Luxembourg and UK sign research agreement

(CS) Luxembourg's National Research Fund (FNR) and its UK counterpart, the Research Councils, have signed a bilateral cooperation agreement to facilitate cross-border research.

The so-called lead agency agreement was signed on September 30 by FNR Board President Yves Elsen, FNR Secretary General Marc Schiltz, and Professor Paul Boyle, Chief Executive of the Economic and Research Council and Research Councils UK International Champion.

Also present were Luxembourg's Minister for Higher Education and Research Martine Hansen, and Thomas Flammant, trade and investment adviser at the British Embassy.

The agreement aims to facilitate the application process for joint research projects and simplify administrative procedures by turning the RCUK into the lead agency for cross-border applications.

On behalf of both the FNR and the RCUK, the latter will assess proposals involving researchers from both Luxembourg and Great Britain, including funding decisions. Once a project gets the go-ahead, both bodies will provide funds to the teams in their respective countries.

This avoids doubling workflows to process and review research projects in both the Grand Duchy and the UK.

The RCUK is composed of seven separate councils, specialised in different research areas, including arts and humanities, biotechnology and biological sciences, engineering and physical sciences, economic and social research, medical research, natural environment research, and science and technology facilities.

The RCUK have supported more than 50,000 researchers, and the FNR hopes that the agreement will raise the level of research by encouraging cooperation with one of the most competitive research environments in the world.

Professor Boyle commented: “This cooperation agreement underpins the principles of an open European Research Area (ERA) and will promote scientific excellence by removing administrative barriers.”