The Geneva Graduate Institute and the University of Lucerne have signed off into an academic partnership through the conclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding and a subsequent Student Exchange Agreement.
As part of the development of a stronger academic network in Switzerland, the Institute has formalised its relationship with the University of Lucerne. Both institutions will seek to exchange students, faculty and jointly conduct research projects.
The first and immediate outcome of this new cooperation takes the form of a Master and PhD student exchange open to two students every academic year starting in the 2024 autumn semester.
The agreement with the University of Lucerne adds a new Swiss partnership to those the Institute has already established with the University of Geneva, the University of Lausanne, the University of St. Gallen, and the Centre for Comparative and International Studies of the University of Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.
Marie-Laure Salles, Director of the Geneva Graduate Institute, stated that “this new partnership with the University of Lucerne will strengthen the Institute’s academic network within Switzerland and create the opportunity for more students from Swiss universities to join us in Geneva and benefit from the unique teaching, research and expertise ecosystem which the Institute has to offer.”
Bruno Staffelbach, Rector of the University of Lucerne, asserted that "the collaboration is a further step in our efforts to network with other universities specialising in the human sciences. The Geneva Graduate Institute with its thematic focus is thus a perfect fit. Both institutions benefit from the mutual exchange. The composition of the student body - international at Geneva Graduate Institute and, predominantly domestic at the University of Lucerne - also complements each institution perfectly."