Making a difference: Your chance to become a partner in research
It is not the FNR’s primary goal to gather donations for research, but part of our strategy is to partner with business and foundations to support research activities in Luxembourg.
Donating to a public research institution in Luxembourg
The University of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) have dedicated teams managing donations.
- Find out more about donating to research at the University of Luxembourg
- Find out more about donating to research at the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH)
Co-funding research projects with the FNR
FNR: Funding research with impact
It is also possible to co-fund projects that are selected for funding by the FNR. The Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR) is the main funder of research activities in Luxembourg. We invest public funds and private donations into research projects in various branches of science and the humanities, with an emphasis on selected core strategic areas.
Furthermore, we support and coordinate activities to strengthen the link between science and society and to raise awareness for research. We also advise the Luxembourg government on research policy and strategy.
Find out more about what we doWhy partner with the FNR?
Impact: We support research with an impact: projects that relate to Luxembourg’s socio-economic challenges.
Quality: We apply strict criteria of scientific excellence in our selection and have developed leading expertise to assess the quality and feasibility of projects.
Wide Range: We evaluate and fund a large variety of people and research across many themes.
Independence: The FNR is well respected by both researchers and the general public.
Access to FNR scientific peer review & expertise: The FNR’s key values are excellence and quality in research. The FNR systematically submits funding proposals to an evaluation by independent scientific experts and applies the highest standards of scientific merit, transparency, impartiality, confidentiality, and integrity.
Help us to achieve our long-term goal: to set up a sustainable world-class research system in Luxembourg that will generate societal and economic impact in key strategic areas. Support a project on a topic important to you and help advance research in the process.
Information for businesses & companies
High investment
Co-fund an FNR PEARL Chair or FNR ATTRACT Fellowship. PEARL and ATTRACT are the FNR’s largest grants available to individual researchers.
PEARL grants are reserved for researchers who are leaders in their field to come to Luxembourg and establish research groups. The FNR supports PEARL projects with up to 4 MEUR over 5 years.
ATTRACT grants are awarded to promising young researchers to come to Luxembourg and set up their own line of research. The FNR supports ATTRACT projects with up to 2 MEUR for 5 years.
Medium/low investment
Support a research project in one of Luxembourg’s priority research domains, which the FNR funds via the CORE programme.
The FNR commits an average of 300,000 – 500,000 EUR to a CORE project, which lasts 2 – 3 years.
Browse recently funded CORE projectsSupport an individual PhD or Postdoc project, which the FNR supports for 3 years (PhD) or Postdoc (up to 2 years) via AFR or Industrial Fellowships.
Other types of co-funding
We are open to discuss co-funding possibilities for projects across our funding portfolio, including projects that have already started. Please contact us if you want to explore this further.
Example: FNR PayPal PEARL Chair: Exploring the future of digital financial services
Project co-funded by FNR & PayPal [high investment]
PayPal-FNR PEARL Chair Professor Fridgen and his research group hosted at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) of the University of Luxembourg explore the future of financial services in a data driven environment, considering a broad range of angles, from usability, onboarding and operational efficiency to regulatory supervision.
Impact: The goal of this PayPal – FNR PEARL Chair is to demystify digital technology and rethink connections across regulators, industries and users. Because of its expertise in the financial sector and its strong legal framework, Luxembourg has the necessary assets to play a major role in the research and innovation of this leading-edge sector.
Funding: This unique funding through PayPal and the FNR PEARL programme has an initial duration of five years.
Information for foundations
High investment
Foundations interested in co-funding high investment research projects with the FNR should contact the FNR.
Example: Project co-funded by FNR and André Losch Foundation [High investment]
The “CON-VINCE” study was led by a consortium of Luxembourgish research institutions, including: Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH); Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB); University of Luxembourg; Laboratoire National de santé (LNS).
The challenge: Asymptomatic individuals – often referred to as “silent carriers” – and mildly symptomatic carriers play a significant role in the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, at the time they remained largely unassessed, since diagnostic testing is performed predominantly on people with clear COVID-19 symptoms. In order to put in place effective measures to stave off the COVID-19 infection, it was crucial to systematically test a representative sample of the population in order to identify all individuals carrying the SARS-CoV-2 virus, regardless of their symptoms.
The science behind the project: “CON-VINCE” was launched in April 2020 as one of the several initiatives put in place under the aegis of the Research Luxembourg COVID-19 task force to help contain the current pandemic. By screening a statistically representative panel of volunteers for the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the study will identify asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic individuals and follow them up for one year.
The study generated important accurate data on the prevalence and transmission of the disease.
Impact: “CON-VINCE” provided information on the nature, prevalence and transmission modality of COVID-19 in Luxembourg, therefore guiding national and international decision-makers in mounting an effective public health, political and economic response to the pandemic.
Funding: The FNR supported this study with 1.4 MEUR. The André Losch Foundation donated a total of 1.4 MEUR to COVID-19 research projects in Luxembourg, allocated across three projects, including CON-VINCE.
Medium/low investment
Support an individual PhD or Postdoc project, which the FNR supports for 3 years (PhD) or Postdoc (up to 2 years) via AFR or Industrial Fellowships.
Support a research project in one of Luxembourg’s priority research domains, which the FNR funds via the CORE programme.
The FNR commits an average of 300,000 – 500,000 EUR to a CORE project, which lasts 2 – 3 years.
Browse recently funded CORE projectsOther types of co-funding
We are open to discuss co-funding possibilities for projects across our funding portfolio, including projects that have already started. Please contact us if you want to explore this further.
Example: Supporting cancer research projects in Luxembourg – cancer research projects funded jointly by FNR and Fondation Cancer [medium investment]
Since 2019, the FNR and Fondation Cancer jointly support research projects in Luxembourg that have been selected for funding in the FNR’s thematic research programme CORE, providing they address topics specified in the National Cancer Plan.
Impact: In addition to supporting cancer research projects, this effort supports the implementation of the ‘Plan National Cancer’, brought to life by the Luxembourg Government in 2014 to harmonise the fight against cancer on a national level.
Discover our video playlist below introducing a selection of the cancer research projects that have been funded jointly by the FNR and Fondation Cancer so far.
Information for individuals
We are open to discuss co-funding possibilities for individuals for projects across our funding portfolio, including projects that have already started. Please contact us if you want to explore this further.