According to its Annual Report 2017, the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) last year had 592 employees from 40 different nationalities.

The recently published annual report, entitled "New Horizons", highlighted the importance of 2017 as a year of consolidation for LIST. For instance, Luxembourg’s only Research and Technology Organisation (RTO) laid the foundations for further growth with a strong performance contract signed in January 2018 and prepared during the better part of 2017 in collaboration with the Luxembourg Government. This multi-year agreement, covering the period from 2018 to 2021, provides for an increase in the budget allocated by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, as well as for the adaptation of indicators to better match those of an RTO. 

Furthermore, more than 74% of LIST's 592 employees were researchers and specialists in innovation, who have published more than 200 scientific articles. In order to fulfil its ambitions, LIST also recruited 114 new hires over the same period. The RTO also filed 26 patents, made 13 paid licences available and worked on no less than 319 projects and RDI contracts throughout the year.

Similarly, LIST entered into 20 collaborative projects with Luxembourgish and European industrial partners, including Carlex, SES, the Université catholique de Louvain and the Ministry of Agriculture. Research centres, universities and companies constituted the largest contingent of partners in 2017. Active in a wide variety of sectors, LIST's research focused among many other things on energy and the environment, materials, biotechnologies and IT for mobility, transport and logistics.

Looking beyond national borders, LIST’s partnerships have been, for the most part, with other European countries. LIST works together with 18 countries, including France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, but also has partnerships with the United States and Tunisia.

The year 2017 also saw the fulfillment of commitments made during the previous year. As part of its flagship collaboration with the multi-national industrialist Goodyear on sustainable mobility and materials of the future, LIST recruited thirty doctoral and postdoctoral students and initiated 14 research projects. As part of a second partnership initiated in 2016 with PM-International AG on innovative bio-supplements for health, fitness, wellness and beauty product lines, LIST set up shared laboratories at its Belvaux site. 

Finally, last year was marked by the transfer to eProseed, a software reseller for FinTech / RegTech and an IT service provider of a tool enabling companies to comply with the new data protection regime. Designed and prototyped by a LIST team, the 'GDPR Compliance Tool' was developed in partnership with the National Commission for Data Protection (CNPD) and with the support of Digital Luxembourg.