Living in Luxembourg

Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a small landlocked country in Western Europe. It borders Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France to the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembourg, is one of the four institutional seats of the European Union (together with Brussels, Frankfurt, and Strasbourg) and the seat of several EU institutions, notably the Court of Justice of the European Union, the highest judicial authority. Luxembourg’s culture, people, and languages are highly intertwined with its French and German neighbors; while Luxembourgish is legally the only national language of the Luxembourgish people, French and German are also used in administrative and judicial matters and all three are considered administrative languages of the country.

With an area of 2,586 square kilometers (998 sq mi), Luxembourg is one of the smallest countries in Europe, and the smallest not considered a microstate. In 2022, it had a population of 645,397, which makes it one of the least-populated countries in Europe, albeit with the highest population growth rate, foreigners account for nearly half the population. Luxembourg is a representative democracy headed by a constitutional monarch, Grand Duke Henri, making it the world’s only remaining sovereign grand duchy.

Luxembourg is a developed country with an advanced economy and one of the world’s highest GDP (PPP) per capita. The city of Luxembourg was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 due to the exceptional preservation of the vast fortifications and historic quarters.

Luxembourg is a founding member of the European Union, OECD, the United Nations, NATO, and the Benelux. It served on the United Nations Security Council for the first time in 2013 and 2014. As of 2022, Luxembourg citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 189 countries and territories, ranking the Luxembourgish passport fourth in the world, tied with Finland and Italy.

The University of Luxembourg is the sole university in the country. It has the profile of a research university with a strong activity in research, a high proportion of doctoral candidates in its student population (1000 PhDs compared to a total student body of 6500) and a significant success in internationally competitive third-party funding. Research is combined with excellent research-driven teaching throughout the University. The University has three missions: research, higher education and contribution to the social, cultural and economic development of the country.

The University of Luxembourg has been founded in 2003. It is a multilingual, international, interdisciplinary and research-oriented institution. It gathers about 280 professors and over 1500 academic staff, including about 500 postdoctoral fellows and 1000 doctoral candidates.

The University of Luxembourg (UL) benefits from its close location to – and collaboration with – European institutions, a strong financial industry and leading players in manufacturing. This ecosystem of neighbouring industrial, institutional and political agencies, together with the different actors of public research, makes Luxembourg a vibrant and attractive place to excel in research and innovation.

The booming “Cité des Sciences” campus in the south of the country combines, on an emblematic site, past industry glory and the modern knowledge society and has become a landmark in the country. As an example, the brand-new Learning Centre of the University of Luxembourg is much more than a library, but combines modern digital tools with traditional learning methods. It symbolises the ambition of the University of Luxembourg.

UL comprises three faculties, organised in departments, embracing disciplines ranging from law, finance, social sciences and humanities to natural sciences, engineering sciences and technology and, more recently, medicine. This academic breath is reinforced by three large Interdisciplinary Research Centres: the Luxembourg Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT), the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), and the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH).

The University offers 18 Bachelor’s, 49 Master’s degrees, 18 lifelong learning courses and vocational training opportunities, 3 courses for Specialised Studies Diplomas. Small classes ensure direct interaction between students and teaching staff. Teaching at the University of Luxembourg is multilingual. The programmes are primarily bilingual (French/English or French/German), some are trilingual, and others are entirely taught in English. It is a total of 14 trilingual degrees, 48 bilingual degrees, 23 degrees entirely in English that are being taught at the UL. Doctoral education is organised in 4 doctoral schools offering all together 13 doctoral programmes, courses in disciplinary and transferable skills:

• Doctoral School in Science and Engineering (DSSE)
• Doctoral School of Law (DSL)
• Doctoral School in Economics, Finance and Management (DSEF)
• Doctoral School in Humanities and Social Sciences (DSHSS)

It is one of UL’s distinctive flavours to be worldwide one of the most international universities with a unique multilingual and multicultural character. At UL, 80 % of UL’s staff are international and its 6500 students come from all over the globe, representing > 110 nationalities. UL considers this diversity as a major strength and attractiveness of the University.

Various sites of the University

Belval Campus

• Rectorate & central administration
• Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine
  • Department of Computer Science
  • Department of Engineering
  • Department of Mathematics
  • Department of Life Sciences and Medicine
  • Laboratory for Photovoltaics
  • Doctoral School in Science and Engineering (DSSE)
• Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences
• Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) – NetLab, CritiX, APSIA and CryptoLux Research Groups
• Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB)
• Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH)
• University of Luxembourg Incubator

Limpertsberg Campus

• Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine
  • Department of Physics and Materials Science

Kirchberg Campus

• Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine
  • Department of Engineering
• Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance
  • Department of Finance
  • Department of Finance FinTech team in the JFK building
  • Department of Economics and Management
  • Luxembourg Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LCL)
• Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) – Headquarters, administration, SiGCom, SVV, SEDAN, SerVal and Automation & Robotics research groups in the JFK Building

Weicker Building

• Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance
  • Dean’s Office
  • Department of Law