The Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR) is the main funder of research activities in Luxembourg. In its 2018-21 multiannual contract with the Government, the FNR has been mandated to review the national research priorities for Luxembourg in close coordination with the Ministry of Higher Education and Research. The selection of the revised national research priorities is based on the following criteria:
1. Current strengths and identification of new areas/emerging topics,
2. Relevance in an international context, and
3. Relevance for the country.
FNR has made biophysics and quantitative biology a national research priority as follows (Extract from the FNR recommendations to the Minister of Higher Education and Research in Luxembourg – April 2019):
Physics of Active/Living Matter Within the Materials Science Research Area
“This topic aims at understanding the complex dynamic of active/living matter and to be able to build such systems in a bottom-up approach, i.e. from molecules to active/living systems. Such systems are in non-equilibrium and made up of units that consume energy and transform it into mechanical work.”
“This integrated research provides opportunities for the research community to cross disciplinary boundaries with impact in new fields. This could put a special emphasis on one area in which Luxembourg has so far limited activity but where there is great potential.”
“It is a hot and booming topic on the international scale. The true potential for Luxembourg can be realized if researchers from materials sciences and physics interact with those from life sciences and computational sciences.”
“Physics of active/living matter” could be a research topic where Luxembourg has great potential to make a difference on international level”
Complex Systems – Data and Models Within the Biomedical Sciences and Precision Medicine Area
“The focus here is on utilising high-dimensionality data and models to understand complex systems, from both a top-down and bottom-up perspective. Through the creation and refinement of models and increased dimensionality of data, mechanistic and therapeutic insights can be gained that could help to better stratify patients and to develop individualized treatments. “
– Effective Collection And Deconvolution Of Complex Data: “This effort comprises “top-down” research on systems and the creation of data to uncover insights. This internationally relevant research area is already quite strong in Luxembourg, with a track record of successful competitive national and international funding to create critical mass, specifically at the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB).” “Materials Science/Physics, ICT groups and Social Sciences could collaborate with biomedical researchers, applying research on the underlying idea of systems on multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research projects.”
– Multi-Scale And Mechanistic Models: “This initiative comprises a “bottom-up” research approach to the understanding of complex biomedical systems, utilising new and existing data to investigate systems, self organisation, and emergent properties.” “This is a growth field that would be a great niche for Luxembourg and tie together the Physics/Materials Science domain with the Biomedicine domain, as the same sort of analysis and modelling methods are used in both fields and can thus be merged effectively for impact in both domains (and possibly in other domains as well, such as ICT).