Submitted Abstract
Inequality and…?The lecture series aims to bring together the research and working communities at large in Luxembourg around a theme which researchers have traditionally associated with this country: income studies, widely interpreted. The Luxembourg Income Study, the cross-sectional database of micro-economic income data for social science research, is known world-wide and was founded in Luxembourg in 1983. The unifying thread of the lectures is Inequality, that is, differences in the distribution of some attributes, such as income and wealth, among the population. Each lecture will then tackle the links between these differences and a central social phenomenon, as contained in the list. The speakers are among the best-known experts worldwide and are gifted with great communication skills. Each lecture should be a source of inspiration for an audience with different levels of expertise, ranging from a BA in social sciences to expert researchers in the specific topic. Prof. D’Ambrosio is the promoter of this initiative and has contacted all potential local stakeholders, which are the co-organizers of the lectures. Her aim was to be as inclusive as possible in order to stimulate discussion, build a pan-Luxembourgish community and further research on the theme of the PEARL research programme of which she is a member. The topics as well as the speakers were jointly proposed by all of the organizers. It was agreed that the meetings should take place six times per year. The present list contains twenty-four topics, for a grand total of four years of lectures, which also happens to be the duration of the PEARL. It was decided to host the lectures at the premises of the organizers and rotate among them. The reason behind this decision is to let the organizers be all equally involved in the initiative and also to maximize and differentiate the potential attendance. Prof. D’Ambrosio will be the main contact with the speakers and among the organizers.The first five lectures have already been organized and the date has been set for the first three. The host institutions for these latter will be the Université du Luxembourg, CEPS and EIB Institute. The fourth lecture will take place in May. The EIB Institute has already expressed an interest in hosting this but the other organizers, apart from the three already named, will have priority. The topics of some of the lectures in the second to fourth years as well as the speakers may change, subject to speaker availability and the interests of the co-organizers.The grant application we are submitting covers only the first year of lectures. We plan to resubmit the same application for the next three years. We believe that continuity of the initiative is a key factor in promoting research on inequality and building a stable research community amongst the different institutions in Luxembourg. For this reason the advertisements of the lecture series we will include all twenty-four events.We are considering editing a book at the end of this four-year initiative.