“Bridging the gap between science and technology”

This morning, Gabriel Crean, Chief Executive Officer of the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, presented his strategy to make the LIST stand out on a European level.

Before handing over to Gabriel Crean, who became head of LIST in May, Georges Bourscheid, Chairman of the Board of Directors, expressed his satisfaction concerning the developments that have taken place since the institute was created barely nine months ago. He particularly emphasized the recent move of almost 300 employees to the Maison de l’Innovation on the Belval site. LIST teams are now housed in two buildings instead of the previous six, thus fostering the work of the research teams.

Even in his introduction, the Chief Executive Officer of the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology was clear and precise. “In Europe, innovation is the driving force of economic growth. This is also true for Luxembourg. And the good news is that Luxembourg is in the Top 10 worldwide in terms of innovation.” He continued by offering a definition of innovation in three stages, with the first consisting of acquiring knowledge, the second applying it and the third being the first to put it on the market.

Innovation is the force behind Research and Technology Organizations (RTO), the type of research centre that Gabriel Crean would like LIST to become: “The role of an RTO, and therefore, that of LIST, is to reduce the gap that exists between science and the prototypes that enable businesses to create new products.” The key to success is technology: As with cars, one new product can be overflowing with different technologies. LIST therefore intends to work on these key technologies by transforming the results of scientific research in to technological bricks useful for markets.

The challenge is to reduce the time needed between research and application in industry. Within this framework, the CEO is delighted that LIST is based in Belval, alongside Luxinnovation, the National Research Fund (FNR) and the University of Luxembourg. He sees this new “Belval Innovation Hub” as an excellent accelerator for Luxembourg, as in terms of innovation, you have to be fast to be first. For Professor Crean, transforming scientific research into technologies to respond to industrial needs and accelerate the innovation process will inevitably increase the attractiveness of Luxembourg.

To make this a reality, LIST is counting on its 647 employees from 42 countries, including 23 European Union member states. Employees will have to orient their work towards the production of technological publications, but most importantly towards licences and patents enabling them to create new prototypes and respond to the needs of the institute’s partners: These partners are already abundant in Luxembourg and Europe and Gabriel Crean is counting on expanding the activities of the Luxembourg Institute of Science of Technology in order to appear among the top RTOs in Europe. To conclude, the CEO stated that “LIST is getting into a strong position as a force of economic growth centred on innovation”.