Luxembourg

Facts & Figures

Luxembourg

Where

• Luxembourg

Research infrastructure

In 2019 there were 3,158 full-time researchers in Luxembourg . The Luxembourg research ecosystem comprises the University of Luxembourg, including 3 faculties and 3 interdisciplinary research centres, 4 public research institutes and other public and private research organisations .

Organisation	City
University
University of Luxembourg	Esch-sur-Alzette
LIST[:File:///C:/Users/Elsa Amin/AppData/Local/Temp/Temp1 Country report cards for The Embassy.zip/Report page draft Luxembourg.docx#%20msocom%201 [AP1]]	Esch-sur-Alzette
LISER	Esch-sur-Alzette
LIH	Luxembourg, Strassen, Esch-sur-Alzette, Dudelange

Research funding

In 2018, the gross expenditures on research and development were €704.5 million which comprises 1.2% of the country’s GDP . Most funding was spent in the business sector (53.24%), government (26.04%) and higher education sector (20.7%) .

In 2020, Luxembourg had 509 signed grants in H2020 projects, receiving €189,1 million funding from H2020 . It also had 16 signed grants receiving €24,05 million from H2020 .

Research strategy

The Luxembourg Government has launched the “National Research and Innovation Strategy”. The Strategy aims to provide the general framework that will allow for a targeted development of Luxembourg’s research ecosystem in the future. In addition, the government intends to maximise the impact of research on the country’s progress, and to position Luxembourg as a major international player visible through its research activities .

Research governance, compliance and integrity

Luxembourg has four national bodies for research ethics and research integrity: The National Research Ethics Committee (CNER) , National Data Protection Commission (CNPD) , National Consultative Ethics Committee for Life Sciences and Health (CNE) and National Commission for Research Integrity - The Luxembourg Agency for Research Integrity (LARI) .

Luxembourg does not have a national code of research conduct, but all research institutions have developed guidelines and policies for good research practice, research integrity, and ethics in research. In most cases, Luxembourg follows the guidelines of the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and of the League of European Research Universities “Towards a Research Integrity Culture at Universities: from recommendation to implementation” .

The University of Luxembourg has established several committees for handling questions in the field of research ethics.

-       The Ethics Advisory Committee provides advice on ethical issues involved in the activities of the university’ community, addresses complaints, and conducts investigations regarding alleged discrimination at the university. The investigation and advice are provided upon request of the University Council or the Rectorate .

-       The ombudsman's office offers conflict management coaching, shuttle diplomacy, mediation, restorative circles and conferences to mitigate workplace conflicts .

-       The Ethics Review Panel is responsible for providing ethics reviews of research proposals and publications regarding human participants, human biological material, animals, or potentially harmful changes to the environment .

-       The Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee (AEEC) is responsible for ensuring, on behalf of the University of Luxembourg, that care and use of animals for research and teaching are conducted in compliance with the law regulating the protection of animals used for scientific purposes .

-       The Biosafety Committee is responsible for ensuring compliance with the biosafety policies and measures at the University of Luxembourg .

-       The doctoral education agreement (DEA) defines the role and duties of the supervisee and the supervisor and describes the tasks foreseen in the doctoral thesis work plan. It also provides information and contacts related to data protection, intellectual property, ethics and research integrity. Should a conflict persist, an escalation path is proposed .

-       The University hosts a Dispute Committee is an independent administrative body, yet internal to the institution, whose mission is to decide, in law, according to an adversarial (quasi-judicial) procedure, certain categories of disputes between, on the one hand, the “users” of the University (ie current students, former students and / or potential students of the University of Luxembourg) and, on the other hand, the decision-making bodies of the University of Luxembourg .

The Luxembourg Agency for Research Integrity (LARI) is responsible for handling alleged cases of research misconduct. The cases are investigated by the Commission for the Research Integrity (CRI) which is a part of LARI . The Commission may be called upon by any person or organisation with a legal capacity which has knowledge of suspected scientific misconduct occurring in LARI member organisations. Moreover, the Commission may also investigate cases of suspected scientific misconduct on their own initiative. If the case of alleged misconduct has happened more than 10 years ago, the Commission can refuse to handle the cases. After reviewing the case, the commission will take the decision to conduct an investigation, not to initiate an investigation, or suspend the case .

If the Commission decides to initiate the investigation, its decision will be sent to the person or organisation that has reported the case, the person(s) to whom the allegations refer to, the head of the affected research institution, and the National Research Fund (FNR) if the case occurs in relation with the FNR funded project or researcher. In exceptional cases, the Commission can decide not to communicate the decision to abovementioned parties due to the higher priority of protecting the accused person. Upon completion of the investigation, the Commission member leading the investigation shall compose a summary opinion which contains an assessment of the results of the investigation. This will be presented to other members for approval. The opinion is further sent to the person or institution which called upon Commission if it is directly affected by allegations, and to the person to whom the allegation referred. The opinion is also sent to the LARI Board for information purposes .

Luxembourg law does not have a formal definition of the term “whistleblowing”. There are specific provisions in the Labour Code designed to protect public and private sector employees who report alleged corruption or abuse of influence in their workplace. The employees are protected if the reports are made in good faith. These provisions protect employees from employment agreement reprisals and terminations due to whistleblowing .

Bodies for RE+RI	Scope
The Luxembourg Agency for Research Integrity (LARI)	Provides free research ethics consultations for researchers. It is also responsible for addressing cases of alleged research misconduct.
National Research Ethics Committee (CNER)	It is responsible for the protection of participants in clinical trials involving experimental drugs, therapies and medical devices. Besides clinical trials, CNER protects people included in different research studies, e.g. academic research.
The National Consultative Commission of Ethics for Life Sciences and Health (CNE)	It is responsible for addressing ethical concerns in the fields of biology, medicine, and health. The Committee can address concerns on its own initiative or at the request of Government and respective European Directives.
National Data Protection Commission (CNPD)	CNPD verifies the legality of the processing of personal data and ensures that the personal freedom and rights regarding data protection are respected. Research projects involving humans also have to be notified to or authorized by the CNPD.

Laws and regulations

A number of laws address RE and RI in Luxembourg are transposing EU Law.

Law	Scope
Grand-Ducal Regulation: Contained use of genetically modified organisms (transposing EU Directive 1998/81)	It sets the criteria for classifying genetically modified organisms and their uses. It also defines the security measures and the containment procedures relating to these uses.
Clinical trials in human medicines (transposing EU Directive 2001/20/CE)	Lays down specific provisions concerning the conduct of clinical trials, including multicentre trials, carried out on human being and relating to medicinal products as defined by the law of 1993 regulating the placing on the market and advertising of medicinal products.
Protection of animals used in scientific research (transposing EU Directive 2010/63/UE)	Establishes measures for the protection of animals used for scientific or educational purposes.
Law on the protection of animal life, security and welfare (Chapter 8, Article 13)	Limits animal experiments and experiences which can cause pain, aliments or damage to animals  to what is strictly necessary.
Law of 18 April 2001 on copyright, neighboring rights and databases (transposing EU Directive 2001/84)	Establishes rules on copyright, neighbouring rights and databases.
Law of 2 August 2002 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data (transposing EU Directive 1995/46/CE)	Establishes rules for protection of personal data.

Measures to promote good scientific practices and open science

RI training

LARI provides research ethics and integrity training via the CAPRI (Creative Approaches Promoting Research Integrity) program. It also has a program of Peer Coaching which guides researchers in designing, conducting, recording, monitoring, auditing, analysis, and reporting of research .

Within its doctoral education framework, the University of Luxembourg organizes training courses aiming at acquiring Transferable Skills . The offer in Transferable Skills training includes courses in research ethics in science and principles of good research practice as well as training activities aiming at increasing employability.

Luxembourg Institute of Health has doctoral training and among others, it covers an area of good research practice. Moreover, the Institute of Health provides training and workshops for early staged researchers to help them develop skills for their future career .

LIST is committed to developing and implementing responsible, inclusive and sustainable research and innovation practices. LIST also promotes and applies fair and ethical business and administration practices. Formalised in the LIST Code of Ethics, these principles are the basis of assessing projects, plans, and practices in the organisation. LIST has set up an internal Ethics Committee to deal with ethical questions related to research, innovation and business activities. LIST supports its employees (researchers, engineers, PhD candidates, administrative and support staff) to consider ethics in their work and attitude, whatever their position in the organisation.

Several research institutions have developed their guidelines for RE+RI training:

National Policy on Open Access

The University of Luxembourg – Research Ethics Guidelines

The University of Luxembourg – Policy on Ethics in Research

The University of Luxembourg – Code of Conduct

The University of Luxembourg – Doctoral Education Agreement (DEA)

LARI - 10 Tips for Robust and Ethical Research

LARI Research Ethics FAQ

LARI Coach Handbook

FNR Policy on Open Access

FNR Research Integrity Guidelines

FNR Ethics Charter and Code of Conduct for Research Assessment

FNR National Quality Framework for Doctoral Training

LIST Code of Ethics

RI dialogue and communication

There is a cooperation between various institutions for RE+RI in Luxembourg. The National Ethics Committee (CNER) cooperates with the National Data Protection Commission (CNPD) which has one member attending the national ethics committee meeting as an observer. Also, members of CNER cooperate with LARI in the cases of research misconduct. LARI organises training courses for coaches at different research institutions .

Through the Secretary of State for Higher Education and Research, there has been strong support for research integrity, including “fostering a culture of the integrity of research.” Public trust in science in Luxembourg is high. Moreover, according to a 2011 EU competitiveness report, “the highest trust in science and technology can be found in Malta, Iceland, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg and Norway” .

Initiatives	Scope
CAPRI program	Training
LARI Peer Coaching	Training

Guidelines

Luxembourg

A total of 0 guidelines were found. Add a Guideline.

Andrijana Perković Paloš, Elsa Amin contributed to this report. Latest contribution was Jan 21, 2022