FONDS NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE

Their core work

FNR is Luxembourg's national research funding agency, responsible for financing and coordinating the country's public research priorities. Within H2020, FNR primarily operates as a co-funding partner in ERA-NET Cofund actions, pooling Luxembourg's national research budgets with other European funding agencies to launch joint transnational calls across health, materials, ICT, and social sciences. Their role is strategic rather than research-performing: they align Luxembourg's small but focused research ecosystem with broader European research agendas and ensure Luxembourgish researchers can access cross-border funding opportunities.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2014-2018, FNR's portfolio centred on materials research (M-ERA.NET), systems medicine (ERACoSysMed), humanities (HERA), and sustainability transitions — reflecting a broad, exploratory phase of aligning Luxembourg with diverse European research agendas. From 2019 onward, the focus sharpened toward health (rare diseases via EJP RD, personalised medicine, neurodegeneration), quantum technologies (QuantERA II), digital society (CHANSE, Governance), and green materials including batteries (M-ERA.NET3). The trend shows FNR progressively concentrating its co-funding on high-priority European missions — health, digital, and green transition — while maintaining its humanities commitment.

FNR is aligning Luxembourg's research funding with EU mission areas — expect continued investment in quantum technologies, rare diseases, battery materials, and digital society research calls.

How they like to work

FNR operates almost exclusively as a participant (15 of 17 projects), which is typical for a national funding agency in ERA-NET consortia — their role is to bring Luxembourg's co-funding commitment and national researcher base to the table, not to lead the coordination. With 232 unique consortium partners across 42 countries, they maintain one of the broadest partnership networks relative to their size, connecting to virtually every major European funding agency. This makes FNR a reliable, well-connected co-funding partner: easy to work with, consistent in their commitments, and a gateway to Luxembourg's research community.

FNR has collaborated with 232 unique partners across 42 countries — an exceptionally wide network for a small country's funding agency, reflecting their role in pan-European ERA-NET consortia that typically include 20-30 national funders each. Their geographic reach spans all EU member states and several associated countries.

What sets them apart

As a small country's national funder, FNR punches well above its weight by participating in 13 ERA-NET Cofund actions across highly diverse sectors — from quantum physics to rare diseases to humanities. For consortium builders, FNR is valuable not as a research performer but as a funding multiplier: including them means Luxembourg's national budget co-funds your call, expanding the pool of money available to researchers. Their breadth across sectors and their 42-country collaboration record make them an unusually versatile partner for any ERA-NET or co-funded initiative.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EJP RD
  Largest single EC contribution (EUR 307,772) — the European Joint Programme on Rare Diseases represents FNR's deepest commitment to a single health domain with FAIR data and patient empowerment.
• QuantERA II
  Signals FNR's strategic bet on quantum technologies (EUR 296,787) — their second-largest project and a clear indicator of future research funding direction for Luxembourg.
• Clinnova
  One of only two projects FNR coordinated — a Centre of Excellence in Digital Health and Personalised Medicine, revealing Luxembourg's ambition to build domestic research capacity beyond just co-funding others.