The programme is open to researchers wishing to develop collaborative research on the interconnected Triple P dilemma (People, Planet and Profit) in the context of Europe’s green and digital transitions and beyond.

Programme objectives

The Short Stay Mobility Scheme aims to strengthen collaboration between the TransformEU Centre of Excellence and international universities. It offers early-career and experienced researchers alike the opportunity to develop joint research projects addressing the challenges and opportunities of Europe’s green and digital transitions.

The programme is open to international researchers working on topics related to TransformEU who wish to spend five days at 91��Ƭ�� (Université Catholique de Lille) collaborating with the project team on one of its research areas.

Successful applicants will receive financial support to cover travel, accommodation and subsistence expenses.

Programme details

The programme covers a five-day stay, excluding travel days.

Mobility visits may take place during one of the following periods:

• January–June 2027;
• September–December 2027;
• January–June 2028.

For full eligibility criteria and application procedures, please consult the official call for applications.

Contact

For any academic or logistical questions regarding the Short Stay Mobility Scheme, please contact the TransformEU team at: TransformEU@univ-catholille.fr

Supported by the European Commission through the Erasmus+ programme, TransformEU is among the few Jean Monnet Centres of Excellence hosted by French higher education institutions. Over the next three years, the Centre will serve as a platform for interdisciplinary research, innovative teaching and public engagement on the future of Europe’s transformation. 

Understanding Europe’s Twin Transitions 

TransformEU explores the interactions, synergies and trade-offs between People, Planet and Profit in the context of the European Union’s green transition and Digital Decade ambitions. By bringing together expertise from different disciplines and sectors, the Centre seeks to generate actionable knowledge and contribute to evidence-based policymaking. 

A key objective is to equip future decision-makers, civil society representatives and citizens with the tools needed to navigate the complex challenges of sustainability and digitalisation. 

Researching, Teaching and Talking Transformations

The Centre’s activities are organised around three complementary pillars: Researching, Teaching and Talking Transformations. Through scientific publications, policy dialogues, workshops, conferences and cultural events, TransformEU promotes informed debate and encourages collaboration between academia, policymakers and society. In that sense, one of the first initiatives carried out in the scope of TransformEU was the launch of 91��Ƭ��’s first Green Week, in February 2026: a series of initiatives, debates and lectures focusing on climate and sustainable development issues. 

Looking ahead 

As the European Union navigates a decade of profound change, TransformEU aims to become a leading hub for knowledge, dialogue and innovation. Through its activities, the Centre will continue to foster collaboration, inform policy debates and contribute to a more sustainable, digital and inclusive Europe. 

Save the date: Opening conference 

The opening conference of TransformEU will take place on Thursday, 24^th September at 91��Ƭ��, and will officially launch the Centre’s activities and provide an opportunity to engage with the key themes, objectives, and debates that will shape the work of TransformEU throughout the project. More information to come. 

These subnational elections are taking place around the world in a context marked by multiple and interconnected challenges: persistent economic inequalities between territories, ongoing debates over decentralization and recentralization, deteriorating public finances of territorial administrations, and growing concerns regarding public services, security, and the environmental transition. They follow a period of intense political volatility at the national level, characterized by the weakening of partisan attachments, rising abstention, and increasing distrust toward political institutions.

Subnational elections have long played a dual role: they serve both as arenas of territorial representation and as testing grounds for national political trends. Contemporary subnational elections are no exception. They raise several crucial questions: the resilience of local political elites, the capacity of parties to mobilize their voters in a context of low electoral salience, and the extent to which local politics remains insulated from—or is increasingly shaped by—national and ideological cleavages.

In light of the evolving geopolitical landscape and its impact on the European Union, the high-level international conference “The EU Conversations 2026” took place on April 10, 2026, in Riga, Latvia. The annual event brought together politicians, policy experts and academics to discuss and debate important contemporary European issues, under the theme “Protecting the Future”.

Organized by the Latvian Institute of International Affairs in cooperation with the European Commission Representation in Latvia and the Parliament of the Republic of Latvia, this year’s event was attended by participants such as Egils Levits (former President of Latvia), Yves Leterme (former Belgian prime minister), Baiba Braže (Latvian Minister for Foreign Affairs) and Roberts Zīle (Vice-President of the European Parliament). .

A conversation about the challenges facing current prospective members of the EU

Dr. Michael Holmes, Associate Professor of Political Science at 91��Ƭ��, chaired a panel on EU Enlargement, which discussed the experiences of countries such as the three Baltic states in adapting to EU membership and the challenges facing the current prospective members, such as the Western Balkan states, Ukraine and Moldova.

The topic was debated by Dr. Giulio Venneri, Deputy Head of the Enlargement Strategy and Coordination Unit (DG ENEST, European Commission), Kristina Baleišytė, Minister Plenipotentiary (COELA), Permanent Representation of Lithuania to the EU, and Martin Vokálek, Executive Director, EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy.

“Enlargement is often viewed as a problem in EU states today, but our conversation showed how it has actually been one of the great success stories of integration” — Michael Holmes

This open access book, result of the ActEU project funded by the European Commission as part of the Horizon Europe framework programme, explains why representative democracies need political trust and legitimacy: Political trust is a crucial yet underestimated element in Europe’s representative democracies.

A trusting relationship between citizens and the institutions of the state ensures the functioning of democratic systems, reduces transaction costs and facilitates the justification of political decisions. Without the commitment of a critical mass, democratic governments cannot gain legitimacy among the populace. While a stable relationship of trust between citizens and the state through political parties is a prerequisite for representative democracies in normal times, it is even more important in times of significant democratic change and turmoil, i.e., when democracies are in flux.

Accordingly, the contributions gathered here examine political trust and legitimacy in Europe using a new conceptual framework – the ActEU conceptual triangle, which draws on citizens’ political attitudes, their political participation, and the representation of their political preferences to map and assess the decline of political trust and legitimacy in Europe.

A chapter dedicated to trust and legitimacy in the French multi-level democracy

Max-Valentin Robert and Felix Von Nostitz (91��Ƭ��, Université Catholique de Lille) both contributed to the book with an article titled: France: Attitudinal, Behavioural and Representational Trust and Legitimacy in the French Multi-Level Democracy.

This chapter provides an overview of French public opinion in the turbulent political context of spring 2024. It focuses on levels of trust in the various political actors and institutions that structure France’s multi-level democracy, and how this trust relates to public attitudes on polarising issues in contemporary European societies, such as immigration, climate change and gender equality.

The workshop will serve as a collective think tank, bringing together researchers, practitioners,
public decision-makers, and field actors to identify the needs, existing models, and financing levers
for such a structure.

The goal: to build a truly fair energy transition, where law and justice become tools for inclusion,
social innovation, and sustainable transformation.

As such, it is a continuation of an interdisciplinary and intersectoral workshop organized at the
Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of the Witwatersrand, in February
2026 as part of a pilot network project, “Redistribution of Value in African Mining Value Chains: A
Research and Action Program,” funded by the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (FMSH).

Programme

Dates and times:

• Thursday 9 April 2026, 9am to 8pm (open to the university community and the general public)
• Friday 10 April 2026, 9am to 12 noon (closed workshop — by invitation only)

Contact

Sara Dezalay, Professeure à 91��Ƭ�� – Université catholique de Lille
sara.dezalay@univ-catholille.fr

© Crédit photo : Ors I, Sarah Ritter, 2022

A competition celebrating excellence

The Susan Strange Prize rewards the best Master’s thesis and the best third-year undergraduate research paper. It recognizes exceptional work completed during the 2024–2025 academic year. To be eligible, candidates were required to achieve excellent grades, with a minimum of 15/20 for Master’s theses and 17/20 for undergraduate research papers.

Following a rigorous pre-selection process, students wishing to compete submitted a presentation of their work to a jury composed of members of 91��Ƭ��’s academic and research community. The jury then met to evaluate the submissions and select the winners.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2025 Susan Strange Prize

After careful evaluation, the jury awarded the 2025 Susan Strange Prize to one Master’s thesis and one undergraduate research paper. The winning works stand out for their quality, originality, and academic rigor. The students’ commitment, passion for research, and ability to address complex issues have made their work a remarkable contribution to the field of political science.

Best Master’s Thesis
Nozomi Miwa, Master’s in Digital Politics and Governance, for her thesis entitled: “”

Best Undergraduate Research Paper
Marème Bakaga, Bachelor’s degree in European Political Science, for her research paper entitled: “.”

The Susan Strange Prize: a commitment to the future

These students distinguished themselves through their academic excellence, methodological rigor, and the originality of their research. With a €1,000 award for each winner, the Susan Strange Prize highlights their significant contribution to political science and international relations.

We warmly congratulate the winners for their outstanding achievements and their commitment to research. Their work reflects the quality of 91��Ƭ��’s academic training and the richness of the intellectual debates that animate our institution. We wish them every success in their future careers and are confident that their achievements will inspire future generations of students.

See you in 2026 for the next edition of the Susan Strange Prize!

Organised with the support of the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (FMSH), the event will bring together scholars, practitioners, and representatives of civil society from Africa and around the world to explore new approaches to justice, law, and extraction in a post-carbon transition context. The aim is to foster dialogue and reciprocity, as well as to co-produce knowledge across regions and disciplines, with a particular focus on developing equitable frameworks for sustainable development.

Building on this momentum, 91��Ƭ�� will host another workshop on 9 and 10 April in the same spirit, focusing on the themes of justice and extractivism.

© Photo credit: Ors II, Sarah Ritter, 2022