The Rector and AI expert delivers flagship lecture on the accelerating technology   On 26 October 2023, UNU-MERIT hosted the seventh instalment of its flagship Charles Cooper Memorial Lecture Series, named for the institute’s first director. United Nations University (UNU) Rector and artificial intelligence expert Professor Tshilidzi Marwala delivered the lecture “Governing artificial intelligence for a better society,” following an introduction from the institute’s director Bartel Van de W...

After a hiatus of nearly five years, we are pleased to announce that we are relaunching our Charles Cooper Memorial Lecture Series – which has been running since 2007 – with a public lecture from United Nations University Rector Professor Tshilidzi Marwala on Thursday 26 October 2023. Prof. Marwala will discuss the topic of AI governance; for more details, please see our event page.   History of UNU-MERIT’s Charles Cooper Memorial Lecture Series Charles Cooper was the foun...

By Luk Van Langenhove and Luc Soete, former directors of UNU-CRIS and UNU-MERIT Hans van Ginkel, who passed away on Thursday, 27 July 2023, was a formidable figure by any standard. He was also one of those rare individuals who knew he could make a difference − and so he did through his times in charge of the largest Dutch university, Utrecht University, and the smallest international university, the United Nations University (UNU).  Intellectual, managerial and entrepreneurial Intellectually, Ha...

Forty-five years ago today ― on 1 September 1975 ― the United Nations University (UNU) commenced operations in Tokyo with a staff of fewer than 30 individuals and an annual budget of just over 3 million USD. Today, UNU has grown into a global organisation with a presence in more than a dozen countries, a personnel complement of some 670, and an annual budget of nearly 55 million USD. The mission of UNU remains unchanged: to contribute, through collaborative research and education, to efforts to ...

A UN Day 2019 message from UNU Rector and UN Under-Secretary-General David M. Malone ••• United Nations Day (24 October) is a time to reflect on how the UN benefits us all by addressing vital issues that are the common concern of all humankind. The UN Charter was written in the name of “We the peoples of the United Nations,” but the UN is inherently an organisation of its member states. The paradox is that it relies tremendously on public support, as the struggle against climate change makes cle...

As of January 2016, coordination responsibilities for the UNU Migration Network were handed over from UNU-GCM in Spain to UNU-MERIT in the Netherlands. Dr. Melissa Siegel of UNU-MERIT is now the day-to-day coordinator of the Migration Network, assisted by Ms. Elaine McGregor, also of UNU-MERIT. Dr. David M. Malone, Rector of the United Nations University and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, noted how “The Network has registered numerous successes in a very short period of tim...

Maastricht University (UM) has ranked among the top 10 in the Times Higher Education (THE) 100 Under 50 ranking for the third year running, making it the sixth best young university in the world. The list was revealed at the Young Universities Summit in Dublin, where Rector Magnificus Prof. Luc Soete gave a keynote speech on 29 April 2015. In 2013, UM achieved sixth place in this special league table for universities younger than 50 years old, and has since then managed to maintain its sixth pla...

UNU-MERIT has found a new home in the ex-Sphinx offices on Boschstraat, Maastricht. We will rent the property for 20 years and, after a renovation period, move in during the course of 2015. The new building will provide around 3,000 square metres, roughly a quarter more than our current facilities, which were increasingly cramped due to a recent growth in staff and student numbers. Alderman Gerdo van Grootheest (Urban Planning, Nature and Sport) welcomed the resettlement of UNU-MERIT within the ...