Luxembourg's research excellence rewarded at National Research Fund Awards 2025

Since its inception in 2009, the FNR Awards have symbolised excellence in Luxembourg’s research landscape.

The awards are presented in four categories:

• Outstanding Scientific Achievement
• Outstanding Promotion of Science to the Public
• Outstanding PhD Thesis and
• Outstanding Mentor.

This year, five prizes were handed out at the Maison du Savoir in Esch-sur-Alzette's Belval district.

Pop culture as a driver of societal change

The FNR Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement was presented to Professor Andreas Fickers, Professor Dietmar Hüser, and Professor Sonja Kmec along with her team.

The research project 'Popkult60' sought to examine pop culture as a driver of social change. In a cross-border collaboration between Luxembourg and Saarland, the team analysed 17 cultural topics, ranging from rock music and comics to children’s television programmes and the Schueberfouer fair.

The project demonstrates how cultural phenomena can influence identities across borders and reflect broader political and social developments.

'Astronaut for a day': Experiencing research

The FNR Award for Outstanding Promotion of Science to the Public was awarded to the  Luxembourg Space Agency represented by Juliette Pertuy, Maia Haas, Maud Marocki, Selima Malsagova and Bo Byloos.

Through the initiative 'Astronaut for a Day', the Luxembourg Space Agency gave 35 students the chance to experience 0 gravity on a parabolic flight, an opportunity typically reserved only for real astronauts.

Participants were also able to follow scientific experiments for an entire year, gaining first-hand insight into the space sector. The initiative's aim was to inspire young people, particularly young women, to engage with science and technology.

Artificial Intelligence with human intuition

The FNR Award for Outstanding PhD Thesis was presented to Florian Felten of the University of Luxembourg and ETH Zurich.

With his PhD thesis, Florian Felten explored new ways for AI to understand human values and preferences while balancing different objectives, such as cost, time, environment, or safety. Using methods from multi-objective reinforcement learning, he developed an approach that makes artificial intelligence more realistic, reliable, and human.

How the brain processes language

A second FNR Award for Outstanding PhD Thesis was awarded to Jill Kries of the KU Leuven and Stanford University.

Researcher Jill Kries combined neuroscience and linguistics to uncover the mechanisms behind how the brain processes language. Using electroencephalogram (EEG) analyses and studies with patients with aphasia, she demonstrated the importance of prosody, the melody and rhythm of speech, for understanding language. Her findings could play a central role in the future diagnosis and treatment of speech disorders.

Supporting research with integrity and empathy

The FNR Award for Outstanding Mentor was presented to Professor Christos Koulovatianos of the University of Luxembourg.

Professor Christos Koulovatianos was honoured for his exemplary mentoring. He combines high scientific standards with respect, trust, and an open spirit, the citation for the award reads.

His doctoral students describe him as an inspiring figure who motivates them to see mistakes as opportunities. Many of his mentees have, thanks to his support, published their research, secured research funding, or advanced their scientific careers.