On 25 November 2021, Marc Schiltz, Secretary General of the FNR, was re-elected as President of the Governing Board of Science Europe, the European association of research and research funding organisations in Europe, marking the beginning of his third term in the role. 
Science Europe currently brings together 38 research and research funding organisations from 28 countries, representing approximately €24 billion invested annually in the public research sector. Its main objective is to strengthen collaboration between national research organisations across Europe and to drive European research policy.
“This re-election is a great honour for me, but above all a mark of distinction for the quality work of the FNR, which today enables us to make Luxembourg research shine internationally.” – Marc Schiltz
In recent years, Science Europe has made significant progress in areas such as research integrity and the promotion of gender equality. Member organisations have created new models for cross-border collaboration and implemented common policies for research data management. Moreover, after considerable effort, the principles of open science are being implemented worldwide, with Europe playing a leading role.
Marc Schiltz is excited about chairing the governance board that will lead the association over the next two years, but is also aware of the challenges ahead:
“The role of science in solving global problems is vital. However, public distrust of science and technology is growing in some parts of society, while some countries are facing increasing political pressure to limit freedom of research. Science Europe will continue to support transdisciplinary research as a pillar of sustainable development and scientific responses to societal challenges. At the same time, we need to engage with society, involve citizens and communicate humbly and honestly about how science works and what research can and cannot do.”
Marc Schiltz’s re-election as President of Science Europe will also see him continue to serve on the governance board of the Global Research Council (GRC), which brings together the heads of science and engineering funding bodies from around the world.
New Science Europe Governing Board members
The new Science Europe Governance Board, which has a two-year term of office, is composed as follows:
Chair:
Marc Schiltz, Chief Executive of FNR; Luxembourg
Vice-Chairs:
Angeles Gomez Borrego, Vice-President of CSIC; Spain
Angelika Kalt, Director of SNSF; Switzerland
Members:
Thierry Damerval, President & CEO of ANR; France
Melanie Welham, Executive Chair of UKRI; United Kingdom
Antonio Zoccoli, President of INFN; Italy
Matthias Koenig, Vice-President of DFG; Germany
Adrian Curay, General Director of UEFISCDI; Romania
Marcel Levi, President of NWO; The Netherlands
Mari Sundli Tveit, Chief Executive of RCN; Norway