The FNR Foresight

1. The FNR Foresight Thinking for the Future Today – A Participative Process

2. Aims of the Foresight Exercise • Identification of National Research Priorities in the public sector with short-term and/or long-term socio-economic interest for Luxembourg • Scientific and political rationale for this choice of priorities • Shared understanding of stakeholders • Proposal of set of priorities to government • Identification of research priorities for future FNR programmes • Consolidation of communication networks among stakeholders • Science is a (constantly changing) networking activity • Need residential expertise to absorb new knowledge • The question remains the same for small or big countries: in which areas should Government concentrate public funding for science?

3. The Exercise Setting a Context Identifying Priorities Creating a Baseline Aims: Method: Input: Results: Interviews Data collection Bibliometrics International research trends Evaluation of FNR programmes Mapping of Lux. Research landscape ‘Long list’ of possible research domains Online Questionnaire Exploratory Workshop ‘Long list’ of research domains Initial assessment Selection of broad research fields Stakeholder Workshops No formal input General Challenges for Luxembourg Expert workshops per field SWOT Analysis Initial assessment of domains Future trends Luxembourg context Research priorities candidates Conclusion and recommendations

4. Prioritization Funnel Phase 1: „Long List“: 56 possible research areas with about 250 research issues End of Phase 1: about 25 Research Domains Phase 2: 19 Research Domains + 4 Technology Platforms Official Presentation of the Final Report to the MCESR: June 18th, 2007 FNR CS CA prioritisation 6 Research Priorities Further prioritization

5. NationalPriorities

6. Modernise legislation for improvement of innovation capacity Optimise of financial sub-systems technical infrastructures for the distribution of media Consolidate Luxembourg’s reputation as a safe harbour ICT architecture benefiting crisis and disaster management Development and improvement of services Innovation in Services Fostering the Economic and Legal Framework for Innovation Performance & Development of Financial Systems Business Service Design and Innovation Information Security and Trust Management Telecom-munications and Multimedia

7. Sustainable Resource Management • Attain a systematic and holistic understanding of the energy and material flows • Well-balanced portfolio for energy • Soil and water protection • Sustainable food production • Economic development, controlled urbanisation, while providing a liveable habitat for its population and protecting Understanding ecosystems and biodiversity Spatial and urban development Managing sustainable development Sustainable management of water resources Sustainable agro-systems management Sustainable uses and sources of energy

8. Collaborations between public and private research sectors Wide range of technological, scientific and economic opportunities Novel materials enable innovation in a large number of applications new sensing devices based on new sensing effects and phenomena. Nanostructured materials, surfaces or coatings allow for the exploitation of new physical and chemical effects Solutions to environmental and health-related issues (e.g. replacement of toxic materials) New Materials, Surfaces and Sensing Applications Novel Functional Materials Intelligent Materials New Sensor Devices Surface Function-alisation Nanomaterials and Nanocoatings

9. Public and Environmental Health Regenerative Medicine Translational Research Understand the impact of life-style, social context and environment on public health and the healthcare system (In particular Ageing) To develop new ways of prevention, diagnosis and treatment: Regenerative Medicine: Regenerating damaged tissues Translating basic research findings into a useful therapeutic drug candidate or diagnostic tool Biomedical Sciences

10. Labour Market, educational requirements and social protection Microeconomy Demography Psychology Macroeconomy Research on Labour Market, educational requirements and social protection Sociology Better understand the functioning of the Luxembourg labour market Provide the basis for evidence-based policy making Improving the educational system

11. Identities, diversity and integration • To empirically analyse the present state of society (e. g. cultural identities, barriers for participation, segregation trends in education, housing, etc.), • To contribute to understanding the dynamics of change of the society • To support policy making with data, conceptual clarifications, and recommendations Culture / Cultures Language / Languages History / Histories Identities Participa-tion Education Integra-tion

12. Added value of Foresight • 6 Research priorities of great interest to Luxembourg • Existing synergies between priorities and various sub-domains • Topics of great future scientific interest • Based on the existing competences and new boundaries • Results generated by participative process • Many different actors of R&D environment • Research priorities of particular interest for Luxembourg • Important part of the process: wiring-up of the actors!

13. Based on a communication from www.gouvernement.lu