Mission
The mission of the School is to train specialists who combine a high level of academic scholarship with leadership, in order to strengthen democratic governance in domestic and international organizations.

The Maastricht Graduate School of Governance prepares professionals and researchers for policy analysis, risk assessment, policy design, policy monitoring, policy evaluation and methods and techniques of policy research. Given the growing complexity of the issues at hand, there is a growing need for specialists in policy analysis and hence also a growing need for education programs which provide scholars with a comprehensive combination of theoretical background, technical skills and specific area knowledge to put theory into reality.

The Maastricht Graduate School of Governance was founded in September 2004 at Maastricht University. The fact the School was set up at Maastricht University is not surprising. In many ways the School is the expression of Maastricht University’s identity: “Where research and teaching are complementary. Where innovation is our focus. Where talent can flourish.”

The institute provides multi-disciplinary top-academic training in the heart of Europe. Doing so, it builds on the academic resources of the different faculties at Maastricht University as well as those of several foreign partners. In January 2011, the School became part of the United Nations University, strengthening further its international training and research network while building on the expertise of UNU-MERIT the Maastricht based research institute of the UNU.

Word of welcome by Prof. Dr. Luc Soete
The Maastricht Graduate School of Governance was founded in September 2004 at Maastricht University. The mission of the School is to train specialists who combine a high level of academic scholarship with leadership, in order to strengthen democratic governance in domestic and international organizations. The fact the School was set up at Maastricht University is not surprising. In many ways the School is the expression of Maastricht University’s identity: “Where research and teaching are complementary. Where innovation is our focus. Where talent can flourish.”

The Maastricht Graduate School of Governance provides multi-disciplinary top-academic training in the heart of Europe. Doing so, it builds on the academic resources of the different faculties at Maastricht University as well as those of several foreign partners. From 2011 onwards, the School has become part of the United Nations University, strengthening further its international training and research network while building on the expertise of UNU-MERIT the Maastricht based research institute of the UNU. With the physical integration of the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance (MGSoG) into the United Nations University research institute UNU-MERIT, the MGSoG has now graduated so to speak to become the United Nations’ first public policy graduate school. The physical and intellectual embodiment of the School in the already well-established research environment of a UNU research institute provide staff, research scholars and Master students with a comprehensive combination of theoretical background, technical skills and specific area knowledge to put theory into reality. It offers a much larger academic forum for teaching, training and research. The current research area of the MGSoG appears particularly complementary to the one of UNU-MERIT in terms of research content, in terms of international policy networks and in terms of expertise within graduate teaching. UNU-MERIT’s research programme focuses in particular on the economic aspects of the growth and development dynamics associated with structural change and innovation including knowledge creation and diffusion, social innovation, entrepreneurship and organisational change. Internationally, UNU-MERIT built up a strong academic reputation over the last five years. The MGSoG on the other hand focused its research not just on (public) policy analysis and evaluation but also on some of the broader social aspects of development such as the distributional aspects of growth and development, and in particular the many policy challenges posed by low levels of development, including migration. Doing so, the MGSoG became closely involved in research for a variety of UN agencies, ranging from the ILO and UNICEF to the World Bank. In short combining the forces of the MGSoG and UNU-MERIT will transform the MGSoG into a truly UN Graduate School of Governance preparing professionals for policy analysis, policy design, policy monitoring and policy evaluation across the globe.

I very much look forward to a new bright era for the MGSoG embedded and safeguarded within UNU-MERIT and Maastricht University, working closely with the staff of the school and being able to share their enthusiasm and dedication with PhD fellows and students.

Prof. dr. Luc L. G. Soete