The Fonds National de la Recherche (FNR) - National Research Fund - has published its 2015 Report which reviews the year's changes in governance, its internal operations and the successful launch of several major projects.

All in all, 187 projects representing approximately 30% of the applications submitted, were selected for funding. Through its activities, the FNR pursues its mission of establishing a sustainable research system and international reputation that will generate a significant impact on the societal level and in strategic economic sectors for Luxembourg.

Following the legislative reform passed in June 2014, the FNR has had a first year under the new regime of operation, with increased autonomy and more responsibilities. A new board is in place with a President, an Audit and Finance Committee and a Nomination and Remuneration Committee which were operational throughout this year. Also appointed in June 2015, was the new Scientific Council. The move to the Belval Research and Innovation Campus in late September 2015 marked symbolically this new stage in the existence of the FNR.

The revision of the 2014-17 multiannual agreement between the state and the FNR has been negotiated with the Ministry of Higher Education and Research in order to punctually strengthen a number of strategic priorities. To this end, additional resources were identified through an increase in the overall commitment ceiling of €20 million.

The entry into force of the FNR law in June 2014 allowed it to renew its strategic direction under the motto "Research with Impact" in the following three strategic priorities:

• access to strategic leadership in key areas,

• make public research a competitive advantage for Luxembourg

• anchor science and research in society

The FNR was able to undertake a number of major projects in 2015. Thus, the first National Centre of Excellence in Research (NCER) was established in 2015 with a focus on Parkinson's disease. The centre, initiated by the FNR, brings together the most important players from the LCSB and the LIH, the Biobank (IBBL), the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL) and Parkinson Luxembourg asbl. It is a key link between basic research and clinical research. This is the first NCER that the FNR has launched with substantial funding over a period of eight years. Based on this experience, other centres of excellence could be established in the future. The NCER-PD is a concrete example of the unifying effect of the FNR plans to play as an engine of research in Luxembourg.

Investing in human capital in order to strengthen the efficiency and sustainability of the Luxembourg search system is one of the three strategic objectives of the FNR. Besides the attraction of international researchers via its ATTRACT and PEARL programmes, the FNR is funding a majority of doctoral students trained in Luxembourg and is committed to ensuring the quality of doctoral training. In this context, the Doctoral Scholarship system was transformed from a system based exclusively on individual grants (AFR) of nominative manner attributed to a scholarship programme "en bloc" (PRIDE) awarded to teams of researchers based on a research project. The former PRIDE appeal, launched in 2015, has had a lasting effect on the entire landscape of public research, including strengthening cooperation between different actors.

To better respond to the second strategic objective of the FNR - strengthen research generating an economic and societal impact - new instruments have been developed, and others reformed. After a Proof of Concept programme pilot period (POC) between 2013 to 2014 and the official launch in December 2014, 2015 was a year of consolidation of the programme. As a direct result of the POC projects, it is worth noting two new "spin-off" businesses from the SnT of the University of Luxembourg: Motion-S S.A.R.L. and Black Swan Lux S.A.R.L. Constituting the complementary and indispensable component to the Proof of Concept programme, the programme KITS (Knowledge & Innovation Transfer Support) was launched in 2015 as a support instrument for ensuring the transfer of knowledge to enhance the search results.

Internationally, the FNR has taken the initiative to promote Luxembourg research beyond Europe by initiating new scientific cooperation, particularly in Asia (Singapore and Japan).

The FNR attaches particular importance to excellence and quality in research. To identify the most promisingprojects and the best researchers, the FNR systematically submits financing requests to a scientific evaluation by independent international experts. Thus, the FNR implements the "Principles of Scientific Merit Review," applying the highest international standards of transparency, impartiality, confidentiality and integrity. The FNR has submitted its evaluation procedures and project selection to an external assessment by the prestigious Rating Center of the University of Western Michigan. The findings, published early 2016, show that the FNR applies the highest international standards in the project selection methods.

€40.6 million for research projects selected according to the criteria of excellence

In 2015, the FNR has evaluated 568 proposals submitted as part of its various instruments and has provided funding to 72 research projects, 58 projects of communication research, both for communication between researchers for the exchange between science and society, and 57 AFR scholarships for PhD students and postdocs. To finance all the projects selected in 2015, the FNR has committed €33.9 million.