LIST Annual Report 2022: Together for an effective transition

Published on 10/07/2023

The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) has published its annual report for the year 2022, which highlights its efforts to continue to foster innovation in Luxembourg and create new solutions that promote the global move towards sustainability.

It sets out the key achievements of LIST over the past year in terms of cutting-edge research produced within the Institute’s four domains of predilection: materials science, information technologies, environmental innovations and space. The report also features the impactful research created through LIST’s strategic collaborations with its partners.

Pushing the frontiers in research for high-impact innovation

In 2022, the 676 employees of LIST pursued the Institute's mission of pushing the frontiers in research for high-impact innovation, all while adhering to a "Sustainable by Design" approach, which entails intelligently designing products, services, and technologies with minimal environmental impact.

Staying true to its commitment to fostering innovation transfer and accelerating economic impact for industries, LIST launched INVITROLIZE, a spin-off company focusing on early detection of chemical respiratory irritants during the development of new products.

Scientific excellence remains a central focus for LIST, evident through the numerous projects undertaken in 2022. These include 123 national competitive projects, 57 international competitive projects, and 162 collaborative projects.

Eva Kremer, Chairwoman of LIST’s Board of Directors:

“In this report, we are particularly pleased to showcase the successes of our committed and talented employees, without whom we could not contribute to meeting global challenges and ensuring an effective transition to sustainability.”

Creating impact through strategic collaborations

LIST has signed 18 new collaboration agreements in the past year, many of which are related to energy transition, aim to reduce the environmental impact of our partners or to support their digital transformation. These agreements include a partnership with Encevo/Creos to transform the energy grid by utilizing energy-related data, collaborations with CLE and Schroeder et Associés in the field of sustainable construction, an agreement with Gradel to develop environmentally friendly lightweight composites, and a partnership with FM Global to enhance climate resilience.

The Sustainable Composite Materials and Manufacturing Innovation Centre, launched in December last year, and representing a significant commitment from LIST to address the future demands of the transportation industry, has garnered support from four prominent European transport entities: Toyota, Airbus, Thales Alenia Space, and Alstom. In April 2023, Euro-Composites and Gradel became the first two members of this innovation centre.

One of the most fruitful industry collaborations of LIST remains that with the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. Over the past six years of this largest public-private partnership in Luxembourg, LIST and Goodyear have collaborated to achieve significant results in the areas of materials research, understanding structure-property relationships and data science. Building on the success of the initial phase of collaboration, a second strategic partnership has been signed, taking account of socio-economic priorities and extending the scope of the collaboration into additional areas of research.

Maintaining its growth trajectory

Representing a year of growth, 2022 also saw LIST signing its 2022-2025 multi-year agreement with the Luxembourg government, and its funding increase by 18% for this period. This signature confirms LIST's strategy as defined in the 2022-2025 multiannual work programme. This includes eight objectives aimed at increasing the economic, political, environmental, social, regional and academic impact of LIST.

This State allocation will enable LIST to continue implementing its 2.0 strategy, building on its existing strengths and taking into account the current priorities of the European Commission, and also those of the Luxembourg government, notably the green and digital transitions.