PROGRAMME SUMMARY
With the PEARL programme, the FNR offers Luxembourg research institutions attractive funding to enable them to draw established and internationally recognised researchers from abroad to Luxembourg.
Through the recruitment of outstanding scientists in strategically important areas, the FNR aims to accelerate the development and strengthening of Luxembourg’s national research priorities.
DURATION & FUNDING SPECIFICS
PEARL projects have a lifespan of five years with a financial contribution of between 3-4 MEUR by the FNR. The financial contribution can be used flexibly to implement the research programme at the host institution.
In the 2020 Call, the FNR expects to be able to fund 1 – 2 PEARL positions.
APPLICATION INFORMATION
Proposals must be submitted jointly by the candidate and the host institution, but PEARL also allows for the submission of a proposal where the candidate is still to be recruited. This is reserved for particularly strategic positions within a host institution (e.g. Head of Department) only.
All applications have to be submitted through the FNR online Grant Management System.
Changes to 2020 Call
The application process has been split into a pre-proposal and full-proposal stage.
Call timeline
| 15 October 2019 14:00 (CET) | Deadline for the submission of pre-proposals |
| October – December 2019 | Strategic Merit Assessment by PEARL standing panel and shortlisting of proposals |
| 14 February 2020 14:00 (CET) | Deadline for the submission of full proposals |
| February – April 2020 | Evaluation of proposal by at least 3 international experts in the field and written feedback to applicants |
| April – May 2020 | Interview sessions with expert panel to obtain funding recommendation |
| June – July 2020 | The final funding decision by the Board of Administration of the FNR and communication to applicants |
2019
Sean Takats (Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH) at the University of Luxembourg). Awarded FNR PEARL Chair for project DHARPA (Digital History Advanced Research Projects Accelerator), which will assess the impact of technology on historical research, and it will experiment with how technology can reshape the methodological underpinnings of history as a scientific discipline.
2016
Michel Mittelbronn (Laboratoire National de Santé; Luxembourg Institute of Health; LCSB at the University of Luxembourg). Awarded 2.6 MEUR by FNR to establish neuropathology unit, strenghtening Luxembourg’s research activities in neuro-oncology and neuropathology.
Michel Mittelbronn (Laboratoire National de Santé; Luxembourg Institute of Health; LCSB at the University of Luxembourg). Awarded 2.6 MEUR by FNR to establish neuropathology unit, strenghtening Luxembourg’s research activities in neuro-oncology and neuropathology.
2015
Philippe Dubois (Luxembourg Institute of Science and Techology). Awarded 4 MEUR by FNR for project focusing on the design, synthesis, processing and application of novel composite polymeric materials derived from bio-based renewable building blocks.
2014
Paulo Verissimo (University of Luxembourg): Awarded 4.975 MEUR by FNR for project on infrastructure security and resilience, focussing on protecting critical networks (such as the electricity grid) from cyber-attacks.
2013
Rejko Krüger (LCSB, University of Luxembourg): Awarded 5 MEUR by FNR for project on improving Parkinson’s treatment. The projectlooks at different genetic make-ups of PD patients and identifies the underlying molecular disease pathways, which could be targeted with drugs.
Jens Kreisel (CRP Gabriel Lippmann): Awarded 5 MEUR by FNR for project looking at Ferroics – ‘iron-like’ materials with magnetic, elastic and electric properties. The project aims to couple these specific properties of these materials to generate new materials which could have novel properties for, e.g. industrial application.
2011/13
Louis Chauvel & Conchita d’Ambrosio (University of Luxembourg): Awarded 4.3 MEUR by FNR for project looking at social inequalities from different perspectives and how these inequalities affect health and social welfare.
2011
Lionel Briand (University of Luxembourg): Awarded 4.6 MEUR by FNR for project looking at the development and design of reliable and secure software systems by bringing automation and effectiveness to the testing and verification of such systems, which are inherently difficult to test.
2010
Bruno Domon (CRP Santé): Awarded 5 MEUR by FNR for project to develop technology to measure changes in the protein profile of patient samples with the aim to develop diagnostic tools for diseases such as cancer.
2009
Henderik Proper (CRP Henri Tudor): Awarded 3.370 MEUR by FNR for project using programming languages modelling business models of companies, particularly network enterprises. The overall aim is to better understand how changes to a company’s business model will affect its service architecture, making it easier to adapt to changes.