ISIM to be closed as per 1 January 2009

The International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM) will be closed as per 1 January 2009, due to the lack of adequate funding. ISIM was set up ten years ago by the universities of Leiden, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Nijmegen, and the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. The objective of the institute has been to carry out innovative research into the social, political, cultural and intellectual trends and movements in present-day Muslim communities and societies worldwide.

As testified by the February 2008 international peer-review committee that was appointed at the request of the Dutch Ministry of Education, ISIM has been an excellently performing, internationally leading institute in its field. It has been pioneering in interdisciplinary research of contemporary Muslim communities and societies, and in combining scholarship and societal cooperation.

See the press release of the Leiden University in this regard
http://www.nieuws.leidenuniv.nl/islaminstituut-isim-stopt-per-1-januari-2009.jsp

It is indeed a great loss to an objective studies of Islam and Muslim societies that the ISIM conducted in the last decade. Its significance multiplied considering the debate about Islam and Muslims in the Netherlands and Europe in last years.
See also an article from Dutch press:
http://idealen.trouw.nl/nieuws/laatste/moslimproduct-laat-zien-waar-je-staat