(L-R): Véronique Hoffeld, Will Reiter, Guy Putz, Pouyan Ziafati, Esther Breithoff, Marc Hansen, Paul Wilmes, Pranjul Shah, Mahesh Desai, Christian Penny, Marc Schiltz; Credit: O. Minaire

On Friday 27 October 2017, the 9th edition of the National Research Fund (FNR) Awards took place in the presence of Luxembourg's Minister of Higher Education and Research, Marc Hansen.

The FNR Awards are awarded to exceptional researchers and scientific mediators and their institutions; the seven awards are for excellence in research, innovation and science communication.

In the presence of the Luxembourgish scientific community, the €5,000 prize was awarded in the categories "Outstanding Scientific Publication", "Outstanding PhD Thesis", "Outstanding Promotion of Science to the Public" and, for the very first time, "Outstanding Research-Driven Innovation".

The FNR Awards are awarded to exceptional researchers and scientific mediators and their institutions. Four of the seven prizes were awarded this year to researchers in the field of microbiology, demonstrating the concerted efforts of the Luxembourgish scientific community in this field. The other three prizes were awarded to scientists, teachers and entrepreneurs in the fields of archeology, renewable energies and artificial intelligence.

The prizes were presented by Marc Hansen, Minister Delegate for Higher Education and Research, Véronique Hoffeld, President of the FNR Board of Directors, and Marc Schiltz, Secretary General of the FNR.

In his address, Minister Hansen emphasised the importance of shaping research in terms of economic and / or social benefits and making science tangible through effective communication and activities. One of the prerequisites for this objective is ensured as funding for public research institutions will increase by €205 million over the next four years.

WINNERS

- Outstanding PhD Thesis: Esther Breithoff (University of Bristol)

- Outstanding Promotion of Science to the Public; Christian Penny (Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology); Guy Putz & Will Reiter (Lycée Technique d’Ettelbrück)

- Outstanding Scientific Publication: Mahesh Desai (Luxembourg Institute of Health); Paul Wilmes & Pranjul Shah (Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg)

- Outstanding Research-Driven Innovation: Pouyan Ziafati (Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT), University of Luxembourg); Paul Wilmes & Pranjul Shah (Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg)