to terms with the past, which is not possible’]. Somewhat surprisingly, von Weizsäcker also said: ‘Der 8. Mai war ein Tag der Befreiung. Er hat uns alle befreit von dem menschenverachtenden System der nationalsozsialistischen Gewaltherrschaft’ [‘May 8 was a day of liberation. We were all liberated from the dehumanising system of Nazi tyranny’]. Bedingungslose Kapitulation als Befreiung? (‘Unconditional surrender as a liberation?’). The perpetrators as victims?

Erinnerungskultur (‘Memory Culture’) is not static. Only

Giants of Molecular Biology [1986] Left to right: Francis Crick; Sydney Brenner.

few direct witnesses of the events of 1933-1945 are still alive and the events of those years are part of history for the younger generations. Moreover, the demographics of Germany are such that many families living there now were not affected by what happened. The challenge is to keep the memory of what happened alive, while embracing the fact that many views espoused in the 21st century are different from those held in the 20th century.

FINDING A RESEARCH SUBJECT

Francis Crick (1916-2004) believed that to discover what one is really interested in, one must find out what one enjoys gossiping about15. I liked reading and talking about work in Molecular Biology and its implications. I was also intrigued by the mysteries of the brain. Some books16-19 were inspirational and, in the end, I decided to study brain function at the molecular level.

A major unsolved question in Biology is how electrochemical processes in some of the eighty-six billion nerve cells in the human brain give rise to conscious experience. David Chalmers, a Professor of Philosophy and Neural Science at New York University, distinguishes between the ‘hard’ and the ‘easy’ problems of consciousness20,21. The former relate to explaining how nerve cell firing can give rise to subjective experience: How do physical processes generate a specific first-person point of view? The easy problems have to do with more tractable issues, such as understanding the ability to

The Three Musketeers [2006]

Left to right: Michel Goedert, Aaron Klug, Tony Crowther discriminate between stimuli or the control of behaviour. Even though they are far from trivial, these problems do fit into current frameworks of understanding, which is not the case for the hard problems.

Peter Medawar (1915-1987), who shared the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine [with Frank Macfarlane Burnet (1899-1985)] for ‘the discovery of acquired immunological tolerance’, called science ‘the Art of the Soluble’22. What he meant is that in research one must set out to find solutions for difficult problems. Yet, even though some problems are clearly important, we will have to accept that solving them may remain out of reach at a given time.

What one should do is choose a major problem that one

believes can be solved. The process involves being drawn to the unknown and developing an emotional connection with the issue at hand. What one should not do is study questions that can only provide an incremental increase in knowledge (so-called ‘me-too questions’).

Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996), who was a Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was probably the most influential historian of science of the 20th century. He taught us that periods of normal science, when knowledge accumulates linearly, are interrupted by periods of revolutionary science, which he termed ‘paradigm changes’23. The discovery of anomalies leading to revolutions results in novel paradigms, which ask new questions of old findings and which alter the rules of the game.

In 1986, I decided to work on the abnormal filamentous inclusions that define common neurodegenerative diseases. I was interested in the subject and was influenced by some colleagues, including Tony Crowther and Aaron Klug (1926-2018) from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. At the time, the chemical identity of intracellular filaments was not known, nor was their relevance for the neurodegenerative process. Because of the work that was already on-going in the Laboratory, you could argue that I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. Although it is often said that luck (both good and bad) is a major shaper of our lives over which we have no control, to some extent

at least, we make our own luck24.

Some neurodegenerative diseases are genetic disorders in the sense that a small number of patients carry mutations that cause disease and are inherited in a Mendelian fashion; however, most patients have a polygenic risk for disease based on the presence of certain gene variants and their interactions with the environment. The former are called familial forms of disease, whereas the latter are referred to as sporadic cases because it is not possible to predict who is going to develop disease.

We now know what proteins the filamentous inclusions of most neurodegenerative diseases are made of. We also know that dominantly inherited mutations in genes that encode their constituent parts or affect their production cause familial forms of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, frontotemporal dementias and motor neuron diseases. Since the inclusions of familial and sporadic forms of disease are made of the same proteins, inclusion formation probably underlies all cases of disease. In our on-going work we are using electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) to solve the structures of disease filaments. In due course, the new knowledge is expected to lead to better diagnostics and the development of novel mechanism-based therapies.

MRC LABORATORY OF MOLECULAR

BIOLOGY

When I completed work towards a PhD in 1984, it was clear that I was going to be at a disadvantage without a background in Molecular Biology. This was the time when complementary DNA cloning was revealing the primary structures of myriads of important molecules of the nervous system, including ion channels, neurotransmitter receptors and neuropeptides. In 1988, we were to use complementary DNA cloning to identify tau protein as an integral component of the paired helical filaments of Alzheimer’s disease25 .

By then I had read about the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB)26, which was in the building adjacent to that of the MRC Neurochemical Pharmacology Unit. And when enquiring about joining the LMB as a post-doctoral scientist, I was offered a position with a three-year stipend. It is where I have worked ever since: In 1987 I became a tenure-track Programme Leader and I was tenured in 1990. I was Head of the LMB’s Neurobiology Division from 20032016 and an Honorary (meaning unpaid) Professor (now Emeritus) at Cambridge University from 2014-2021. Currently, I am a Programme Leader at the LMB.

The first MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology was opened by Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) in May 196227. It was successor to the MRC Unit for the Study of Molecular Structure of Biological Systems, which

had been based at the Cavendish Laboratory since 1947. The second MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology was opened, again by Queen Elizabeth II, in a new building on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in May 2013.

In October 1962, four LMB scientists were awarded Nobel Prizes. James Watson and Francis Crick shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine [with Maurice Wilkins (1916-2004)] ‘for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material’, whereas Max Perutz (1914-2002) and John Kendrew (1917-1997) were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry ‘for their studies on the physical structures of globular proteins.’ Other important discoveries followed.

Aaron Klug [1982]

BEGINNINGS: Twenty years in the

Opening of the first MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology [1962]

MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (2013-present) The second Laboratory on Francis Crick Avenue

MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (1962-2013)

The first Laboratory on Hills Road

Opening of the second MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology [2013]

Nobel Prizes [1962]

Left to right: Maurice Wilkins (Physiology or Medicine); Max Perutz (Chemistry); Francis Crick (Physiology or Medicine); John Steinbeck (Literature); James Watson (Physiology or Medicine); John Kendrew (Chemistry). David Landau, the Physics Laureate, was in a Moscow hospital, recovering from the injuries suffered in a car accident.

Scientiﬁc Landmarks - A brief history Scientiﬁc Landmarks - A brief

1947: MRC ‘Unit for Research on the Molecular Structure of Biological Systems’ established

1953: Double-helical structure of DNA elucidated

Sliding filament model for muscle contraction proposed

1959: First atomic resolution map of a protein, myoglobin

Structure of haemoglobin determined

1961: Demonstration of the triplet nature of the genetic code

1962: MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology opened

1967: First mutant of C. elegans (nematode worm) produced

1968: First 3D models of protein structures from electron microscopy

1971: Precursor tRNA molecules found and discovery of catalytic RNA

1972: Asymmetric lipid bilayer structure for biological membranes proposed

Signal peptide sequence which directs protein secretion discovered

1975: Monoclonal antibody methodology invented

First 3D structure of a membrane protein, bacteriorhodopsin

1977: Method for sequencing DNA developed

Scientific Landmarks –A brief history of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology [1947-2018]

history of the LMB brief history of the LMB

1983: Embryonic cell lineage of C. elegans unraveled

1986: First humanised antibody produced

C. elegans is the first animal to have its entire nervous system mapped

1988: First patient treated with humanised antibody, Campath-1

1989: First LMB spin-out company, Cambridge Antibody Technology, formed

1994: Structure of F1 subunit of mitochondrial ATPase revealed

1997: Major component of filamentous lesions found in Parkinson’s disease identified

1998: C. elegans is the first animal to have its genome sequenced

2000: Structure of 30S ribosomal subunit and its complexes determined

2002: Molecular mechanism of antibody mutation uncovered

2008: β-adrenergic receptor structure determined

2010: Discovered that antibodies fight viruses within infected cells

2013: New MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology building opens

2014: Cryo-EM atomic structures at 3.2Å resolution

2015: First spliceosomal complex structures determined

2017-

2018: Structures of tau filaments from Alzheimer’s and Pick’s disease solved

Max Perutz was Chairman of the LMB from 19621979 and was succeeded by Sydney Brenner, who was Director from 1979-1986. Aaron Klug was Director from 1986-1996, Richard Henderson from 1996-2006 and Hugh Pelham from 2006-2018. The current Director is Jan Löwe. As a Research Institute of the MRC, the LMB is not part of Cambridge University, even though the University awards degrees to those who study at the LMB for an MPhil or a PhD degree. The MRC, whose headquarters are in London, is funded by the British taxpayer. About half of its grant-in-aid is spent on the funding of Research Units and Institutes distributed across the United Kingdom, of which the LMB has grown to be the largest. The other half funds University research.

Synucleinopathies [1997]

Left to right: Ross Jakes; Maria Grazia Spillantini; Michel Goedert.

Since in research there is often enough frustration and disappointment ahead (after all, most experiments fail!), it is essential to choose an area that one feels passionate about. The support of senior peers is also vital, especially in the beginning, when one lacks experience. I was fortunate that Sydney Brenner took me in as postdoctoral fellow in 1984. Moreover, I am grateful to Aaron Klug28, without whom I would probably have had to leave the LMB in 1987. Until 2001, I also benefited from conversations with Max Perutz, who wrote widely about science and its practitioners29. Like Brenner, Perutz and Klug were eminent scientists30-32.

Hierarchies at the LMB are quite flat, which is essential for the periodic renewal of the Laboratory. Programme

Sjors Scheres [2018]

Leaders are independent and are expected to work on long-term problems. As an illustration, it took us twenty-nine years from the identification of tau protein in the paired helical filaments of Alzheimer’s disease25 to the determination of their near-atomic structures33 and twenty-five years from the identification of alphasynuclein in the filamentous inclusions of Parkinson’s disease34 to the determination of the Lewy fold35.

Our recent work has been made possible by developments in cryo-EM that took place elsewhere in the LMB36 and by the collaboration with Sjors Scheres37. It is an illustration of Brenner’s saying that: ‘Progress in science depends on new techniques, new discoveries and new ideas, probably in that order.’ Work at the LMB has led to the determination of the cryo-EM structures of amyloid filaments made of tau, alpha-synuclein, TDP43 and amyloid-beta33,38-42. This work has also shown that cryo-EM can identify previously unknown brain filaments43,44. Clearly, being surrounded by scientists from different disciplines often helps.

WHY HAVE A UNIVERSITY IN LUXEMBOURG?

The citizens of Luxembourg enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world. When I was studying Medicine, many Swiss people were surprised to learn that Luxembourg didn’t have a university and was dependent on other countries for the higher education of its youth. My seven years of medical studies cost the Swiss taxpayer hundreds of thousands of Swiss francs. You might argue that even though it is expensive, provision of a university education is necessary for a country’s autonomy. In 2004, when compared to thirty other countries, Luxembourg had the highest wealth intensity, but one of the lowest citation intensities. Switzerland, on the other hand, had one of the highest wealth intensities and the highest citation intensity45. Where would Luxembourg be on such a graph now?

You may wonder why there was no University before 2003, when the Centres de Recherche Publics and the Fonds National de la Recherche existed already. In 1997, Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker answered this question in his own unmistakable way: ‘Weil ich mit einem unbegrenzten Fanatismus gegen eine luxemburgische Universität bin, weil ich Angst habe vor der Betriebsblindheit junger Luxemburger, die nicht mindestens vier Jahre im Ausland studiert haben. Ich fürchte den akademischen Inzest’ (‘Because I am against a Luxembourg University with unlimited fanaticism, because I am afraid of the blindness of young Luxembourgers who have not

BEGINNINGS: Twenty years in the

The Scientific Wealth of Nations [2004] Luxembourg had the highest wealth intensity and one the lowest citation intensities. By contrast, Switzerland had one of the highest wealth intensities and the highest citation intensity [from reference (45)].

studied abroad for at least four years. I fear academic incest’)46. At the time, most citizens seem to have been sharing Juncker’s views.

Why, then, was the University created only six years later - with Juncker still in post as Prime Minister? Clearly, some people must have changed their minds. It has been said that the creation of the University was due in large part to the persuasive power of Erna Hennicot-Schoepges, who was Minister for Culture, Higher Education and Research in the Juncker-Polfer government (19992004), a coalition between the CSV and the Demokratesch Partei (DP) (‘Liberal Party’)47. She was also Minister for Public Works, but not Minister for Education. Though Culture proved to go well with Higher Education and Research, regrettably, that combination of Government Departments has not been seen again. The ministerial portefeuille of Public Works was important, too, when it came to establishing most of the University in EschBelval. In a 2023 speech Hennicot-Schoepges, who was awarded the Medal of the University in 2013, described what happened at the time48.

She saw the increasing Europeanisation resulting from the Bologna process and from the European Commission’s Lisbon strategy as an opening for establishing the Université du Luxembourg49. She signed the Bologna declaration in 1999, four years prior to the founding of the Université du Luxembourg.

No doubt, one reason for creating the University of Luxembourg was the economy’s reliance on a small number of sectors. Universities are, in fact, often seen as engines of technological change and economic prosperity. It has, thus, been estimated that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a major University in Boston, United States, has been responsible for the creation of over 30,000 companies and around 4.6 million jobs50. So, a strategic early decision was to create a research-led University, with the objective of putting Luxembourg on the international map.

Research can be either fundamental or applied, and it is important to explain what a ‘Research University’ is, especially regarding the Humanities, which are often seen as the poor relations of the institution. Yet, it is through them and through related subjects that we learn how to understand ourselves and others51.

Also, it is crucial for the University of Luxembourg to be distinct from the twenty-two other Universities located within a radius of 250 km. Don Rodolfo Germán Tarrach y Siegel, who was Rector (the executive authority responsible for developing overall strategy and institutional politics) from 2005-2014, said that the goal was to create ‘a world-class University relevant to her country’52. There is no doubt that the University’s success will depend on it being able to achieve this objective.

Although research and innovation may lead to wealth creation eventually, the time scales involved tend to be longer than those under which the funding organisations operate. The Theory of Relativity of Albert Einstein (1879-1955) is a case in point. No one can deny that it is one of the greatest achievements of the human mind and that it has also led to the development of many new technologies. Nowadays we know, for instance, that without it our global positioning system tracking devices would become inaccurate by several kilometres a day. Thus, in the end, transformative and unexpected utility resulted, but this played no role in the formulation of the theory as such. Similarly, analysis of what led to the development of many of today’s most widely used medicines has shown that 80% can be traced back to basic science discoveries, most of which took place decades before the work that resulted in medical breakthroughs53.

The University of Luxembourg awards academic degrees and aims to excel in research. It also awards Bachelor and Master degrees in more applied subjects, such as Educational Sciences, and the latter need to go hand in hand with internationally competitive research.

Crucially, the Institution has a role to play in Luxembourg society at large as well. It should make the public better informed and more critical. Even though this function is less clearly defined, it is essential for the University not to be seen as a mouthpiece of the Government and/or in thrall to various economic

interests. Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), the prominent writer and philosopher, distinguished between techniciens du savoir (‘knowledge technicians’) and intellectuels engagés (‘committed intellectuals’)54, and he preferred the latter. At times it has been said that there are too few intellectuels engagés at the University of Luxembourg55. Ironically, Sartre himself made serious mistakes, for instance when he supported Stalinism and Mao Zedong’s cultural revolution. He did not seem to realise that, had he lived in the Soviet Union or in China, he would have been eliminated.

The University of Luxembourg has been expanding over the years. When its teaching and learning were assessed in 2020, it comprised over 6,500 students who were enrolled in fourteen Bachelor programmes, fortythree Master programmes, four Doctoral schools and thirteen Certificate programmes.

It might seem surprising that the main campus of the country’s only university is not in the capital. In fact, the choice of location is closely linked to the crisis that hit the country’s industrial heartland in the 1970s and the 1980s. As a result of the oil crisis, demand for steel collapsed worldwide and Luxembourg, whose economic development had been driven by the steel sector for decades, soon faced a national emergency.

Compulsory early retirement was introduced at ARBED, while a national solidarity tax was raised to

BEGINNINGS: Twenty years in the Conseil de Gouvernance

Steel industry, Esch-Belval [1955]

Photo: Marcel Schroeder

© Photothèque de la Ville de Luxembourg

Aerial view of University Campus, Esch-Belval [2024]

BEGINNINGS: Twenty years in the Conseil de

Photo: Ken Geschwind © Optimus Drone

Gouvernance

help modernise what was left of the industry. Yet the decline could not be stopped, and in the 1980s ARBED would most probably have collapsed without massive public investment. Parallel to this, the development of the financial centre in and around the capital city started becoming more and more central to the economy.

Soon new questions were on the agenda: What should be done with the various abandoned sites in the South of the country? How could industrial heritage be protected? Records show that in 1996, the tripartite sidérurgique (a coordination committee made up of the government, employers and trade unions) discussed what to do with Belval, a neighbourhood in Esch-sur-Alzette, where the last blast furnace stopped functioning the following year and where 120 hectares of land would become available for redevelopment.

A 2001 meeting between Erna Hennicot-Schoepges, Michel Wolter, Minister for the Interior, and Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker proved to be decisive [48]. The following year the Fonds Belval was created by the Ministry of Public Works to plan the industrial site conversion and take charge of the construction work. Germain Dondelinger, one of the pioneers of the University and the Government representative at the meetings of the CG for the first ten years, was also Head of the Fonds Belval from 2004 to 2014. One can question the wisdom of the same person wearing these two quite different hats. It was to make the discussions in the CG

difficult at times.

In any case, since so many people from abroad have not heard of the Grand-Duchy, let alone of Esch-Belval, the challenge is going to be for the University’s publications to try and make the latter a household name worldwide over the next few decades!

FACULTIES

The University of Luxembourg was created in August 2003, with the law coming into effect in October. Its creation was supported by the major opposition party, the Lëtzebuerger Sozialistesch Aarbechterpartei (LSAP) (‘Luxembourg Socialist and Workers’ Party’), due in no small measure to the lobbying by Ben Fayot, LSAP member of Parliament (and my French teacher at the Athénée). Twenty years later, with around 2,500 employees, it has become one of the largest employers in the country. From the outset, there have been three Faculties: Faculté de Droit, d’Economie et de Finance (FDEF), Faculté des Lettres, des Sciences Humaines, des Arts et des Sciences de l’Education (FLSHASE) and Faculté des Sciences, de la Technologie et de la Communication (FSTC). Meanwhile, the first two Interdisciplinary Centres started work in 2009. The same Faculties still exist, even though they have grown, some of the names have changed, and Departments have been introduced. The third Interdisciplinary Centre opened its doors in 2017.

In November 2023 the University of Luxembourg comprised three Faculties and three Interdisciplinary Centres. The schematic on page 10 gives an overview of members of the CG, Rectors of the University and Ministers for Higher Education and Research between January 2004 and November 2023.

In the beginning, new entities were created, while some existing ones were incorporated into the University. This was the case for professional programmes, such as those for the training of Primary School Teachers (ISERP, Institut supérieur d’études et de recherches pédagogiques) and the training of Engineers (IST, Institut supérieur de technologie). The same also happened, for example, with the Département de formation pédagogique of the Centre Universitaire, whose programmes were incorporated into FLSHASE and FSTC. The ‘Luxembourg School of Finance’, which predated the University, became the finance arm of FDEF. Part of the Institut d’études éducatives et sociales (IEES) was incorporated into FLSHASE and became the Bachelor en sciences sociales et éducatives. All this suggests that the opening game of the University was, in fact, not that open!

The position of Enseignant-Chercheur was created and was divided into four categories: Professeur, AssistantProfesseur, Chargé(e) de Cours and Chargé(e) d’Education. A committee chaired by Lucien Capella, former President of the Université Aix-Marseille-III, adjudicated on the applicants, most of whom joined the University from the

Centre Universitaire. Eighteen Professors and twenty-two Assistant Professors were thus appointed, which meant that one could become a Professor at the University of Luxembourg without having an internationally recognised doctoral degree.

Obviously, compromises had to be made to ensure a smooth transition, yet this has probably had unfortunate long-term consequences. Integration of staff who are not research-oriented has plagued the University ever since, and it is perhaps not surprising that Education, Engineering and Finance were ranked among the weakest subjects in the Research Evaluation of 2016. The evaluation of 2024 will tell if recent strategies have helped to strengthen research in these areas.

Professors and promotion-track Associate Professors are now ranked by international committees and the lists are presented to the CG for approval. This is a good approach, though a recent audit has identified deficiencies in the implementation of the policy. There is certainly room for improvement and the Rectorate is on the case. Until recently, more Full Professors than Assistant or Associate Professors were nominated at the University of Luxembourg. In most countries, the reverse is the case.

There are other remaining anomalies. Thus, the Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences continues to be part of FHSE (Faculté des Sciences

Humaines, des Sciences de l’Education et des Sciences Sociales). While behavioural sciences study human and animal behaviours, cognitive sciences investigate how the mind determines behaviour via processes such as perception, reasoning, memory, emotion and volition. It is a multidisciplinary endeavour that comprises several disciplines, including neuropsychology and artificial intelligence. Cognitive sciences draw from research developments in neuroscience, which is an experimental discipline firmly anchored in biology, chemistry and physics. So, it would, no doubt, make more sense for the Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences to be part of FSTM (Faculté des Sciences, de la Technologie et de la Médecine).

INTERDISCIPLINARY CENTRES

The University of Luxembourg can have up to six Interdisciplinary Centres. They are independent of the Faculties and stand for excellent research and societal relevance. With their competitive facilities, research infrastructure and long-term mission, Interdisciplinary Centres attract academics from around the world. Directors of Interdisciplinary Centres are at the same level as Deans of Faculties. I am going to describe the three Interdisciplinary Centres that existed in November 2023 in detail because they began work during my time in the CG, whereas the three Faculties existed from the outset.

The ‘Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust’ (SnT) and the ‘Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine’ (LCSB) opened their doors in 2009, while the ‘Centre for Contemporary and Digital History’ (C2DH) began in 2017. Two additional Interdisciplinary Centres are planned. The first is a Centre for European Law, following incorporation of the activities of the MaxPlanck-Institute for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law. This Centre will aim to make the study of European Law an even stronger subject in the University. The second is a Centre for Research on Environmental Systems, the first Interdisciplinary Centre to originate entirely from within the Institution. Hopefully, the latter will allow the University to become a magnet for the study of the environment. As was the case with the first three Centres, what probably matters most, is the vision of each founding Director.

Faculties and Interdisciplinary Centres are organised along different lines. Overall, the Deans of Faculties have less power than the Heads of Interdisciplinary Centres. Unlike for the Rector and the Vice-Rectors, whose term of office is limited to two mandates, there is no legal limit to the number of mandates for Deans and Directors of Centres. Meanwhile, the teaching load of the members of Faculties is greater than that of the academic staff at Interdisciplinary Centres. As for research, the Centres probably have an advantage, although some of the highest quality research at the University is also done in the Faculties.

CONSEIL DE GOUVERNANCE

Erna Hennicot-Schoepges and Germain Dondelinger followed an Anglo-Saxon model when they created a University with a Board, meaning that the Conseil de Gouvernance (the Board) is the central decision organ of the University56. The University law stipulates that: ‘Le Conseil de Gouvernance arrête la politique générale et la stratégie de l’Université et exerce le contrôle sur les activités de l’Université’ (’the Governing Board decides on the general policy and strategy of the University and exercises control over the activities of the University’).

It has been said that the Rectorate proposes and that the CG decides. The latter nominates the Rector, ViceRectors, Deans, Directors of Interdisciplinary Centres, as well as Affiliated, Invited and Honorary Professors. It decides on the profils de poste and nominates full Professors and promotion-track Associate Professors. It is responsible for the règlement d’ordre intérieur (‘internal regulations’) of the University. The CG needs to approve the four-year plans, which are required for the agreement with the Government and the budget allocation. It also nominates the Head of Administration and supervises the annual budgets.

According to the University law of 2018, the CG is composed of thirteen members, eleven of whom are nominated by the Government for a renewable fiveyear term. Nine members, of whom at least five must

be Professors of University or of equivalent standing, are proposed by the Minister for Higher Education and Research. Two members represent the Conseil Universitaire of the University and two are members ex officio (the Head of the Personnel delegation and the President of the Student organisation of the University of Luxembourg). Note that the representative of the Ministry for Higher Education and Research has no voting right in the CG.

Even though this top-down approach has been beneficial most of the time, it may have to be adapted in future. The current model works best when the Rector and CG are singing from the same hymn sheet, with the Rector firmly in the driving seat. It is essential for the Rector to have enough authority to avoid being caught between the conflicting demands coming from Faculties, Interdisciplinary Centres and the CG. The gobetween that links the CG and the day-to-day running of the University is the Secretariat of the CG, whose role is key. Guy Poos [2004-2012] and Massimo Malvetti (2013-present) have been the CG’s secretaries over the past twenty years, with Malvetti assisted by Anne Christophe since 2014.

BEGINNINGS: Twenty years in the

16/01/04

GOEDERT

16/01/04 - 30/11/23

KIRSCH HOFFMANN

16/01/04 - 30/11/23

RIEBEN 16/01/04

RUPPERT 16/01/04

LEGROS

16/01/04

SKÚLASON

16/01/04

TAVENAS (†13/02/04)

16/01/04

Lehners 14/02/04

DONDELINGER

16/01/04 - 07/05/14

HENNICOT

16/01/04

TARRACH

01/01/05

BILTGEN / Modert 01/08/04

MENGOZZI 13/10/05

QUENET

07/03/09 ZAVRTANIK

26/03/09

Twenty years of the Université du Luxembourg (2004-2023)

Members of the Conseil de Gouvernance, Rectors, Government Commissioners and Ministers for Higher Education and Research.

JAEGER 16/01/12

JAEGER 16/01/12 QUENET

07/03/09

26/03/09

BEGINNINGS: Twenty years in the Conseil de Gouvernance

26/03/09

MEISCH 04/12/13

Martine HANSEN 01/05/13

ELSEN 22/08/16

FLOUR

26/03/14

INGÓLFSDÓTTIR

26/03/14 - 30/11/23

KINSCH

26/03/14

DONDELINGER / Decker

08/05/14 DIEDERICH 07/01/15

01/01/15

MEISCH / Marc Hansen 28/03/14

03/05/17

MEISCH / HANSEN 18/12/15

26/03/14 30/11/18

Twenty years of the Université du Luxembourg (2004-2023)

Members of the Conseil de Gouvernance, Rectors, Government Commissioners and Ministers for Higher Education and Research.

30/11/23

ELSEN

22/08/16

Decker

KLUMP

01/01/15

DIEDERICH

07/01/15

Hansen MEISCH / HANSEN 18/12/15

Neyses 03/05/17

LESCH

01/12/18

TRAMPERT 01/12/18

MOULIN

01/12/18 - 30/11/23

VISSCHER 01/12/18

MÜßIG

01/12/18 - 30/11/23

STEFFGEN

01/12/18 - 30/11/23

MUCCIANTE

01/12/18

DOMIN 01/12/18

PALLAGE

01/01/18

MEISCH 05/12/18

30/11/18

Twenty years of the Université du Luxembourg (2004-2023)

Members of the Conseil de Gouvernance, Rectors, Government Commissioners and Ministers for Higher Education and Research.

SCHREINER 01/11/20

08/10/21

01/12/22 KREISEL

01/01/23 - 30/11/

02/09/23 30/11/23 17/11/23

OBERTIN

BEGINNINGS: Twenty years in the Conseil de Gouvernance

Massimo Malvetti, Secrétaire Général du Conseil de Gouvernance [from 2013]

[2004-2012]

University Campus, Luxembourg-Limpertsberg [2008]

Guy Poos, Secrétaire Général du Conseil de Gouvernance

FIRST MANDATE

(JANUARY 2004-FEBRUARY 2009)

The order in which things happened suggests that the CG was something of an afterthought. It did not exist when the founding Rector was nominated. François Tavenas (1942-2004), Professor of Civil Engineering and Rector of the University of Laval in Canada, started as Rector of the University of Luxembourg in December 2003; Jim Lehners, Professor of Global History at the University of Luxembourg, became Vice-Rector.

The founding Deans, Raymond Bisdorff for FDEF, Lucien Kerger for FLSHASE and Massimo Malvetti for FSTC, were elected by their peers at around the same time. Raymond Bisdorff was followed by Franck Leprévost in 2004, who was in turn succeeded by André Prüm in 2005. Stefan Braum was Dean from 2012-2017 and Katalin Ligeti has been Dean since. Lucien Kerger stayed until 2009, when he was succeeded by Michel Margue. Georg Mein was Dean from 2013-2023, when he was replaced by Robert Harmsen. Paul Heuschling took over from Massimo Malvetti in 2009, who was followed in turn by Jean-Marc Schlenker in 2018. Pascal Bouvry has been Dean of FSTM since 2023.

François Tavenas, the first Rector of the Université du Luxembourg [2003-2004]

A DIFFICULT FIRST YEAR

Raymond Kirsch (1943-2013) was the first Chair of the CG. He was Head of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and had been Director of Spuerkeess, the State-owned commercial bank. The first meeting took place at the former Catholic seminary on the campus of Luxembourg-Limpertsberg on January 31, 2004.

The other members of the CG were: Laurence Rieben, Vice-Rector and Professor of Psychology and Educational Sciences at the University of Genève, Switzerland; Willy Legros, Rector and Professor of Engineering at the University of Liège, Belgium; Páll Skúlason (1945-2015), Rector and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik; Gérard Hoffmann, Chairman and Managing Director of Telindus, Luxembourg, now merged into Proximus; Charles Ruppert, Administrateur-délégué and Directeur Général du Groupe Saint-Paul, Luxembourg; and myself. We were six men and one woman.

That evening a dinner was held at the restaurant Les Jardins du Président in Luxembourg-Clausen where we became acquainted with each other. Sadly, January 31 was the only time I talked to Tavenas. On February 14, my mother called with the news that François Tavenas had died suddenly the previous day at the age of sixtyone.

Raymond Kirsch, the first Chairman of the Conseil de Gouvernance [2004-2012]

The Magnificent Seven and the Rector: First meeting of the Conseil de Gouvernance, Luxembourg-Limpertsberg [31st January 2004]

Standing, left to right: Laurence Rieben; Charles Ruppert; Willy Legros; Michel Goedert; Páll Skúlason; Gérard Hoffmann. Seated, left to right: Raymond Kirsch; François Tavenas.

The second meeting of the CG took place in Luxembourg-Limpertsberg on March 7. Funnily enough, when I entered, Raymond Kirsch thought I was an intruder and asked me to leave the room. Germain Dondelinger had to explain that my presence was perfectly legitimate. It turned out to be quite a grim meeting. The death of François Tavenas rendered the future uncertain and helped to reinforce the views held by many sceptics, among them influential politicians: ‘We told you so’… Jim Lehners took on the difficult task of interim Rector; he was assisted by Vice-Rector Adelheid Ehmke, who joined from Trier, Germany, where she was the President of the University for Applied Sciences. This arrangement lasted for most of 2004.

Jim Lehners, the Interim Rector of the Université du Luxembourg [2004]

From 2004-2018, the CG comprised six members and a Chair: four of the members were academics working outside Luxembourg, while the other two members and the Chair represented Luxembourg’s economic and civil society. Even though we were chosen by the Government and party-political allegiances were at play in relation to some appointments, we were not mere stooges of the powers that be.

As a Luxembourg national with an academic background who has spent most of his adult life abroad, you might expect me to have had greater affinity with the academics from Belgium, Iceland and Switzerland than with the non-academics from Luxembourg. But the opposite was the case. I put this down to the fact that I was able to communicate with my fellow countrymen in our mother tongue. The strength of this link surprised me.

The CG met eleven times between March and December 2004, with the March meeting revealing the Chairman’s predilection for extensive lunch breaks. Throughout the ensuing years, these informal exchanges were particularly stimulating, although they made the meetings even longer. Thus, I recall a discussion about whether Luxembourgers have a national identity. We ended up agreeing that the establishment of the State of Luxembourg preceded a national feeling. Over food and drink I remember Kirsch sharing the view of the historian Gilbert Trausch (1931-2018), who said: ‘Die eigentliche Bedeutung des Zweiten Weltkrieges für die Geschichte

Luxemburgs liegt in dem Prozess der Nationbildung’ (‘The actual significance of the second World War for the history of Luxembourg lies in the formation of Nation Building’)57. Indeed, during World War II citizens of Luxembourg died in defence of the independence of the country for the very first time. What’s more, no foreign power expressed any doubts about the Grand-Duchy’s independence in 1945, whereas in 1918, such doubts were raised around suspected collaboration with Germany58,59.

Contrast this with the national feeling in Britain, which is underpinned by the country having controlled around 25% of the earth’s landmass at one point (‘the Empire on which the sun never set’) and by its territory not having been invaded for close to 1,000 years. The events of 1940, which saw the British Isles stand against the threat of Nazi invasion, were to reinforce the importance of the territorial element in British identity. There is obviously more than one road leading to a sense of national cohesion.

Much of 2004 was devoted to finding a new Rector. An ultimately unsuccessful candidate was interviewed in May, with the meeting taking place at the Palace Hôtel in Mondorf-les-Bains, presumably to keep things under wraps. On entering the hotel, I saw middle-aged and overweight women and men in white bathrobes, who were gliding around with soft music playing in the background. I wondered if the new Rector might be one of them.

Following the general election of June 2004, which led to the formation of a Coalition Government between CSV and LSAP, François Biltgen, who was also President of the CSV, succeeded Erna Hennicot-Schoepges as Minister for Higher Education and Research; he remained in post until 2013 when he was briefly replaced by Martine Hansen (CSV). After the general election of 2013, Claude Meisch from the DP became Minister for Higher Education and Research. Once again, the Minister for Education had the brief of Higher Education as well. André Bauler (DP) became Secretary of State, before he was replaced by Marc Hansen (DP), who later became Ministre Délégué for Higher Education and Research. Following the general election of October 2023, Stéphanie Obertin (DP) became Minister for Digitalisation, Higher Education and Research, with Meisch retaining the Education brief.

François Biltgen attended at least one meeting of the CG a year. He once compared the University to a ship in troubled water, with the Government setting the major directions and targets. To which I said that one needed to be careful not to hit an iceberg à la Titanic. Biltgen countered that there was no iceberg in sight for the University ship. ‘Ils ne l’avaient pas vu non plus’ (They hadn’t seen it either’) was Charles Ruppert’s response to that.

Biltgen also argued that the University shouldn’t work on all sorts of marginal subjects; the example he chose was the study of penguins, which turned out

to be his favourite animals. I posited that when doing fundamental research, one must be free to follow one’s curiosity, wherever this may lead. At the 20th anniversary celebrations in September 2023, Biltgen, who is now a Judge at the European Court of Justice, told me that I had been right. In a nice gesture, he was even wearing a tie with a penguin pattern that day.

During the lunchbreak of the CG meeting held in September 2004, Kirsch said: ‘We have a new Rector. His name is Rolf Tarrach and he is from Spain.’ I remarked: ‘Not a very Spanish-sounding name’ (as Rolf said years later, in a different context: ‘You never change’). Tarrach introduced himself in the afternoon and was appointed Rector in October, with a start date of January 1, 2005. The final meeting of 2004 took place in December. The University was not in good shape; some people even believed that the sudden death of its first Rector on a Friday 13th had been a bad omen. It had certainly been a difficult year.

That very evening, I attended a dinner at Hôtel Bel-Air in Weilerbach near Echternach, to mark the founding of the Club vun de Lëtzebuerger ronderëm d’Welt (‘Club of the Luxembourgers spread around the world’). The occasion was the publication of 100 Lëtzebuerger ronderëm d’Welt60 (‘100 Luxembourgers spread around the world’), a book of portraits by photographer Raymond Reuter. Some people there remarked that the smaller a country, the greater the impact of its diaspora. But in Luxembourg,

they said, the people inside the country largely ignore those who have left.

Les assises de l’Université took place in early 2005. A major purpose was to inform Rolf Tarrach of the state of play. Lucien Kerger, Franck Leprévost and Massimo Malvetti, who were the Deans, described the activities of FLSHASE, FDEF and FSTC.

ROLF TARRACH: COMETH THE HOUR, COMETH THE MAN

The meeting of the CG of January 2005 was the first with the active participation of Rolf Tarrach. After the difficulties of the previous year, his arrival marked a turning point. Tarrach applied rational thinking to decision making and didn’t suffer fools gladly61. He valued the quality of fundamental research and had an eye for spotting talent. All in all, he was a breath of fresh air in an atmosphere that had felt stuffy at times. It was good to have a Rector who was aware of Karl Popper’s Welten 1-362, knew Bayesian statistics and Occam’s razor, and who read ‘Nature’ and ‘Science’. I also owe my appreciation of Amontillado to Rolf.

It did take time, however, for the CG to get used to the dynamics between Tarrach and Dondelinger (at the beginning, whenever he was faced with disagreement, rather annoyingly, the former threatened to return to Spain). Things improved when Kirsch joined in, even

though this largely disenfranchised the CG. Tarrach mentions that Kirsch took him aside around this time and said: ‘You run the University, and I help you do it’63. Although Dondelinger had no voting right, his presence at the meetings of the CG was crucial since his knowledge of the University exceeded that of anyone else. Dondelinger had more drive than most, which was especially important in the early years. No doubt, the development of the University would have been somewhat bumpier without his contributions.

Travelling to Luxembourg the day before meetings of the CG and returning to the United Kingdom

Rolf Tarrach, the second Rector of the Université du Luxembourg [2005-2014]

the day after those meetings, I sometimes felt that I was being manipulated, with most decisions having been taken beforehand. I said so, only to be told by Germain Dondelinger: ‘Mais non, pas de manipulation: Strumentalizzazione’ (‘But no, no manipulation: Instrumentalisation’). In any case, I came close to resigning in 2005. Living abroad, without one’s feet on the ground in Luxembourg, turned out to be a problem now and again. Unexpectedly, in 2020 the virtual meetings of the CG made necessary by the Covid-19 pandemic removed some of the tension.

Back in 2005, the first of three meetings of the CG took place abroad. It was organised by Páll Skúlason at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik. Laurence Rieben hosted the second meeting at the University of Genève, Switzerland, in 2007, with the third meeting taking place at the University of Bologna, Italy, in 2008; it was hosted by Paolo Mengozzi, Professor of International Law and Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg, who had succeeded Willy Legros in the CG in 2006. I fondly remember the convivial lunch in Palazzuolo sul Senio.

These trips ended abruptly in 2008, probably because of the financial crisis. They had been useful in that they allowed members of the CG to get to know each other better in an international setting and to interact more informally with members of the Rectorate, the Government Commissioner and representatives of the

Teaching Staff and Students. For many years, there were no comparable events, but since 2017 the CG meets for an annual retreat in a Luxembourg country hotel (regrettably, though, because of Covid-19, the retreats of 2020 and 2021 had to happen via videoconference).

During the summer of 2005, Rolf Tarrach wrote a pamphlet entitled ‘Strategic Framework for the University of Luxembourg 2006-2009, 2010-2015.’ It covers his two terms as Rector and contains interesting information on issues central to the University. What I refer to as fundamental research, Tarrach calls curiosity-driven or blue skies research. He distinguishes it from research driven by societal problems, as well as from businessdriven research. In my view, fundamental research is the most important of the three, with the success of the University ultimately depending on its quality.

Rolf Tarrach also organised the Vice-Rectorate. Prior to 2005, there had only been one Vice-Rector at a time, first Jim Lehners, then Adelheid Ehmke. With Tarrach as Rector, Ehmke became Vice-Rector for Research and Lehners Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs. By law, there can be up to three Vice-Rectors. Franck Leprévost, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Luxembourg, was Vice-Rector for Organisation and International Relations from 2005-2015; he was succeeded by Romain Martin, Professor of Psychology and Educational Sciences.

In 2007, Adelheid Ehmke was replaced by Luciënne Blessing, who joined from the Technical University in Berlin, Germany, where she was a Professor in Engineering Design and Methodology. Ludwig Neyses became Vice-Rector for Research in 2013. He joined from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, where he was a Professor of Medicine and the Chair of Cardiology.

Jim Lehners finished his mandate in 2007 and was succeeded by Lucien Kerger, Dean of FLSHASE and Head of the ISERP. Following Kerger’s retirement in 2011, Eric Tschirhart, Professor of Physiology at the University of Luxembourg, became Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, until Tonie Van Dam, Professor of Geophysics at the University of Luxembourg took over in 2016. Catherine Léglu, Simone Niclou and MarieHélène Jobin were the Vice-Rectors in November 2023.

The system of appointing one Vice-Rector at a time guarantees a rolling Rectorate, but it has the disadvantage of there never being a team that is appointed together. Also, over the years, some Vice-Rectors seem to have worked more towards extending their own fiefdoms rather than towards the good of the Institution, as defined by the Rector.

At the meeting of December 2005, Tarrach presented a draft of the first four-year plan. Biltgen said that the population of Luxembourg expected the Government

to define the major orientations of the University. He also talked about the different sites, and it sounded like FDEF (the Faculty of Law and Finance) would remain in Luxembourg City, with the other two Faculties (FLSHASE and FSTC) moving to Esch-Belval.

Even though this was an issue of great strategic relevance, the CG was not consulted. In fact, over the years, several key decisions have thus been taken by the Government and presented to the CG as done deals. In the words of Vautrin: ‘Dans ces conjonctures, je vais vous faire une proposition que personne ne refuserait’ (‘In these circumstances, I am going to make you a proposal that no one would refuse’)64. It does seem that, as so often, he who pays the piper calls the tune.

The Law of 2003 stipulates that ‘un contrat d’établissement pluriannuel est négocié entre l’Etat et l’Université. Le contrat est conclu pour une durée de quatre ans.’ (‘A multi-year establishment contract is negotiated between the State and the University. This contract is concluded for a period of four years’). Much of 2005 was devoted to writing the first four-year plan, which was approved by the CG in March 2006. Seven priority areas, at least two per faculty, were defined. They were: Security and Trust in Computer Sciences; Materials Science; Life Sciences; Business and European Law; International Finance; Educational Sciences; Luxembourgish Studies.

In 2006, the University awarded its first Doctorate

and the first externally funded Chair was created by TDK [(Tokyo Denki Kagaku Kōgyō K.K.) Electronics Corporation]. Externally funded Chairs are financed by public or private partners for at least five years. They work best when the University and the external partner identify a field of activity which advances the objectives of both stakeholders. Also, the University needs to keep in mind that it may eventually have to pick up the financing of these Chairs.

In 2007, Pascal Bouvry, Professor of Computer Science, started the High-Performance Computer; it has been upgraded several times and is currently the largest core facility of the University. In accordance with the four-year plan, the first two Interdisciplinary Centres, namely the Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) and the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biology (LCSB), began work in 2009. The SnT is now split between the campus of Luxembourg-Kirchberg and that of Esch-Belval, whereas the LCSB is entirely based in Esch-Belval.

Luxembourg is also home to three Centres de Recherche Publics: the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST). Even if these Institutes focus mostly on Applied Research, it is nonetheless essential for them to collaborate as closely as possible with the University, since a small country that aspires to be internationally

Meeting of the Conseil de Gouvernance at the University of Genève [September 2007]

Left to right: Guy Poos; Paul Heuschling; Paolo Mengozzi; Michel Goedert; Charles Ruppert; Raymond Kirsch; Laurence Rieben; Rolf Tarrach; Páll Skúlason; Gérard Hoffmann.

competitive cannot afford to have one University and three independent publicly funded Research Institutes.

FIRST INTERDISCIPLINARY CENTRE: CENTRE FOR SECURITY, RELIABILITY AND TRUST

The Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) opened its doors on January 1, 2009, under the leadership of Björn Ottersten, who had been Professor of Signal Processing at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, and Dean of the School of Electrical Engineering until the end of 2008. Currently, the SnT counts around 500 staff spread over eighteen research groups and conducts internationally competitive research in information and communication technologies. It has been a pioneer within the University and was awarded the first funding by the PEARL programme of the Fonds National de la Recherche and the first Advanced Grant by the European Research Council.

To begin with, Björn Ottersten was part of the LIASIT (‘Luxembourg Institute of Advanced Studies in Information Technology’), a joint initiative between the Centre de Recherche Public Henri Tudor, the Centre Universitaire and Telindus, which was started in 200256. Ottersten and Christoph Meinel (then Professor at the University of Trier, Germany) supervised industrial PhD projects in Luxembourg, with the degrees being awarded by their

home institutions. In 2004, management of the LIASIT passed from the Centre de recherche public Henri Tudor to the University. Thomas Engel was put in charge, while the LIASIT was run as a pilot project within the University. Engel was Deputy Director of the SnT from 2009-2016.

Gérard Hoffmann played an important part in both the creation of the SnT and the recruitment of Björn Ottersten. The first proposal was presented to the CG in 2006 and, over the years, the SnT has helped to put the University on the international map. The four-year plan of 2009 described its two-headed structure. Besides carrying out fundamental research in information and communication technologies, it undertakes research projects in cooperation with external partners. The first projects were thus agreed with Telindus, POST Luxembourg

Opening of the House of Biomedicine, Esch-Belval [2011]

Left to right: Rudi Balling, Rolf Tarrach, Minister Claude Wiseler, Mayor Lydia Mutsch, Minister François Biltgen

and the Société Européenne des Satellites. The current number of partnerships is around sixty.

All research groups are involved in partnerships, though not everyone from a given group plays a role. A typical partnership lasts for 3-4 years; it supports one PhD student and pays half the salary of a Research Associate. The partner contributes around 300,000 euros (50% of the cost of the project) and the intellectual property is shared. Crucially, only partnerships likely to benefit the ecosystem of Luxembourg are entered. The SnT does have a strong publication record and its research outcomes are validated on real systems and data65.

It appears that in this field the time it takes to transition from fundamental to applied research is relatively short. And you can certainly argue that the SnT is the best example of University Research combining scientific excellence with benefits for the Luxembourg economy. It also leads the way in generating income for financing research since its annual turnover was of the order of forty-three million euros in 2023, with only 30% coming from the Government. The other 70% came from competitive sources, such as the Fonds National de la Recherche and European sources, including the European Space Agency.

The SnT is the brainchild of Björn Ottersten. And since finding a suitable successor for a founding Director is often a major challenge anyway, this was the case even

more so here. Fortunately, the CG was able to appoint Yves Le Traon, Deputy Director of the SnT and Professor of Computer Science at the University of Luxembourg. He has been the Director of the SnT from January 2024 onwards.

SECOND INTERDISCIPLINARY CENTRE: LUXEMBOURG CENTRE FOR SYSTEMS BIOMEDICINE

The beginnings of what is now the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) were convoluted. Jeannot Krecké, LSAP Minister of the Economy, was at its origin. Rumour has it that one or more trips by Ministers of the CSV/LSAP Coalition Government to the West Coast of the United States took place. The decision to invest 100 million dollars into Biomedicine over five years, under the catchphrase of Predictive, Preventive, Personalised and Participatory (P4) Medicine, was announced in June 2008. This was a collaboration with the ‘Institute for Systems Biology’ (ISB) in Seattle, a nonprofit Biomedical Research Institute founded by Alan Aderem, Ruedi Aebersold and Leroy Hood in 2000. Hood, who directed the ISB at the time, is a leading biomedical researcher, best known for his work on antibody diversity and for pioneering the development of instruments for DNA and protein sequencing and synthesis66.

The ISB needed money and Leroy Hood, who

had failed to attract wealthy donors, was looking for partnerships with foreign Governments. Meanwhile, Luxembourg was searching for additional expertise in Biomedicine. Hood’s approach went something like this: ‘You give the ISB a lot of money and we will help you to create a Biotechnology Industry in your country’66. For seven years no one had bitten the bullet, but then the Luxembourg Government did. Hood put David Galas (1944-2023) in charge of managing the collaboration. Galas worked closely on the partnership with Diane Isonoka and Joseph Nadeau, two other ISB scientists.

Rather than study one gene or protein at a time, Systems Biology investigates how multiple genes and proteins act in concert. It attempts to understand how biological networks operate. This has become possible with the advent of large-scale genomics and proteomics. The expectation is that in future every newborn human will have their genome sequenced, which will allow much of medicine to be based on the prevention of disease. In the United Kingdom, where sequencing of the genomes of newborns is imminent, the genomes of more than 500,000 individuals (around 1% of the population) have already been sequenced.

As part of the deal, the ISB was to train people from the University of Luxembourg in Systems Biology. This led to the creation of the LCSB (initially called ‘Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biology’), and the ‘Integrated BioBank Luxembourg’, which now forms part of the

Luxembourg Institute of Health. In 2013, however, the collaboration with the ISB was not renewed, presumably because the new Centre could stand on its own two feet. Moreover, the five-year deal with Luxembourg almost broke the Seattle company66. Aderem clashed with Galas over the handling of the money. In 2011, Aderem left and took forty people with him. Within a year, half of Hood’s administrative staff threatened to resign unless he fired Galas, Isonaka and Nadeau over their handling of the Luxembourg money. In the end, the trio had to leave the ISB.

At most Universities, Medical Education would be introduced before a Centre such as the LCSB was created. In Luxembourg, things happened the other way round. There is no doubt that without Hood, and especially Galas (both of whom became Professeurs Invités), it would not have been possible to attract Rudi Balling as founding Director of the LCSB. He joined from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig, Germany, where he was Scientific Director.

During his twelve years at the helm, Balling recruited scientists who helped to put the LCSB on the international map in a number of areas, predominantly in research into the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease. It is also to his credit that the University prevented much of the 100 million dollars from making their way to Seattle. The LCSB started out in Luxembourg-Limpertsberg,

but it soon moved to Esch-Belval, where its ‘House of Biomedicine’ was the very first research building of the University. Rudi Balling, who had a free hand during his first five years as Director, wanted to concentrate work on the role of chronic inflammation as a modifier of a variety of conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases, liver cirrhosis, asthma, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. When this plan revealed itself to be too broad and unfocused, he decided to concentrate the LCSB’s research agenda on neurodegenerative diseases67.

There are many different such diseases, even though they are all linked by nerve cell degeneration. Most cases of neurodegenerative disease are sporadic, but some are inherited in a dominant manner, with Huntington’s disease being an exception in that it is always inherited68. In 2010, Galas and colleagues reported that it was possible to sequence the genomes of different members from individual families with Huntington’s disease69. Balling’s initial plan was to use whole-genome sequencing to identify genetic modifiers of Huntington’s disease.

It is worth noting that Huntington’s disease is rare, whereas Alzheimer’s is the most common neurodegenerative disease, followed by Parkinson’s. Soon two other key factors came into play: First, there were more genetic clues for Parkinson’s than Alzheimer’s back in 2009. And then, there was clinical expertise in Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders in Luxembourg. Thus, Nico Diederich, a card-carrying

neurologist from the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg, had a defining role in the decision to focus work on Parkinson’s disease. In the end, a meeting between David Galas, Leroy Hood, Rudi Balling and Nico Diederich in February 2010 proved decisive.

Initially, Balling decided to build up bioinformatics, data sciences and computational modelling, which are areas that the LCSB is now well known for. He also recruited several people (some among the most productive, in fact), even though they were not working on Parkinson’s disease at the time. There is a good chance that the work of Emma Schymanski on environmental toxins and that of Paul Wilmes on the gut microbiome may eventually lead to insights into the pathophysiology of sporadic Parkinson’s disease.

Although genetic studies have shown that the assembly of the protein alpha-synuclein is important for understanding Parkinson’s disease, what causes its abnormal assembly in sporadic disease has not been determined yet. A promising hypothesis postulates that environmental toxins enter the body through the gastrointestinal tract, where they lead to the assembly of alpha-synuclein into filaments70. These assemblies are then taken up by nerve terminals and transported to the brain, where they can give rise to the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Over the past sixteen years, this prion-like spreading of protein assemblies has become a major topic of interest71.

Meeting of the Conseil de Gouvernance, Luxembourg-Limpertsberg [September 2009]

Front row, left to right: Charles Ruppert; Laurence Rieben; Rolf Tarrach; Raymond Kirsch; Germain Dondelinger; Gérard Hoffmann. Back row, left to right: Jörg Gerkrath; Guy Poos; Maurice Quénet; Michel Goedert; Danilo Zavrtanik; Pierre Fruitier-Roth.

Ultimately, the main objective is to understand enough to develop mechanism-based therapies of diseases. Work on environmental toxins and the gut microbiome may help in this endeavour. Since potential mechanism-based therapies need to be tested in humans with Parkinson’s disease, the importance of well-characterised cohorts, such as that of the Luxembourg Parkinson’s Study created by Rejko Krüger72, cannot be overstated.

Being able to test these approaches in experimental animal models is crucial. To produce such models, one needs to have adequate animal facilities, which decision makers at the University do not always seem to fully understand. Besides, disease modelling in mice also requires characterisation using techniques, such as multiphoton microscopy, optogenetic modulation of cellular activity and sophisticated imaging methods.

Rudi Balling was the first Director of an Interdisciplinary Centre to reach retirement age. Following a strategic review, which confirmed that the LCSB was on an upwards trajectory, the CG discussed the advert for the recruitment of a new Director. In view of the development of Medical Education at the University, it was felt important to have a Director who was an MD (Medical Doctor). This, of course, narrowed the field of those eligible and made finding a worthy successor to Balling more difficult.

In the end, the University had the opportunity to recruit

Michael Heneka who became Head of the LCSB from January 2022 onwards. Heneka joined from the University of Bonn, where he was Professor of Neurology and Head of the Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases and Geriatric Psychiatry. He also had a position at the Deutsches Zentrum für neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE) [‘German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases’]. Currently, the LCSB counts around 270 people spread over eighteen research groups. Its annual turnover is of the order of thirty million euros, with around 55% coming from the Government and 45% from external sources. Heneka has widened the research agenda to include Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and motor neuron diseases. Besides, his own work adds a new research direction, namely the role of neuroinflammation in the development and propagation of the abnormal protein assemblies that define most neurodegenerative diseases73 . Even though one would probably not describe this work as Systems Biology as such, the latter may help in the endeavour. The main objective is to turn the LCSB into a leading Research Institute in Neuroscience over the next ten years.

Meeting of the Conseil de Gouvernance, Esch-Belval [March 2014]

Left to right: Karin Langumier; Massimo Malvetti; Rolf Tarrach; Laurence Rieben; Gérard Hoffmann; Marc Jaeger; Michel Goedert; Maurice Quénet; Germain Dondelinger; Charles Ruppert.

Twenty years in the

(MARCH 2009 – FEBRUARY 2014)

Raymond Kirsch remained as Chairman of the CG, while Paolo Mengozzi and Páll Skúlason were replaced by Maurice Quénet, French legal historian and Rector of the Académie de Paris, and Danilo Zavrtanik, Professor of Physics and Rector of the University of Nova Gorica, Slovenia. Rieben, Hoffmann, Ruppert and Goedert stayed on.

A review of the functioning of the CG took place, which concluded that greater autonomy was needed now that we were familiar with the issues at stake. We suggested having regular meetings of the CG to discuss relevant issues - above all, long-term strategy - without the Rector, the representatives of the Teaching Staff and Students and the Government Commissioner being present. Alas, this suggestion was not heeded.

The second four-year plan was discussed and approved towards the end of 2009. Five research priorities were retained: International Finance; Security, Reliability and Trust; Systems Biomedicine; European and Business Law; Education and Learning in multilingual and multicultural contexts. Two priorities reflected the research interests of the Interdisciplinary Centres and a third those of the Luxembourg School of Finance. Both four-year plans shared these five priorities. Materials Science and Luxembourgish Studies were no longer deemed priorities. 2010 and 2011 became periods of expansion and consolidation within existing structures.

Thus, we read the strategic plan of the SnT with interest and were pleased to learn that the LCSB had decided to focus on studying the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease.

FROM RAYMOND KIRSCH TO MARC JAEGER

Towards the end of 2011, Raymond Kirsch announced his intention to step down. He had been President of the CG for eight years (i.e. for sixty-five meetings), and the University was in good shape largely thanks to his leadership. In 2012, the Government decided to fund the creation of a Max-Planck-Institute for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law in Luxembourg. Even though the vast majority of the over eighty Max-Planck-Institutes are in Germany and are

Marc Jaeger, the second Chair of the Conseil de Gouvernance [2012-2016]

funded by the German State, a handful of Institutes are located abroad and funded by their host countries. An agreement of collaboration was swiftly signed with the University of Luxembourg.

Kirsch’s successor was Marc Jaeger, President of the General Court of the European Union. He was to chair meetings for close to five years. The third four-year plan was approved in November 2013. Eight priorities were retained: International Finance; Computational Sciences; European and International Law; Educational Sciences; Physics and Materials Science; Entrepreneurship and Innovation; Multilingualism and Intercultural Studies; Sustainable Development.

Like much of the University, the CG moved from Luxembourg-Limpertsberg to Esch-Belval. Since then, most meetings have taken place on the seventeenth floor of the Maison du Savoir. Some of the blast furnaces from my childhood have survived, but they are now mere museum pieces, and serve to remind one of what made the prosperity of the country all those years ago. Hopefully, the University will take the succession in due course!

Jaeger emphasised the need for the CG to be independent of both the National Executive (Government) and the University Executive (Rectorate). He was an effective President who chaired thirty-one meetings with calm authority. Jaeger is an excellent legal mind, as was

reflected by his elevation to ‘Honorary Master of the Bench’ by the ‘Honourable Society of the Middle Temple’ in London in 2016. Inevitably, as the University grew, the workload of the President of the CG became more onerous, yet Jaeger also had a full-time job at the General Court of the European Union. Given the commitment involved, the Government ought to think about making the CG presidency, if not a full-time job, at least a part-time position.

THIRD MANDATE (MARCH 2014 – NOVEMBER 2018)

Marc Jaeger remained as Chairman of the CG, whereas Laurence Rieben, Maurice Quénet and Charles Ruppert were succeeded by Kristín Ingólfsdóttir, Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Rector of the University of Iceland, Yvonne Flour, Professeure agrégée des Facultés de droit, University Paris 1, France, and Alain Kinsch, Managing Partner of Ernst & Young for Luxembourg. Hoffmann, Zavrtanik and Goedert stayed on.

FROM ROLF TARRACH TO RAINER KLUMP

Sadly, Germain Dondelinger was taken seriously ill during the first half of 2014 and became unable to attend meetings of the CG. He was awarded the Medal of the University in 2014. Pierre Decker filled in temporarily, before Léon Diederich became Commissaire

BEGINNINGS: Twenty years in the Conseil de

Meeting of the Conseil de Gouvernance, Esch-Belval [October 2016]

Left to right: Karin Langumier; Anne Christophe; Massimo Malvetti; Alain Kinsch; Kristín Ingólfsdóttir; Yves Elsen; Rainer Klump; Yvonne Flour; Gérard Hoffmann; Michel Goedert; Léon Diederich; Stijn Lamberights; Danilo Zavrtanik; Raymond Bisdorff.

du Gouvernement auprès du CG in January 2015. Now that the University had reached cruising speed, the role of the Government Commissioner also evolved. Since 2015, Léon Diederich has added a necessary dose of realism to the deliberations of the CG, especially in relation to language requirements and financial matters.

At the end of 2014, Rolf Tarrach finished his second mandate as Rector. His ten years at the helm had brought the University to life and put it on the international map. Tarrach has been the longest-serving Rector, and no other Rector has had a comparable impact since. His successor was Rainer Klump, Professor of Economics and Chair of Economic Policy at the University of Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany.

A December 2014 lunch at The Seven Hotel in Esch-

Rainer Klump, the third Rector of the Université du Luxembourg [2015-2017]

sur-Alzette marked the retirement of both Rolf Tarrach and Germain Dondelinger, who had been major driving forces over all those years. I would not see Dondelinger again. He died on March 15, 2015. His untimely demise was not only a personal tragedy but also a serious blow to the University. Since he had been one of only a small number of architects of this ambitious project, his death marked a break with the past. Whenever the CG was faced with a difficult problem later, I asked myself what Dondelinger might have said. In many ways, the lunch at the Seven Hotel brought the first eleven years of the University to a close. The meeting room of the CG in the Maison du Savoir has been named Salle Germain Dondelinger, while Le Prix Rolf Tarrach is awarded annually to the doctoral candidate who has written the most meritorious dissertation.

In early 2015, the ‘Luxembourg Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management’, which is run in partnership with the ‘Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Transportation and Logistics’, was created after discussions between the University and the Ministry of the Economy. This Centre belongs to the FDEF and aims at promoting research, innovation and education in the logistics sector, with the view to building interactions with this sector in Luxembourg.

In the first half of 2016, the decision was taken to have the ‘Centre for Contemporary and Digital History’ (C2DH) as the third Interdisciplinary Centre. It focuses

on research and public dissemination in the fields of Luxembourgish and European history.

FROM MARC JAEGER TO YVES ELSEN

In July 2016, I learned that Marc Jaeger had resigned as Chair of the CG and that Yves Elsen was his successor. At the time, Elsen was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Fonds National de la Recherche. He was also Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer of Hitech (while, from June 2023 onwards, he has been co-owner of the Company and Chairman of the Hitech Board). Yves Elsen has a scientific background. Like Hans Castorp and François Tavenas, he can say: ‘Ich bin Ingenieur’ (‘I am an engineer’)74.

Yves Elsen, the third Chair of the Conseil de Gouvernance [from 2016]

Yves Elsen chaired his first meeting of the CG in October 2016 and he has already presided over more meetings than either Raymond Kirsch or Marc Jaeger. When Elsen was appointed, some commentators claimed that the Government was about to turn the University into a company. As a matter of fact, all the members of the CG living in Luxembourg, namely Elsen, Hoffmann and Kinsch, were working in the private sector. Though I have no reason to believe that this influenced the decisions taken, the composition was nonetheless quite unfortunate. It is not enough to be independent; one must also be seen to be so. Elsen has turned out to be more of a Macher than his predecessors and runs a tighter ship, especially in financial matters. As a result, his presence changed the balance of power between the CG and the Rectorate.

What’s more, during his first year as the Chairman, Yves Elsen had to deal with a crisis not of his making that came to a head in the first half of 2017. For various reasons, some having to do with the budgetary situation, the Management team (Vice-Rectors, Deans and Directors of Interdisciplinary Centres) and the CG lost trust in the Rector. Rainer Klump, who had failed to stamp his authority on the University, resigned in May. This unfortunate episode has shown that for a Rector, and especially one who knows little about Luxembourg at the outset, it is essential to live in the country and engage with Luxembourg society. Ludwig Neyses, ViceRector for Research, took over as acting Rector. Elsen

Meeting of the Conseil de Gouvernance, Luxembourg-Kirchberg [July 2018]

Left to right: Michel Goedert; Léon Diederich; Alain Kinsch; Stéphane Pallage; Kristín Ingólfsdóttir; Yvonne Flour; Minister Marc Hansen; Yves Elsen; Gérard Hoffmann; Norbert Rugira; Anne Christophe; Massimo Malvetti.

gave an overview of the situation in September75.

Rainer Klump’s resignation was followed by that of Alfred Funk, Head of Administration. Credit does go to Ludwig Neyses, Tonie van Dam and Romain Martin for getting the fourth four-year plan over the line. It listed eight priorities: Computer Sciences and ICT Security; Health and Systems Biomedicine; European and International Law; Finance and Innovation; Education; Materials Science; Contemporary and Digital History; Data Modelling and Simulations.

FROM RAINER KLUMP TO STEPHANE PALLAGE

Following an international search, Stéphane Pallage was appointed Rector in October 2017, with a starting date for a five-year mandate of January 1, 2018. Pallage joined from the University of Québec in Montreal, Canada, where he was Dean of the School of Management. As was the case with his predecessors, a good knowledge of French, the legislative language of Luxembourg and one of its three administrative languages, was required for his appointment. Knowing French well is a prerequisite for understanding the subtleties of University law, yet it, unfortunately, excludes many potential candidates.

2017 was a busy year, with eleven meetings of the CG, while 2018, the last year of my third mandate, was calmer. Stéphane Pallage took up work as Rector; Jens

Kreisel, a physicist who joined from the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, where he was Head of the Materials Science Department, was appointed Vice-Rector for Research, while Catherine Léglu, who was Professor of French Studies at the University of Reading, United Kingdom, became Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs. Marc Hansen, Ministre Délégué for Higher Education and Research, paid the CG a visit in July and the new University law came into effect on August 1. An October 2018 dinner at the restaurant Clairefontaine in Luxembourg City.

Stéphane Pallage, the fourth Rector of the Université du Luxembourg [2018-2022]

THIRD INTERDISCIPLINARY CENTRE:

CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY AND DIGITAL HISTORY

In his Discours sur l’état de la Nation (‘State of the Nation address’) of 2015, Prime Minister Bettel invited the University to think about creating an Institut d’histoire du temps présent (‘Institute for Contemporary History’). Such an initiative had been discussed for some time in FLSHASE, but it was a decision by the then Ministre délégué of Higher Education and Research that turned it into an Interdisciplinary Centre. The name was changed, the CG acquiesced and Andreas Fickers, Professor for Contemporary History at the University of Luxembourg, was appointed as founding Director in 2016. The Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C2DH) opened its doors in 2017. It now counts around 100 staff and its annual turnover is of the order of ten million euros, with around 75% coming from the Government.

One reason for the creation of a Centre focusing on contemporary history was probably the desire of the Blue/Red/Green coalition Government to find out more about Luxembourg’s recent past, especially in relation to what happened during World War II. This field had just been thrown wide open by the doctoral thesis of Vincent Artuso (a joint venture between the Universities of Luxembourg and Paris I, France) on the collaboration between the Nazi occupant and the Commission administrative (made up of five senior civil servants in

charge of current affairs after the Grand Duchess and Government Ministers had gone into exile)76. At the séance académique marking the 20th anniversary of the creation of the University, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel reiterated the statement: ‘Nous n’avons pas tous été des héros’ (‘We have not all been heroes’). Andreas Fickers and colleagues formulated two additional objectives: The C2DH is to become an international hub in digital hermeneutics and it is to promote new digital skills and infrastructures77.

The creation of the C2DH did result in the integration of personnel from Institutes set up by previous governments. Le Centre virtuel de la connaissance sur l’Europe, le Centre de documentation et de recherche sur la Résistance, le Centre de documentation et de recherche sur l’enrôlement forcé and le Centre d’études et de recherches européennes Robert Schuman ceased to exist. Sixteen members of staff from these Centres were incorporated into the C2DH.

Since most historians agree that a crucial part of Luxembourg’s national identity has to do with what happened between 1940-1945 and how World War II is remembered, it is fitting that one mission of the C2DH is to concentrate on the events of those years. Besides, to reduce the likelihood of political interference, it is essential for this process to happen within the University. Many key facts have been unearthed over the decades (see for instance78-82).

Thus, we know that 83,000 Luxembourgers (out of a population of 280,000) were members of the Volksdeutsche Bewegung (membership was not always entirely voluntary). We also know that more than 1,300 Jews from Luxembourg were murdered in the Shoah. Seven transports with 658 Jews left Luxembourg-Gare for ghettos and concentration camps in the East and only forty-four people survived. Meanwhile, more than 3,000, largely Catholic, men lived in hiding to escape being forced into the Wehrmacht, but only a handful of Jews were helped in this way. It has been established that fourteen members of the Compagnie des volontaires (the equivalent of the Army in neutral Luxembourg) became part of the German Reserve Police Battalion 101, which was involved in the murder of tens of thousands of Jews in Poland. Beyond such well-documented facts numerous uncertainties remain, and the national narrative needs to be widened.

Education is of the essence, as the Stolpersteine episode in Junglinster showed in 2021 [83]. A Stolperstein [‘stumbling stone’] is shaped like a small paving stone capped in brass and is inscribed with the name of a Nazi victim and their date of birth, as well as the place and year of their death. It is embedded in the pavement, outside a Nazi victim’s last-known freely chosen residence (Hei huet gewunnt).

More than 100,000 such plaques have been placed in over twenty countries, including some localities (but not the capital city) of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. Is it not high time to mark the locations of the Jüdische

Altersheime in Luxembourg City in this way? National Monuments have an altogether different function. Most Stolpersteine commemorate Jewish victims of the Shoah. In Junglinster, however, it was decided to also pay homage to eleven enrôlés de force in this way.

Yes, they were all victims of German occupation, but what happened to the mostly Catholic enrôlés de force is fundamentally different from what happened to the Jewish community. It is one thing for Luxembourgish men born between 1920 and 1927 to be forced into the German army, but quite another for Luxembourgish men, women and children to be murdered because they were Jewish. Also, one must not forget that the Wehrmacht played an important part in the extermination of Jews in Eastern Europe84. In this context, it is shocking to see that the 1989 monument in Place des enrôlés de force in Junglinster similarly fails to distinguish between Jews murdered in concentration camps and enrôlés de force. To add insult to injury, the names of Jews [‘am KZ gestuerwen’ (‘died in a concentration camp’) – a shocking euphemism!] appear below a blessing figure of Christ.

This unfortunate amalgam suggests that Memorial Culture must most urgently be upgraded nationwide. One might want to start by defining the meaning of the word déportation more clearly since, at present, its use ranges from being killed in a concentration camp [often veiledly referred to as ‘mort(e) en déportation’ (‘he/she died during deportation’)] to the situation of the enrôlés de

Twenty years in the

force and to Umsiedlung. The Mémorial de la Déportation in rue de la Déportation at the train station of LuxembourgHollerich is a case in point. From this station enrôlés de force left for the front and families left to be resettled. No Jewish people were deported from here.

Moreover, it is wrong to mark the Monument National de la Résistance et de la Déportation, in the Allée des Résistants et des Déportés in the Cimetière Notre-Dame in LuxembourgLimpertsberg, with a Christian Cross only. This double (or triple) standard does not befit a city that prides itself on being a Capital of the European Union. I am appealing to the Prime Minister and to the other members of the Government to change this embarrassing state of affairs. The ‘Digital Memorial of the Shoah’85, which was initiated by the Fondation luxembourgeoise pour la mémoire de la Shoah and is funded through an agreement between the Government and the C2DH, is particularly welcome because there have been (and still are) too many silences around what happened to Luxembourg’s Jewish community during World War II.

FOURTH MANDATE

(DECEMBER 2018 – NOVEMBER 2023)

THE LAW OF 2018

Between 2004 and 2018, the CG had seven members. From 2019 onwards, it has had thirteen. Going from a lucky to an unlucky number, perhaps? In any case, the new composition did provide a more balanced range of expertise; it also meant that at meetings I was no longer the only Luxembourg national working outside the country. The gender balance was much improved. Of the thirteen members, there were now six women and seven men.

Alain Kinsch and Danilo Zavrtanik left, with Yves Elsen remaining as Chair and Kristín Ingólfsdóttir becoming Vice-Chair. Flour, Hoffmann and Goedert also continued. Six new members were appointed by the Government: Claudine Moulin, Professor of Historical Linguistics at the University of Trier, Germany; Sandra Visscher, Director of UNICEF Luxembourg; Paul Lesch, who was then Director of Luxembourg’s Centre National de l’Audiovisuel; and Jeannot Trampert, Professor of Geology at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. Anke Müssig and Georges Steffgen, Professors at the University of Luxembourg, represented the Conseil Universitaire.

The Head of the Personnel delegation of the University and the President of its Student organisation became members ex officio. In 2019, they were Virginie Mucciante and Oleksii Domin. Nicola Schreiner took the place of Domin in 2020. He was replaced by Nicola Kaseróva, who was in turn succeeded by Max Bintener and Joana Pereira.

Five Subcommittees began work, with each member of the CG belonging to at least one of them. They come together ahead of the meetings of the CG to discuss the issues at hand. The Subcommittees are: Comité des Ressources Humaines et des Rénumérations (‘Human Resources and Renumerations Committee’), Comité des Budgets, des Finances et des Participations (‘Budgets, Finances and Participations Committee’), Comité des Affaires Académiques et Scientifiques (‘Academic and Scientific Affairs Committee’).

In the beginning, the Subcommittees met in person a day or so ahead of the CG meetings. But since this did not leave enough time to gather any missing information, Subcommittee meetings began to be held via videoconference, which allows for them to take place well ahead of CG meetings; this is likely to continue. Undeniably, the Subcommittees have significantly improved the quality of deliberations at CG meetings. Besides, more time can now be devoted to strategic discussions.

The three Faculties are: Faculté de Droit, d’Economie et de Finance (FDEF) (‘Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance’), Faculté des Sciences Humaines, des Sciences de l’Education et des Sciences Sociales (FHSE) (‘Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences’), Faculté des Sciences, de la Technologie et de la Médecine (FSTM) (‘Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine’).

During this mandate, the Faculties were divided into Departments. At around the same time, the ‘Institute for Advanced Studies’, the brainchild of Jens Kreisel, was launched; it fosters research within and between Faculties, Interdisciplinary Centres and Centres de recherche publics. The LuxTIME project, for instance, aims to find a common language between the Humanities and Natural Sciences86.

The new law also introduced what is sometimes referred to as a tenure-track system for academic staff, which goes under the name of prétitularisation conditionelle. The principle behind a tenure-track system is that not everybody gets tenure. A contrat à durée déterminée (‘fixedterm contract’) fits this description since it is time limited. One cannot be tenure-track and have a contrat à durée indéterminée (‘permanent contract’), the latter being the contract given to people with a tenured position. Unfortunately, the University of Luxembourg still lacks a fully-fledged tenure-track system.

Two of the key decisions of this mandate were the

Meeting of the Conseil de Gouvernance, Esch-Belval [July 2023]

Left to right: Massimo Malvetti; Simone Niclou; Claudine Moulin; Catherine Léglu; Georges Steffgen; Marie-Hélène Jobin; Jeannot Trampert; Yves Elsen; Sandra Visscher; Kristín Ingólfsdóttir; Gérard Hoffmann; Jens Kreisel; Paul Lesch; Minister Claude Meisch; Anke Müssig; Virginie Mucciante; Yvonne Flour; Léon Diederich; Anne Christophe; Michel Goedert; Max Bintener.

creation of a Bachelor of Medicine and the later introduction of Nursing Studies. It was encouraging to see the first crop of thirteen students be awarded the title ‘Bachelor of Medicine’ in the summer of 2023 before moving on to further studies in France and Belgium.

THE COVID PANDEMIC

The final meetings of 2019 took place at SnT and FDEF. Little did we know that the annual Christmas dinner was to be the last until 2022. But soon the Covid pandemic was to call the tune. One more in-person meeting of the CG took place in February 2020, while over the next two years discussions were held largely or entirely via videoconferencing. In a parallel move, the University management introduced virtual lectures at record speed; it remains to be seen to what extent research activities were impeded by the necessary restrictions.

Nevertheless important decisions, such as the appointment of Michael Heneka as Director of the LCSB and the adoption of the Strategic Framework 2020-2039, were taken by Webex videoconferencing. The Strategic Framework identified three major areas: Digital Transformation; Medicine and Health; Sustainable and Societal Development, and priority areas of the fifth four-year plan were aligned with those of the Framework. For the first time, the University did not select disciplines to develop, but chose instead to focus on major challenges facing humanity. One can question

the wisdom of this decision (where were the Humanities, for instance?), even though the successive four-year plans probably listed too many priorities.

There were certainly disadvantages to this mode of functioning. Informal discussions remained on hold for over two years, so, not surprisingly, it was a welcome relief to see in-person meetings take place again from March 2022 onwards.

FROM STEPHANE PALLAGE TO JENS KREISEL

In September 2021, Stéphane Pallage announced his intention to leave at the end of his mandate. To ensure

Jens Kreisel, the fifth Rector of the Université du Luxembourg [from 2023]

continuity, a Committee consisting of Stéphane Pallage, Jens Kreisel, Catherine Léglu and Massimo Malvetti was put in place. Following an international call, Jens Kreisel became the fifth Rector of the University. He is the first internal candidate to be at the helm, indicating that the University has matured over the years. At the beginning, it had been considered essential to recruit Rectors from abroad to have a correcting view from the outside and to minimise what Germain Dondelinger called ‘solutions luxo-luxembourgeoises.’

Simone Niclou left the Luxembourg Institute of Health, where she was Head of the Department for Cancer Research, to take office as Vice-Rector for Research in March 2023. Marie-Hélène Jobin joined from HEC Montreal, Canada, where she was ViceRector for International Relations and Partnerships. She became Vice-Rector for Partnerships and International Relations in March 2023. Meanwhile, the importance of the role of Massimo Malvetti as the CG’s secretary cannot be overstated. He is a physicist and the author (with Hartmut Pilkuhn) of a textbook of modern physics87.

Given how crucial the development of Medicine is for the future of the University, it seems odd that no member of the current Rectorate (Rector and ViceRectors) is medically qualified (while, ironically, the Minister for Higher Education and Research is a general practitioner). It seems equally ironic that Ludwig Neyses,

who is a Professor of Medicine, was Vice-Rector for Research at a time when the Bachelor in Medicine did not yet exist.

TWENTY YEARS

Claude Meisch, Minister for Education, Higher Education and Research, attended the meeting of the CG of July 2023, which was the last before the general election of October 8. Then, on September 14, the 20th anniversary of the University was marked by a séance académique in the presence of the great and the good,

Twentieth Anniversary of the Université du Luxembourg, Esch-Belval [September 2023]

Front row, left to right: Mayor Georges Mischo; Minister Georges Engel; Minister Franz Fayot; Minister Romain Bausch; Minister Claude Meisch; Prime Minister Xavier Bettel; Grand Duke Henri; Yves Elsen; Sarah Springman; Rosie Mayglothling; Kristín Ingólsdóttir; Jens Kreisel; Andrea Kreisel; Erna Hennicot-Schoepges.

Palais Grand-Ducal [October 2023]

Front row, left to right: Jens Kreisel; Yves Elsen; Grand Duke Henri; Kristín Ingólfsdóttir; Gérard Hoffmann. Middle row, left to right: Léon Diederich; Yvonne Flour; Michel Goedert; Georges Steffgen; Paul Lesch. Back row, left to right: Joana Pereira; Anne Christophe; Virginie Mucciante; Anke Müssig; Jeannot Trampert; Massimo Malvetti.

including the Grand Duke, the Prime Minister and four Government Ministers. There were speeches by Yves Elsen, Jens Kreisel, Claude Meisch and Xavier Bettel. Dame Sarah Springman, Principal of St Hilda’s College Oxford, gave the keynote address entitled ‘Twenty years and counting: Aspirations for the future.’

My last meeting of the CG took place on October 20 and my fourth mandate ended on November 30, 2023. The new CG began work on December 1. Moulin, Müssig and Steffgen stepped down after one mandate and Ingólfsdóttir after two, whereas Hoffmann and I bowed out after four mandates each. To mark the occasion, we were granted an audience by the Grand Duke at the Palais Grand-Ducal.

Looking back, it has been a short and eventful twenty years. There seems to be general agreement that the beginnings of the Research University of Luxembourg have been a success.

MEDICINE

Perceived difficulties in training enough Luxembourgers in Medical Sciences abroad led to the setting up of a Bachelor Programme at the University of Luxembourg from October 2020. The diploma of ‘Bachelor in Medicine’ provides access to Master Programmes at partner universities. In a second step and subject to a positive evaluation in 2025, the Bachelor Programme

may be followed by a Master Programme and the creation of a Luxembourg Medical School. This will require the development of strong links with local hospitals to ensure clinical training.

The overall underlying problem is a lack of both general practitioners and specialists, with an additional one hundred medical doctors currently being needed each year. It also remains to be seen how a Luxembourg Medical School can fit into the current Governance structure of the University. Will its creation lead to the incorporation of the Luxembourg Institute of Health into the University? Will the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine remain an independent Interdisciplinary Centre?

Traditionally, the first year of Medical Studies was taught at the Cours Supérieurs, which were renamed Centre Universitaire; then, in 2005, that institution became part of the University. The creation of a Bachelor programme in Medicine was long in coming, with discussions in the CG going back to 2013, when Ludwig Neyses, Vice-Rector for Research, presented the case.

In 2019, Gilbert Massard, Professor of Thoracic Surgery at the University of Strasbourg, France, and a Luxembourg national, was recruited to develop the Bachelor Programme in Medicine and specialisations in General Medicine, Neurology and Medical Oncology. The specialisation in General Medicine has existed since

2004 and was incorporated into the University in 2020. Neurology and Medical Oncology were chosen because of the research already going on. Specialisations in Paediatrics and Psychiatry may be added in future.

The main challenge is to convince more young people from Luxembourg to take up Medical Studies. At the time of writing, the offer of a Bachelor in Medicine at the University of Luxembourg has led to some places in Medicine reserved for Luxembourgers at foreign universities not being taken up. Yet, for the initiative to be cost-effective, there are two conditions: all the places on offer abroad need to be taken up and a substantial number of students need to qualify from the University of Luxembourg after three years. Moreover, to preclude a two-tier system in Medical Education, standards in Luxembourg and abroad must be comparable. It is difficult to see how this can be achieved without opening up medical studies to non-nationals. No doubt, time will tell. Incidentally, to be admitted, candidates for this programme must be proficient in both French and German (unless they have spent at least seven years within the educational system of Luxembourg)88.

A Luxembourg Medical School will not be able to flourish without an internationally competitive research component. Medical Research is a broad church. And though much of what happens at the LCSB is Medical Research, it is not Clinical Research. It will, however, be crucial for the specialities in Neurology, Medical

Oncology and General Medicine to be paralleled by a significant activity in the latter, hence the position of Chercheur Clinicien (‘Clinical Researcher’) should be introduced and be protected by law. Incidentally, it appears that too often research initiatives by individual medical doctors based in a Luxembourg hospital have been thwarted by what can only be described as resentful colleagues who were less research-minded.

Also, a Luxembourg Medical School must avoid becoming a Fachhochschule (‘University of Applied Sciences’) for medical practitioners. The research component ought to be at the forefront, though I am not convinced that the financial implications have really been understood by the powers that be. Still, in this context, it is worth recalling that in 2008 the Government of Luxembourg found 100 million dollars to invest into Biomedicine when a Bachelor in Medicine was not on the cards yet.

Now is the time to launch and properly fund an innovative medical curriculum based on internationally competitive research. And since Biochemistry and Molecular Biology are central to contemporary medical research, creating a Department of Biological Chemistry should become a top priority.

Other factors are at play as well. Thus, the Covid-19 pandemic, which changed the world in unexpected ways, soon highlighted the reliance of the Luxembourg Health

System on nursing staff from neighbouring countries. As such a high degree of dependence is incompatible with the very notion of a sovereign country, it became important for the Government to mandate the University to create a Bachelor Programme in Nursing Education (four Bachelors started in 2023/2024 and three will do so in 2024/2025). An additional problem is the fact that many, above all elderly, Luxembourgers have difficulty communicating in a language other than their own –particularly in a stress situation. Let’s hope that the new Programme will help to alleviate this issue, too. It seems unacceptable that those who pay for the Health System through their taxes are unable to understand what is wrong with them when they are hospitalised and at their most vulnerable.

REFLECTIONS ON THE BEGINNINGS

GENDER INEQUALITY

Gender inequality affects most Universities. In the United Kingdom the proportion of female University Professors was 28% only in 202189, while in November 2022, this figure was 25% at the University of Luxembourg. All fields have issues with gender equality, but the discrepancy tends to be greatest for Science and Technology. This is also the case in Luxembourg. In 2021, 27% of Professors at FDEF were female, 41% at FHSE, 11% at FSTM, 23% at C2DH, 19% at LCSB and

10% at SnT. Gender inequality often has to do with bias, with an unconscious reaction to stereotypes that we have subconsciously absorbed since birth.

In a study from the United States, faculty were sent identical information for evaluating applicants for the position of a science laboratory manager. The information given was the same, the only difference was the name at the top, which was either male or female90. The choices made proved that both male and female faculty members were more likely to employ a male and to offer him additional support/training, as well as a higher salary, even though these men and women had identical track records.

Similarly, a study using data from the Swedish Medical Research Council about biomedical fellowships showed a systematic bias attributing higher impact values to men, although objective criteria established equivalent competence scores for both men and women91. These discrepancies extend to publications. Women whose names appeared in progress reports for grants in Physics, as doing equal work to men, were less likely to appear as authors on publications resulting from these grants92. The more important the publications, the less likely it was for women to be listed as co-authors. ‘When it comes to silencing women, Western culture has had thousands of years of practice’93. It appears that unconscious bias training, though useful, does not solve the problem, since it fails to remove deep-rooted beliefs. Much remains to

MULTILINGUALISM

Multilingualism is an essential characteristic of Luxembourg and its University. It is a defining feature of what being an Old Luxembourger means94. The ability to read books in German, French and English is enriching, and the knowledge of these languages has deeply influenced my life and work. But do we really have a language of our own? Or might we have ended up with this particular educational system because we lack a Kultursprache (‘a language that has given rise to cultural achievements with a worldwide resonance’)? Is the Luxembourg language more than a moselfränkischer Dialekt (‘Moselle-Franconian dialect’)? And what link is there between language and national identity? Johann Gottfried Herder certainly believed that the German language defines Germany as a nation95 .

When I was living in Luxembourg, we were told that we were speaking a German dialect at home that lacked a grammar and definite spelling rules. Lëtzebuergesch, therefore, had no place in the school curriculum. Since then, the language has been given its own standard form in grammar, vocabulary and spelling. It was made the national language and the third administrative language in February 1984 (the others being French and German).

The situation remains no less complex, though.

Currently, more than 50% of primary school children grow up speaking a language other than Lëtzebuergesch at home. On the other hand, social media and mobile messaging platforms have led to a wider use of written Lëtzebuergesch. In this context, it is worth noting that the University offers a Bachelor en culture européenne with an option of Lëtzebuerger Linguistik a Literatur (‘Luxembourgish Linguistics and Literature’).

No one will deny that language is much more than the ability to communicate. Ludwig Wittgenstein (18891951) said: ‘Die Grenzen meiner Sprache bedeuten die Grenzen meiner Welt’ (‘The limits of my language are the limits of my world’)96. And Martin Heidegger (1889-1976): ‘Die Sprache ist das Haus des Seins. In ihrer Behausung wohnt der Mensch. Die Denkenden und Dichtenden sind die Wächter dieser Behausung’ (‘Language is the house of the Being. People inhabit it. The thinkers and poets are the guardians of this house’)97. Heidegger believed that Greek and German are superior languages when it comes to thought. Max Weinreich (1894-1969), a Russian linguist, said that ‘A language is a dialect with an army and a navy’98.

Lëtzebuergesch is now one of the three administrative languages of the country. Is it, then, less of a German dialect than Swiss German, a variety of German spoken by more than 60% of the Swiss population? German, French, Italian and Romansh are the official languages of Switzerland, while Swiss German is not.

One could say that the emergence of a new language is like that of a new species. There can be many variants of a given species, with dialects being the variants of a given language. It is only when viable offspring can no longer be produced upon mating of a member of a species with one of its variants that a new species has emerged. By analogy, this new species can be likened to a separate language.

For a University to be successful, multilingualism is not necessary, as shown by the fact that major American and British Universities are dominant in international League Tables. On the contrary, at times, I have had the impression that multilingualism is more of a hindrance than an advantage for the University of Luxembourg. Recruitment procedures are a good case in point. The requirement to know English, as well as either French or German (in the standard language clause), rules out most people from Anglo-Saxon countries. Exceptions are permitted, but there are quotas. Though being fluent in several languages is bound to be advantageous on the European job market, scientific excellence does not require proficiency in languages.

As a matter of fact, the language situation has led to many tensions and contradictions. No one can deny that English is essential today as the lingua franca of European scholars, a role that Latin played until well into the 18th century. Yet, for obvious geographic and historical reasons, English is not an administrative language,

whereas Luxembourgish, which is not required for most recruitments, is.

Things are even more complicated when University activities interface with the population. Thus, the health sector appears to prefer French over German, whereas the primary school sector has traditionally prioritised German over French. For generations, the emphasis on German in primary school has made second-class citizens of children who speak a Romance language at home. Let’s hope that the introduction of alphabetisation in French, which was presented to the CG by Minister Claude Meisch during his visit in 2022, will help to reduce this glaring inequality. In retrospect, it is difficult to understand why this alternative option was not introduced earlier. Why did successive Ministers of Education from different political parties not feel the need to correct an imbalance that continues to put some children at a severe disadvantage from the very start?

SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY

‘Cell’, ‘Nature’ and ‘Science’ are the three big Journals in the biological sciences. Following internal assessment and peer-review, the rate of acceptance of manuscripts is less than 5%. It was therefore a proud moment for the University of Luxembourg to have a paper published in ‘Cell’ in 2009, the senior author of which was a Professor at the University99.

Unfortunately, the article had to be retracted in 2010 because of data manipulation by the first author. To reach statistical significance, experimental results had been tampered with. Although the first author’s address was given as the University of Kuopio, Finland, the senior author’s twin affiliations were the Universities of Kuopio and Luxembourg. The address that was given for correspondence was the University of Luxembourg.

Clearly, the practice of science relies on trust. All authors of a publication bear responsibility for its content, but the person who is responsible, above all, is the author whose name appears last. Rolf Tarrach swiftly put together a Commission of three well-known scientists from abroad to investigate what had happened. Then the CG studied the report and interviewed the senior author. We agreed that the situation was unfortunate and even potentially dangerous, especially for a young Research University. In the end, the Professor in question lost his job at the University of Luxembourg.

There have been other examples of scientific misconduct since, but this does remain the highest-profile case. From 2016, cases of potential misconduct are first discussed by the ‘Luxembourg Agency for Research Integrity’. It must be said that worldwide a substantial proportion of scientific publications report results that are inaccurate. They range from honest mistakes to pure fabrications, with a myriad of intermediates. Much of science is competitive and there is usually only one correct answer

for a given question, with winner takes all. To some extent, you either publish or perish in research, although the quality, not the quantity, of publications should prevail.

Scientific integrity is important, which explains the existence of websites for post-publication peer review (such as ‘PubPeer’, ‘For Better Science’ and ‘Retraction Watch’). Research integrity consultants, who specialise in the uncovering of misconduct, are in high demand. Thus, Elizabeth Bik, a former microbiologist based in California, scrutinises images in research papers for manipulation100. So far, her detective work has led to the retraction of hundreds of publications. Although it is difficult to estimate the true prevalence of data fabrication, there is probably a substantial number of unreported cases. We do know that more than 10,000 research articles were retracted in 2023101, which suggests that some people appear to live by the adage: ‘Fake it until you make it.’

Scientific misconduct may have its short-term advantages, yet it cannot be of long-term benefit because ‘In science, truth always wins.’ – as Max Perutz put it. One doesn’t need to be polite, but one has to be right and one must aim to be first. Distinguishing between the work and the person is essential in science as well as in other walks of life: ‘L’homme n’est rien, l’oeuvre tout’ (’The individual is nothing, the work is everything’) 102 .

STRATEGY

The research done at the University must be internationally competitive. This applies not only within the context of the grande région and Europe, but worldwide. One can be the best in Europe and figure only under ‘also ran’ in the world. To use a footballing analogy, this is not about playing in the Conference League, the Europa League or even the Champions League. It is about playing in the World Cup Finals.

What is the role of strategy? On the one hand, having a strategic framework as a guide is key to fending off demands from stakeholders, be they private organisations or governments. On the other hand, since the future cannot be predicted, it is essential for a strategy to be broad and inclusive so that it can be tweaked.

The adoption of the Strategic Framework 20202039 by the CG in February 2021 was crucial. The overarching goals of the University were defined as aspiring to become stronger in research and teaching, to reinforce interdisciplinarity and to increase its role in civil society. In research, the three broad areas are Digital Transformation, Medicine and Health, as well as Sustainable and Societal Development. Linking the fouryear plans to this Strategic Framework will be essential. In the past, priorities were somewhat meaningless as they ended up covering the bulk of what was going on at the University.

ASSESSING IMPACT

Longevity of their published work is the prize researchers strive for the most. This implies that discoveries must pass the Magritte Eternity Test103. Eternité (shown on the cover) is a 1935 painting by René Magritte (1898-1967), which shows three sculptures behind a velvet rope: there is the head of Jesus Christ on the left, the head of Dante Alighieri on the right, and a block of butter in the middle. The truths of science must stand the test of time and not melt like butter. If so, how do they compare to the truths of religion and poetry?

The traditional interpretation of Eternité is that the truths of religion and poetry are eternal and that they will not melt away like butter. An alternative view is that they are not eternal and that they will eventually melt away like butter, which is not going to happen to the truths of science since the latter are immutable. Unlike religion and poetry, however, science has nothing intrinsic to say about how we should lead our lives.

In 2013, when the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology moved to its new building on what is now the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, we were asked by the City Council to name the street the new building is located on after an alumnus of the Laboratory. Having seen several streets named after long-forgotten hospital administrators, the proposal was to honour Francis Crick, because his 1953 discovery (with James Watson) of

the double-helical structure of DNA and his subsequent work on the genetic code mean that his name will be remembered for centuries to come104,105. The MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology is now located on Francis Crick Avenue.

It has been said that if James Watson and Francis Crick had not been born or if they had become accountants, within a year or two, Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958), Maurice Wilkins or Linus Pauling (1901-1993) would have discovered the double helical structure of DNA. This is different from what happens in the Humanities. If Thomas Mann (1875-1955) had not been born, Der Zauberberg (’The Magic Mountain’) would not exist.

Franklin was probably closest to the correct structure106, but she was isolated and had no one to talk to at King’s College London107. Moreover, unbeknown to her, some of her results made their way to Watson and Crick108,109. In science, being able to bounce ideas off others is often essential. Thus, Crick said that if Watson had been killed by a tennis ball in 1952, he himself would not have come up with the DNA double helix15. As he wrote in 1974: ‘Rather than believe that Watson and Crick made the DNA structure, I would rather stress that the structure made Watson and Crick. After all, I was almost totally unknown at the time and Watson was regarded, in most circles, as too bright to be really sound. But what I think is overlooked in such arguments is the intrinsic beauty of the DNA double helix. It is the molecule which has style,

quite as much as the scientists.’110.

Even though longevity of one’s work is what counts the most, Universities and Research Institutes exist in the here and now. And as researchers must be accountable for the money spent, they must be assessed at regular intervals. There are various models for assessing quantity and quality. None is perfect, so they must all be taken with a grain of salt. Still, their outcomes can have major consequences for those concerned.

Key Performance Indicators provide reasonably objective criteria, but the decision as to which ones to use is invariably subjective. Those in use at the University of Luxembourg evaluate both quantity and quality. Recognition from the outside, for instance, in the form of grants from the European Research Council, is important. Between 2010 and 2023 twenty European Research Council grants were awarded to members of the University of Luxembourg, indicating that it is on an upwards trajectory. When assessing individuals, one must also consider their position as an author of a given publication. What’s more, publishing in toptier journals matters and it is good to see publications from the University of Luxembourg in such journals111. Hopefully, there are going to be more in future. Top-tier journals are often owned by money-making organisations that also publish satellite journals using the brand of the parent journal to sell copies. Yet publishing in ‘Nature Medicine’ or ‘Science Translational Medicine’ is not the

same as having a publication in ‘Nature’ or ‘Science’ (a distinction that is not always made at the University of Luxembourg).

But still, not everything that counts can be counted, which is why it is misleading to compare Universities to commercial organisations. The goal of business is quantitative, with output providing a measure of relative strength. Many important goals of a university, on the other hand, are qualitative and need to be judged, even though such judgements are subjective and can be mistaken. What is worse, the latter may mask prejudice, snobbery and favouritism, which is why combining performance indicators with reviews by one’s peers is best.

Every eight years, Research at the University of Luxembourg is assessed by external reviewers and an agency chosen by the Ministry for Higher Education and Research. An important objective for the future must be to streamline these assessments, so that they may take lessons from what is going on elsewhere. The attempt to create a tenure-track system was a step in the right direction. After all, a major objective of the University of Luxembourg is to make its research become more internationally competitive. For this to happen, it must adopt international standards.

No doubt, one can question the value of Key Performance Indicators that are based on the impact

Four Nobel Laureates [2017]

Left to right: John Walker; John Sulston; Richard Henderson; Venki Ramakrishnan. On the day Henderson was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

The Nobel Laureates

“It was Alfred Nobel’s intention that his prizes should not only be considered as awards for Les Prix Nobel,

For work on the chemical structure of proteins

For their discoveries concerning genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death

For discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids Physiology or Medicine

For studies of the structure and function of the ribosome

For studies on the physical structures of globular proteins Chemistry

For contributions the determination sequences in

For the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems

For developing microscopy for resolution

Nobel Prizes [1962-2018]

Twelwe Nobel Prizes were awarded to members of the Scientific Staff of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology.

Laureates of the LMB

for achievements done but that they should also serve as encouragement for future work.”

Nobel, 1958

contributions concerning determination of base nucleic acids

For development of crystallographic electron microscopy and structural elucidation of nucleic acidprotein complexes Chemistry 1982

For the phage display of peptides and antibodies

César Milstein

Georges Köhler

For discoveries of the principles for production of monoclonal antibodies

Physiology or Medicine 1984

For elucidation of the enzymatic mechanism underlying the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) Chemistry 1997 John Walker

factor of a given journal, since a small number of publications can determine this factor. What counts more is how often a publication is cited by others, and the University of Luxembourg is doing well in this respect112. In this context, the annual list of Highly Cited Researchers by ‘Clarivate’ is important for evaluating researchers in the natural and social sciences. Highly Cited Researchers belong to the top 1% of a given field. In 2023, there were three highly cited researchers from Luxembourg (Michael Heneka, Alexandre Tkatchenko and Paul Wilmes), all from the University.

The combination of reviews by one’s peers and performance indicators is also central to the review system chosen at the LMB. The Institution is financed by a grant-in-aid from the MRC, a government-funded agency that is now part of United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI). The LMB comprises around fifty different groups, each of which belongs to one of four Divisions (Cell Biology, Neurobiology, Protein and Nucleic Acid Chemistry and Structural Studies). Programme Leaders head groups of six to ten people. We do not have to apply for grants, but we are reviewed every five years by a visiting Subcommittee.

The composition of the evaluating Subcommittees is determined by the MRC (and there should be at least one reviewer who is an international expert in the field of each group leader being evaluated). Prior to the site visit, Subcommittee members have studied our reports (with

listed publications) describing what we did during the past five years and what we propose to do over the next five. The Subcommittee has also seen the anonymous reviewers’ reports (there will be around six for each group), their scores and our responses. Following an interview by the Subcommittee, each Programme Leader is given a score for the past and a separate score for the future. Scores are between one and ten. An overall score of less than eight results in dismissal.

The Laboratory has been called ‘The Nobel Prize Factory’113, thanks to the award of twelve Nobel Prizes to sixteen of its scientists between 1962 and 2018. Aaron Klug said that a more appropriate description would be to call the LMB a ‘Nobel Prize Plantation’, since not everyone makes it, let alone is awarded a Nobel Prize. Almost all of those recruited as Programme Leaders are tenure-track and in their thirties. They are given six years, during which they are expected to develop their independent Research Programmes. The tenure decision, which is based on the quality (not the number) of publications and the promise for the future, is internal and separate from the Quinquennial Review process. Tenure only means that one can stay at the LMB for more than six years. One is still subject to the Quinquennial Reviews, with one’s job being on the line every five years.

The Review process of an intramural MRC Institute does differ from that in operation at universities in the United Kingdom, where having a Programme Grant

application that is not funded does not result in dismissal. But then again, it has been said that not receiving any (or only a few) grants in a university setting, even if the teaching is excellent, will ultimately lead to dismissal.

LEAGUE TABLES

In all walks of life, and universities are no exception, international comparisons matter. At the University of Luxembourg this has led to what does appear to be an obsession with League tables. Prior to their existence, recognition of elite Universities came from a reputation as places of high-quality research and teaching. Where the findings are convenient, international listings are now frequently used for publicity purposes. It was a positive surprise to see that the University of Luxembourg was classed among the top two hundred Universities in the world in the rankings of the ‘Times Higher Education Supplement’ in 2016-2018, though it lost this position in 2019.

In 2022, the Universities ranked in the top ten were Anglo-Saxon (Oxford University, California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Stanford University, Cambridge University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, University of California at Berkeley, Yale University, Chicago University), with only two of those being European (Oxford and Cambridge). These rankings are based

on Performance Indicators in the areas of Teaching, Research, Citations, International Outlook, Industrial Income and International Reputation. No doubt, the University of Luxembourg was helped by the category of International Outlook, but it also fared well in Research and Citations. It did not perform so well for International Reputation, but then, it has only been around for twenty years, compared with claims of many centuries by some institutions.

Many people believe that League Tables are unhelpful because comparable data are not available on many matters and the use of subjective opinion surveys provides little accurate information. An additional problem is that rankings can vary widely, depending on which criteria are used. Thus, in 2021, the University of Luxembourg was number twenty in the Young University (less than fifty years of age) rankings of the ‘Times Higher Education Supplement’114, but only occupied position 119 in a separate ranking of Young Universities published by ‘Nature’115. University strategy should definitely not be influenced too much by League Tables. Ultimately, I suspect that international comparisons are better served by the assessment of impact. League Tables do, nevertheless, play a role since many people consult them before deciding where to go next.

A LUXEMBOURGER

IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

Luxembourg does not figure prominently in the British psyche. Schengen is probably its best-known locality, but most citizens of the United Kingdom are not aware that Schengen is a small town in southeast Luxembourg. The Schengen area (of which the United Kingdom was never a member) now encompasses all European Union countries, except Cyprus and Ireland, as well as three non-European Union countries, namely Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. Members of the Schengen area have officially abolished controls at their mutual borders.

The match of 15 September 1971 ended in a 0:8 defeat for FC Hautcharage. The return match in London ended in a 13:0 defeat. They remain the largest victories of Chelsea FC.

FC Hautcharage versus Chelsea FC

Older supporters of Chelsea FC might know Luxembourg because of the football matches their team played against Jeunesse Hautcharage in 1971. Sometimes, having explained where I am from, I am told: ‘Oh yes, Liechtenstein is a nice country, I have been there.’ Often, when flying to the United States or Japan, the customs officers check my Luxembourg passport with suspicion and hand it back, saying: ‘One doesn’t see many of those around here.’ Even though efforts are underway, more remains to be done to make Luxembourg better known in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

When United Kingdom citizens have heard of Luxembourg, it is often as a tax haven. Even if this view is largely based on a myth – just ask any local Luxembourg taxpayer! -, it is nevertheless widely held. Thus, during the Luxembourg Leaks scandal, a well-known LMB scientist remarked: ‘I didn’t realise that you could create a whole country around tax evasion.’ In this context, the special deals granted to various multinational companies loom large. Amazon declares most of its European revenue through Amazon European Union, which is based in Luxembourg. According to ‘The Guardian’116, the company arrived in 2003 and secured a confidential agreement with the tax authorities a few months later. In 2020, it collected a sales income of forty-four billion euros in Europe but paid no corporation tax in the Grand-Duchy. Not surprisingly, perhaps, it has been said that there are more accountants than members of the police in Luxembourg117. One can only hope that

the global minimum tax introduced at the beginning of 2024 will change things for the better.

Back to the sceptred isle, where being a Luxembourger seems to give you some extra breathing space. In 2018, I gave a talk at The Royal Society in London in front of several hundred scientists. I was introduced as originating from Luxembourg, which elicited no reaction at all. By contrast, the audience burst into laughter when the next speaker was introduced as coming from Belgium. The reaction was a clin d’oeil to a party game in the United Kingdom, which starts with: ‘Name five famous Belgians!’ The opening line is routinely followed by baffled silence. Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993), Jacques Brel (1929-1978), René Magritte, Eddy Merckx, Georges Simenon (19031989)… so many great unknowns.

In July 2012, an estimated one billion people watched the opening ceremony of the London Olympics, which was a celebration of cool Britannia, of its tolerance, its creativity and its openness. Sadly, four years later, the outcome of the Brexit referendum came to suggest that Danny Boyle’s show did not reflect the situation on the ground. By the end of 2021, I was one of more than five million citizens of the European Union who had been granted permanent settled status in post-Brexit Britain. The abolition of free movement rendered things more difficult for citizens from the European Union. It also had profound psychological effects on those of us who had been living in the United Kingdom for a long time.

As so often, one only truly realises how much one valued something once one has lost it.

It has been argued that since 1945, the United Kingdom has attempted to reconcile a past that it is unable to forget with a future that it cannot avoid118. Clearly, in 2016 the past triumphed over the future. It seems that even after the end of Empire, many people still believe that the United Kingdom’s destiny is global. Joining the European Union was something one had to do, mostly for economic reasons. It has been suggested that, ultimately, ‘Vote Leave’ won the Brexit referendum because of doubts about the economic model of the European Union, the fear that membership interfered with British identity and the hope that Brexit would

Vote Leave [May 2016] Campaign for the Brexit referendum. Life in the United Kingdom has not been the same since.

reduce immigration119. ‘Il y a décidément quelque chose de détraqué dans le système britannique’ (‘The British system has definitely gone haywire’)120 .

Analysts have claimed, no doubt correctly, that: ‘For many of the people who wished the United Kingdom to leave the European Union the question of whether to do so was determined, not by the painstaking analysis of so-called experts, but by an instinctive feeling that they wished to be governed by their own kind, not by someone who was not ‘One of Us’121. Paraphrasing a well-known football chant: ‘They would rather walk alone!’

Visit by Ambassador Jean Olinger [2019]

Left to right: Richard Henderson; Jean Olinger; Michel Goedert at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. Olinger was Ambassador of Luxembourg to the United Kingdom, Ireland and Iceland from 2017-2022.

Obviously, the result of the Brexit referendum, unfortunate as it was, did not come as a complete surprise. Of the thirty-one million people who read a daily newspaper in Britain, more than twenty-two million were reading Eurosceptic papers. During the Referendum campaign, several people living on our street in Cambridge had ‘Vote Leave’ banners up in their windows. When I showed the photo below to a member of the CG in May 2016, he commented: ‘You must be living in a strange neighbourhood.’ Four weeks later, a small majority of voters chose to leave the European Union.

When I took part in the Luxembourg National Day celebrations at the Philharmonie on 23 June 2018, I enjoyed hearing the choir sing some of the songs from my youth. What I found disturbing was to hear Luxembourgish children sing the European anthem [‘The Ode to Joy’, from the final movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s (1770-1824) Ninth Symphony122], with the great and good, including the Head of State, the President of Parliament and the Prime Minister, standing to attention to: ‘Freude schöner Götterfunken….’ In the United Kingdom, there is the widespread belief that building a German-dominated superstate is a major objective of the European Union. In retrospect, should not an artist like Judith Weir, Ennio Morricone (1928-2020) or Mikis Theodorakis (1925-2021), for instance, have been commissioned to compose a European anthem in 1985?

Where you were born plays an important part in determining your outlook on past, present and future. This is not only true for the individual, but also for any national community. Thus, ten years ago, one episode brought home to me how very differently World Wars I and II are viewed in Luxembourg and in the United Kingdom. Back then, the University played a major part in the planning of an exhibition on World War I entitled La petite Guerre: Le Luxembourg entre 1914 et 1918 (‘The little War: Luxembourg between 1914 and 1918’). This title could only give the country a bad name internationally (even though the organisers may merely have wanted petite guerre to mean that World War I is less present in the collective memory of Luxembourgers than World War II). Fortunately, the exhibition was cancelled by

Stamford Bridge, London [November 11, 2018]

Hundred years after the end of World War I. Chelsea played against Everton in the Premier League (0:0).

the Luxembourg Government in 2014, with financial constraints being given as the reason.

Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, World War I (also known as the ‘Great War’) as well as subsequent conflicts, including World War II, are remembered every year on the Sunday closest to November 11, which is Remembrance Sunday. The date is of great symbolic significance since it recalls the end of the hostilities of World War I (‘at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month’). There is even a two-minute silence before the start of Premier League football matches played that same Sunday.

EPILOGUE

The Law of 2018 stipulates that membership of the CG is limited to two full mandates, which means that my twenty years (7,253 days, to be precise) in the CG are unlikely to be equalled.

It is widely believed that the CG is an unaccountable and dark force, and more could probably have been done to make it better known. Though this has changed in recent years, the fact that many meetings took place on a Saturday, when most people were away from lecture halls and laboratories, did not help. On the other hand, any organisation which says that the buck stops with it is not going to be popular.

More recent initiatives, such as presentations by holders of European Research Council grants and visits of laboratories, are important. I particularly enjoyed the presentation of Anja Leist, who works on similar subjects to mine, but looks at them from a different angle. To increase its visibility, the CG could, for instance, organise annual lectures (named after former CG Chairs) by prominent speakers on subjects that are of interest to Luxembourg and its University. At the LMB, annual lectures are named after alumni, such as Francis Crick, John Kendrew, Cesar Milstein (1927-2002) and Max Perutz.

To conclude, I want to emphasise that the University of Luxembourg serves a dual function and that the CG’s main role is to facilitate this. First of all, research and teaching must put the University on the international map. The more advanced its research, the better its teaching, so the main objective must be to do worldleading research in as many subjects as possible. The second function of the University is to serve society at large, which hopefully will make for a better-informed public and a strengthened sense of national identity. These two functions are not of equal importance, though, unless a world-class standing in research is achieved, the societal role of the University of Luxembourg may easily lead to philistinism. Attracting talent from abroad must remain a priority.

Science and Technology can make a difference. Milstein Lecture, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology [July 2022]

Left to right: Ugur Sahin; Özlem Türeci.

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This is the story of the opening game of the University of Luxembourg, as seen through the eyes of Michel Goedert, who was a member of its Conseil de Gouvernance from 2004 to 2023. Michel is a Programme Leader at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, United Kingdom, and an Emeritus Honorary Professor at Cambridge University. He was Head of the LMB’s Neurobiology Division from 2003 to 2016. Michel was born and raised in Luxembourg, obtained a Medical Doctorate (MD) from the University of Basel, Switzerland, and a PhD in Pharmacology from Cambridge University.

Michel has led a research group devoted to the study of neurodegenerative diseases at the LMB since 1987. Together with his colleagues, he provided the first direct demonstration that tau protein is an integral component of the paired helical filaments of Alzheimer’s disease and their research has helped to establish the central role of tau in a number of neurodegenerative diseases. Goedert and colleagues were also the first to identify the protein alpha-synuclein as the major component of the filamentous inclusions of Parkinson’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and multiple system atrophy.

Michel is now working in collaboration with Sjors Scheres’ group in the Structural Studies Division of the LMB, where they are using electron cryo-microscopy to determine the structures of amyloid filaments from the human brain. In 2017, they provided the first near-atomic structures of such filaments. Since then, they have reported the structures of other tau filaments, as well as of filaments made of alphasynuclein, beta-amyloid and transmembrane protein 106B. Evidence so far has shown that each neurodegenerative disease is characterised by a specific filament fold.

Michel’s work has been recognised by a number of awards, including the Brain Prize in 2018 (with B. De Strooper, C. Haass and J. Hardy), a Royal Medal from the Royal Society in 2019, the inaugural Rainwater Prize for Outstanding Innovation in Neurodegenerative Research in 2020, the Piepenbrock-DZNE Prize in 2021, an Annemarie Opprecht Foundation Parkinson Award in 2023 (with S. Scheres) and the Karl Golser Parkinson Award in 2024. Michel is a member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation, a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society.

BEGINNINGS: Twenty years in the Conseil

Imprint

Author: Michel Goedert

Copy editor: Anna Valentiny

Proofreader: Janine Goedert

Graphic design: Point Nemo Publishing

Print: Bastian Druck

Point Nemo Publishing 19, Wisswee L-5441 Remerschen www.point-nemo.lu

ISBN ISBN 978-99987-991-1-0

Aerial view Boulevard Royal, Luxembourg City [2024]

Photo: Ken Geschwind

This is the story of the opening game of the University of Luxembourg, as seen through the eyes of Michel Goedert, who was a member of its Conseil de Gouvernance from 2004-2023.

ISBN 978-99987-991-1-0