"An innovation factory made in Luxembourg"

To stay in the race and gain market shares, companies need to keep on innovating. In the Innovation & Technology section published on Paperjam in September 2019, Thomas Schoos, Head of Communication at LIST, explains why it would be a good idea for them all to plan, co-develop and implement innovations with a partner such as LIST.

The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) is what is known as a research and technology organisation (RTO). Unlike conventional research bodies, such as universities, which focus on education and the development of scientific knowledge, LIST aims to convert existing scientific knowledge into usable technologies. We develop innovative and competitive solutions to meet the key needs of Luxembourgian and European companies. Then we transfer these new technologies to our public and industrial partners.

Combining all the necessary ingredients for innovation

In order to innovate, a company needs to have certain conditions in place: in addition to specific areas of expertise, it also needs infrastructure and, above all, a state of mind that is conducive to creativity. At LIST, more than 75% of our 600 employees are researchers and specialists in innovation, grouped around three key themes: information technology, the environment, and new materials. When we ask our international researchers why they chose LIST, we often receive the following two answers: firstly, the excellent prospects of receiving funding for research projects, and secondly, the exceptional infrastructure at their disposal. The diversity and quality of the equipment, and the fact that it is all provided at a single location, is one of LIST's great strengths. A partnership with LIST allows Luxembourgian companies to pool their equipment in order to reduce costs and become more competitive on the international market.

From artificial intelligence and microbiology to nanotechnology

Our researchers' diverse areas of expertise offer real added value, allowing us to cover numerous technologies and research areas. On LIST Tech Day 2019, which took place on 20 June, we exhibited around twenty of LIST's latest prototypes. These included a microscope with a world-record-breaking resolution, smart bins, drones for disease detection in vineyards, robots creating digital maps inside buildings, and a plasma robot capable of giving new properties to the surface of a material on three-dimensional shapes. These are just a few specific examples that clearly show the diversity of innovations that LIST is able to develop for its industrial partners.

LIST Tech Day also gave us the opportunity to announce the signing of three new partnership agreements with private-sector companies: with Blue Horizon, a start-up in the space sector; with Probiotic Group for the production of new strains of probiotics for cleaning products; and with Polygone in the field of intelligent waste management. Our flagship collaborations also include Goodyear, with whom we are working on the design of tyres for the future, through five research programmes concerning innovative materials and industrial processes, as well as a data science programme. These partnerships attest to our leading role in creating links between research and industry.

I am a business and I would like to call on LIST. What exactly does that involve?

You can choose from several collaboration models to suit your needs:

• Contractual research: you entrust LIST with the task of meeting your technological challenge, and we draft an agreement for a specific project.
• Resource sharing: we share our highlyqualified experts with your company, or we set up a joint laboratory to work on jointly-defined projects.
• Strategic R&D partnership: we jointly define a framework agreement for a medium or longterm R&D partnership based on your innovation roadmap.
• Technology services: for shortterm results to solve a specific problem, you can draw on our technological expertise, particularly in terms of testing, measurement, analysis, innovation management, and method or software development.

Please do not hesitate to contact our Heads of Department, who will guide you through the collaboration process:

• Environment: Lucien Hoffmann
• Materials: Damien Lenoble
• Information Technology: Eric Dubois

If you would like to see what we do or meet us, be sure to visit our technology showroom at the House of Innovation (Maison de l'Innovation) in Belval.