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The FNR is pleased to announce a new podcast series in collaboration with Lëtzebuerger Journal. Titled ‘Mäin Element’, the series features researchers in Luxembourg talking about their lives and their passion for science, showing a glimpse of the people behind the science. The first episode features FNR ATTRACT Fellow and neuroscientist Prof Anne Grünewald.
In 2021, there will be a number of changes coming to FNR funding policies, affecting most of our diverse selection of programmes. These changes represent a forward evolution for the FNR, as they align with international best practices meant to improve the quality of science and research on a systemic level. A recording and the presentations from the webinar held on 13 January are now available, as well as an FAQ.
Every two years, the FNR commissions a survey study to understand the level of notoriety and the perception of the Luxembourg research community among the general public. Discover the findings!
The first call for projects in the field of health technologies, launched by the Ministry of the Economy, jointly with the FNR and supported by Luxinnovation, is now open. Deadline for the Call, which is open to companies as well as research and healthcare organisations, is 30 June 2021.
Looking at popular culture, big tech and ongoing societal debates – technological progress in Artificial Intelligence (AI) affects us all. Researchers from numerous scientific fields are working on the best way to bring AI forward, including the study of systems able to autonomously reason over arguments – calculators for philosophical, ethical or legal debates.
In the last decades, how research is conducted has been profoundly changed by ICT, and there has also been a shift from the ‘sole genius’ towards teamwork and especially interdisciplinarity: Today, millions of researchers worldwide collaborate across organisational, disciplinary, and cultural boundaries, extending the possibilities of new scientific discovery. This, and the associated data, has paved the way for the scientific field Science of Science, where one key question is understanding exactly how scientific quality is fostered by research collaboration.
Using solar absorbers for collection and storage of heat from the sun is an environmentally friendly way to generate heat, yet only 16% of heating is generated from renewable energy. Material scientists are looking for ways to boost this number by making the solar absorber coatings more efficient.
Luxembourg start-up LuxAI, with their socially assistive robot QTrobot, has been making waves on an international level since it was created. The FNR has supported the project from its inception through the development of a prototype, helping bridge the gap between lab and commercialisation. We speak to LuxAI founders Dr Pouyan Ziafati and Dr Aida Nazarikhorram about the LuxAI journey so far; how QTrobot came to be and how parents can now have a QTrobot at home.
