In late May 2018, the FNR held a workshop to launch a new network for science communicators in Luxembourg, attended by more than 40 animators, teachers, science communicators from research and other institutions, as well as representatives from asbls.
The FNR is pleased to communicate that 25 of 100 eligible PhD projects have been selected for funding in the 2018 AFR Call. This represents an FNR commitment of 4.32 MEUR.
Luxembourg, for the first time, ranks among the “Innovation Leaders”, alongside countries like Switzerland, Sweden, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom in the European Commission’s 2018 European Innovation Scoreboard. This is a huge leap for the young Luxembourgish research and innovation ecosystem, and an important recognition of the country’s continuous efforts to develop a world-class R&I landscape.
With his research group, Assistant Prof Dr Pedro Cardoso-Leite combines experimental psychology with video games, in an effort to understand how our mind works, and how this knowledge can be leveraged to improve learning. We spoke to the Portuguese-Luxembourg national about his return to Luxembourg after almost two decades, what he wants to achieve in the next five years, and how his interdisciplinary team is broadening his horizon.
Gilles Tossing’s fascination for the human brain – and why it sometimes fails – led him to the path of research. Now in the second year of his AFR PhD at Université de Montréal in Canada, the Luxembourg national investigates neurodegenerative diseases, with the aim of improving treatments for those affected.
For László Sándor research is the ultimate war against ‘fake news’. After completing his PhD in Economics at Harvard, the Hungarian-American national chose a Postdoc position at the Luxembourg School of Finance at the University of Luxembourg, where his work includes big data projects, field experiments in household finance and applied microeconomics.
Ramona Pelich uses data from satellites in space to improve maritime surveillance and flood hazard monitoring. Splitting her time between the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) and the company LuxSpace as part of her AFR-PPP Postdoc, the Romanian national’s work has already found direct application when flood maps she co-developed were used in the aftermath of destructive 2017 hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
