Thierry Labro: How can we determine what will or will not be a long-term trend, and thus produce the right talent, at a time when it is said that 50%-70% of tomorrow's professions do not exist?

: Megatrends are international trends that we look at. Just like everyone else. First of all, we look at European trends, our legislation, our means of financing, our markets... We also look at Luxembourg's strategy and reality. Then we have to be honest with ourselves and tell ourselves what the university's strengths and weaknesses are. And tell ourselves at some point to allow ourselves to accept the weaknesses.

But how do we make decisions about courses?

It's sad to say that flexibility is not always a strength of universities, precisely because the time scale for research is so distant. I'm quite happy that we're more mobile, as with the masters in science and data, in cybersecurity for the first time, which attracted 400 applications for 60 places. This shows that when we are mobile and react quickly, we have an attractive offering that serves the country well. I think that sets us apart. We can learn from private universities, which are often very mobile. We need to be braver about changing quickly. But that's not in our DNA as scientists.

Let's stay with the example of nurses. The problem of nurses has been known for quite a long time. How long does it take to react?

It's true and it's not true. I sympathise and I understand. But setting up training programmes is another matter... Take medicine. You don't set up medical training just like that. You need training, you need doctors who can provide it, and you need a link with the hospitals. A political decision had to be taken to give this mission to the university, but we don't have control over this timeframe. Seven bachelor's degrees is a crazy thing. It's complicated.

Why is that?

You have to have the infrastructure to do it, you have to have teachers... and nurse training is not academic everywhere. The teachers simply don't exist. If you're looking for ten physics teachers tomorrow, you'll find them straight away. If you're looking for professors in nursing science, it's much more complicated. We have professors in medicine, and I need to be able to give them a perspective on medical research. It's the same in artificial intelligence. If tomorrow I want to recruit ten women in AI, it's complicated. It depends on the areas you want to recruit in. We're ahead of the game. That's also why we really need real five- or ten-year strategic plans. As rector and for the governing board, we need to see where the country will be in ten to fifteen years' time and where the university will be in ten to fifteen years' time. If I want to have something in place in ten years' time, world class and in a very competitive world, I need to do it today.

Fortunately, the country is stable...

In Luxembourg, the idea of long-term stability for the university is accepted and understood. It's also up to us to formulate our ambitions and for politicians to make the decisions. The university can't just decide. In 20 years, if the university has developed so well, it's because we've been put on the right track. We are in constant dialogue.

Read the original French language version of this interview