As the first contribution to the Working Paper Series LIVES we are honored to present our readers Professor Victor Marshall’s speech “Risk, Vulnerability, and the Life Course”, held at the inauguration ceremony of the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research LIVES, on March 8th 2011, at the University of Lausanne. Victor Marshall on the content and structure of his speech: “I will first suggest to you that the life course perspective is a vast improvement over previously accepted perspectives in the human and social sciences. I will then identify some of the key constructs of the life course perspective, highlighting their relationships to vulnerability. I will conclude by addressing policy issues in relation to the life course, relating these to the stated mission of LIVES.”