Robert

Harmsen

Robert Harmsen joined the University of Luxembourg as Professor of Political Science in 2008. He is the current holder of the University’s UNESCO Chair in Human Rights and the Director of the Master in European Governance programme.

Professor Harmsen completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Alberta (Canada) and his doctoral work at the University of Kent (UK). He was subsequently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Université de Montréal, going on to hold teaching appointments at McGill University and Laurentian University. From 1993 to 2008, he was Lecturer and latterly Senior Lecturer in European Studies at Queen’s University Belfast. Professor Harmsen has also held visiting appointments at the Universities of Amsterdam, British Columbia and Strasbourg, as well as having been a Researcher-in-Residence at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Professor Harmsen’s research interests have spanned a broad range of topics concerned with the contemporary processes of European integration, publishing extensively on the themes of ‘Europeanisation’ and ‘Euroscepticism’. His recent research has looked particularly at higher education policy, completing major research projects which have dealt successively with European developments in relation to the Bologna Process and wider dynamics of internationalisation in the sector. As holder of the UNESCO Chair, Professor Harmsen’s current work is focused on human rights questions, encompassing research on European and other regional human rights regimes, as well as a broader public role seeking to promote societal dialogues on fundamental rights and public policy.