The LSE European Institute launches its 2024/25 Annual Report!

We are delighted to announce the publication of our latest Annual Report, covering the 2024/25 academic year at the LSE European Institute. In this latest edition, we take full stock of our core activities over the past academic year, ranging across our Research, Education, and Public Engagement.

View image

View image

View image

View image

View image

View image

View image

PreviousNext

Research

Researching Europe has rarely been more challenging or more important than it is today. Ongoing war and conflict on the European continent and neighbouring countries, the rise of populism and nationalism, rising inflation and energy insecurity, as well as immigration and labour market pressures, are among the many crises of the present contributing to the growing geopolitical uncertainty that is reshaping Europe and its place in the world.

At the European Institute, we seek to use these unfolding events as the springboard to the study of all things European. Consistent with our interdisciplinary status, our research is focused on cross-cutting themes. The work of the EI’s faculty, research staff, and our highly active doctoral community focuses on our four key research themes: Political Economy, Politics & Policy, Culture & Society, and Migration.

Education

This year, we welcomed a cohort of more than 260 master’s and doctoral students representing over 40 nationalities, reaffirming our status as a leading global centre for the study of contemporary Europe. This year, we shone a spotlight on a few long-serving and dedicated members of our community who have contributed to our educational offering here at the European Institute, through two exclusive interviews.

We sat down with our Visiting Professors in Practice Anthony Teasdale and Dr Martin Westlake, who have been bringing together policy practitioners and commentators on the EU as part of our EU in Practice seminar series since 2012, to hear more about their experience convening the seminar series and the highlights of the past programme.

We also spoke with our recent PhD graduate, Dr Michael Cottakis, who first joined the European Institute back in 2015 as a master's student and has since served one of the longest and varied career in our department: from master’s student to PhD candidate to research assistant to EU450 workshop facilitator. Ten years on, after first stepping foot at LSE, we caught up with Michael about his incredible journey this past December at the Class of 2024 graduation, where he officially received his doctorate degree.

Public Engagement

Our commitment to connecting with the wider community is exemplified by our extensive public events programme. We were honoured to host a diverse lineup this past year, including François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Bank of France; and Alexander Stubb, President of Finland and LSE alumnus, who spoke at the European Institute on his way to a meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

We were also proud to host the EU-UK Youth Dialogue 2024, which brought together 150 young leaders from across the UK and EU to discuss the future of UK-EU relations. These events reflect our foundational belief that to understand Europe, one must study its global connections. Our tagline, “Study Europe. Understand the World,” remains as relevant as ever.

“Study Europe. Understand the World” – This is the headline banner on our website and it still seems to me to make good sense of what we do. And perhaps it gives a hint at another wonderful feature of the European Institute; namely, that our students are drawn from right across the world too. Some might say we convene the world to study just one little corner of it. Ah, but what a corner…

This publication is an opportunity to celebrate our wider EI community, from our students, faculty, and alumni to our supporters and partners. Thank you for being a part of another exciting year at the European Institute.

We hope you enjoy reading our report and always welcome your feedback at ei.comms@lse.ac.uk.