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Policy and strategy

Working in Europe | Research Landscape | Luxembourg

Public research in Luxembourg

Public research in Luxembourg is young and dynamic with research policy contributing to the transition of the country towards a knowledge-based society. The overarching rationale behind research policy is to strengthen innovation as a driver of sustainable socio-economic development and to contribute to a further diversification of the economy by developing new and strengthening existing high added-value economic activities.

Luxembourg is a dynamic country, where research has become a central issue.

 

 

Team meeting

In this sense, research and innovation policy has been one of the major priorities of the Government since 1999 with Government budget outlays rising from 28 million euros in 2000 to approximately 400 million euros in 2016.

This proactive and committed policy approach puts Luxembourg firmly on the map of European research. This is illustrated among others with the position of the University of Luxembourg, while only created in 2003, ranging 14th in the latest “Times Higher Education” ranking of the 150 Universities under 50 years.

 

 

Public research is mostly performed at :

  • the University of Luxembourg;
  • one of the 3 public research centres;
    • Luxembourg Institute of Technology (LIST)
    • Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH)
    • Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER)
  • the Max-Planck Institute for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law

 

Since 2015, most of the public higher education and research activities are co-located in Belval, a former industrial brownfield reconverted for a budget of close to 1 billion euros. Belval is the illustration per excellence of the “knowledge triangle” of research, higher education and innovation. The colocation of science and innovation on the same site opens opportunities for cooperation and interdisciplinarity as well as the consolidation of common functions.

The policy strategy for the coming years encompasses the development of a holistic research and innovation approach. Key priorities include the consolidation of critical mass in a small country setting, the fostering of cooperation between the actors, the development of a culture of knowledge transfer and reaching out to the economy and society at large without neglecting the international dimension that is essential for a strong science and innovation base.