25 examples of research with impact: Harnessing nature’s power for a sustainable future

“FNR funding has been essential in my journey toward becoming an independent researcher. Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to develop the skills and expertise that have shaped our team’s success. It provided the foundation for most of the activities we now excel at and enabled us to gain international recognition. This support has not only allowed us to grow but has also positioned our team as a key player in our field.”

“Luxembourg is a small country with an active research community, which allows us to interact regularly with our FNR colleagues—something that might be harder in a larger country. This close connection helps us communicate our research needs and aspirations to the funding body, enabling them to better support us. I remember when we first began working in the area of termite gut research. Marie Claude Marx, the FNR CORE grant manager, visited LIST, where we showcased the termite breeding infrastructure we had developed. This exchange was a valuable experience and demonstrated that the funding body is not just there to provide financial support; they are genuinely interested in understanding our work and helping us achieve our goals.”

“I have supervised three PhD students so far and co-supervised more than ten others. All of them have successfully defended their theses or are about to do so. I’ve also been heavily involved in mentoring junior researchers, including post-docs, laboratory engineers and master students. Thanks to FNR funding, three of them have been able to further develop their research careers and have joined our team as permanent staff. Supervising young scientists has had a profound impact on my own career. It has not only helped me grow as a researcher but also shaped how I approach science. My students appreciated my efforts so much that they once nominated me for a ‘Best Supervisor’ award. Although I didn’t win, it was an incredibly motivating experience, and it has inspired me to keep improving as a mentor.”

“Collaboration is essential for success in research, and FNR funding has played a key role in helping us build partnerships with scientists around the world. For example, working with the Sorbonne University and the University of Brussels was crucial for the OPTILYS project, since we had no experience with termite-related research at the time. In biogas production, we’ve collaborated with institutions like the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, the University of Louvain-la-Neuve, and the University of Lorraine, among others. More recently, I’ve begun collaborating with American universities, and I spent a year at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where I also connected with researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This partnership will greatly support our work in the newly funded FNR project, NITMETFUN, which is also co-funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Viticulture. This project brings together four institutions from Luxembourg, Belgium, and Germany to explore how anaerobic bacteria and fungi in a cow’s rumen (stomach) can improve carbon and nitrogen metabolism of dairy cows.”