The FNR is pleased to share that an FNR PEARL Chair endowed with 3.5 MEUR has been awarded to Dr Vincent Lenders, who will take up a position as Full Professor for cybersecurity at the University of Luxembourg’s SnT. With the PEARL funding, Dr Lenners will create the Systems and Network Security (SNS) research group that will initially focus on securing critical infrastructures against cyber threats.
Through the PEARL programme, the FNR provides 5-year funding of up to 4 MEUR for leading researchers to come to Luxembourg to set up a research group in one of Luxembourg’s research priority areas. Researchers/former researchers who have come to Luxembourg thanks to a PEARL grant include Jens Kreisel, Rejko Krüger, Gilbert Fridgen, Florian Kaiser, Jordi Cabot, Kathryn Hadler, Michel Heneka, Louis Chauvel, Conchita d’Ambrosio, Sean Takats, and Jochen Klucken.
More about the PEARL programmeThe Luxembourg cybersecurity research ecosystem is expanding with the arrival of Dr. Vincent Lenders. In August 2025. the Swiss-Belgian cybersecurity researcher will join SnT at the University of Luxembourg where he will lead a new research group dedicated to cybersecurity.
Thanks to the support of a 3.5-million-euro FNR PEARL Chair, the researcher will build the Systems and Network Security (SNS) research group at SnT and carry out research activities with deep societal impact. This will be the 19th research group at SnT.
A step forward for the Cyber Research Hub and Cybersecurity Education
“I’m delighted to join SnT at the University of Luxembourg and look forward to collaborating with my new colleagues to push the boundaries of cybersecurity research and education. At SnT, I see a unique blend of academic rigor, innovative thinking, and cultural diversity. It’s an environment poised to make a real impact”, commented Dr. Lenders.
The Luxembourg Directorate of Defence launched the Cyber Research Hub in late 2023 in partnership with the University of Luxembourg. SnT and the Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine (FSTM) have committed to support the government strategy aimed at strengthening and increasing Luxembourg’s ability to meet national and international challenges – such as increasingly serious and elaborate cyber threats.
In addition, the new Cybersecurity and Cyber Defence Master programme has been launched in September 2024 at the University of Luxembourg. Vincent Lenders and his group will contribute to both these efforts.
The director of SnT, Prof. Yves Le Traon, commented this appointment: “With his sharp expertise in cyber-defence and his proficiency in cybersecurity, Vincent Lenders will boost the skills of our research centre and open new perspectives for the Cyber Research Hub. Cybersecurity involves major issues for both businesses and citizens, and research can help address them”.
“We are delighted to welcome Vincent Lenders as a new FNR PEARL Chair at the University of Luxembourg as it marks a significant step forward in the country’s cybersecurity capabilities,” says Andreea Monnat, Acting Secretary General of the Luxembourg national Research Fund (FNR). “We are confident that Vincent Lenders’ work addressing immediate cybersecurity challenges will lay a solid foundation for a more secure, resilient digital future, safeguarding critical infrastructures and benefiting our society as a whole.”
From ETH Zurich to the University of Luxembourg
Dr. Vincent Lenders will take up his position on August 1, 2025, at the Uni.lu research center specialising in innovative technologies.
The engineer graduated from ETH Zurich and Princeton University has been working since 2008 at the Federal Office for Defence Procurement Armasuisse. Since 2019, he has been leading the Cyber-Defence Campus conceived to strengthen Switzerland’s cyber-defence and anticipate cyber developments more quickly.
Vincent Lenders’ work is documented in more than 150 internationally peer-reviewed publications. His previous research lays at the intersection between cybersecurity, data science, networking, and crowdsourcing. Vincent Lenders has a particular focus on system-oriented research and the transfer of research results to real-world solutions.