LIST expands its European footprint

The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) will lend its expert knowledge, experience and talents to four major European projects in the field of materials and the environment. All have recently been accepted by the European authorities managing the European framework programme for research and innovation called Horizon 2020. Each of these projects involves at least ten partners from Europe, so the prospects for collaboration and business opportunities in the coming years for both LIST and the Luxembourg market are very promising. LIST is joining forces with key industry names such as Airbus, Carl Zeiss, Dow Chemical and ArcelorMittal, as well as with major European research centres, SMEs and industrialists. Thanks to this success, LIST is stepping up its European partnerships.

European coordination of two projects focusing on materials

LIST, through its Materials Research and Technology (MRT) department, will coordinate the npSCOPE and COMPOSELECTOR projects from Luxembourg, with a total budget of 11.4 million Euros, the results of which will have a significant impact on the competitiveness of European industry. The first project, npSCOPE, led by Dr. Tom Wirtz, aims to develop a new integrated, optimised instrument to provide a comprehensive physico-chemical characterisation of nanoparticles both in their original form and incorporated into complex matrices such as biological tissue. The results of the project will be primarily applied within the framework of nano-toxicology activities, including studies on the toxicity of nanoparticles absorbed by the human body orally (nanoparticles contained in food), through breathing and via the skin but also, for example, in the semiconductor and battery industry or in life sciences, other areas where nano-analysis is a key factor.

The second project, COMPOSELECTOR, led by Dr. Salim Belouettar, aims to design and develop an open and expandable software platform for selecting and designing composite materials. By adopting a highly interdisciplinary approach, this project aims to rationally deal with the integration of materials models (multi-scale and multi-physics) as well all technical and business components in order to support the complex decision-making process inherent in this class of materials. At the end of the project, industrialists and researchers alike will consequently have all the tools necessary for reliably and cost-effectively designing and producing ever increasingly sophisticated materials as well as components and systems offering improved performance over a competitive time scale.

A key player in two environmental projects

LIST, thanks to the expertise of its researchers in the Environmental Research and Innovation (ERIN) department will also play a central role in two other projects: Nature4Cities and SPOTVIEW. The first project, Nature4Cities, led at LIST by Dr. Benedetto Rugani, aims to engage urban stakeholders in a collective learning process about the renaturing of cities, develop and distribute new economic, financial and governance models for nature-based solutions (NBS) projects and provide tools for the impact assessment, development and monitoring of such projects. LIST will be responsible for the assessment part and will develop two scales, a value scale and an alternative assessment scale, based respectively on monetary ecosystem services and quality of life, the combination of which will help place the economic analysis and social impacts into perspective.

The second project, SPOTVIEW, led at LIST by Dr. Elorri Igos, aims to develop and demonstrate innovative, sustainable and efficient technologies and processes in order to optimise the use of natural resources, in particular water, in three industrial sectors: dairy products, pulp and paper, and steel. LIST will be especially responsible for the overall environmental assessment (life cycle assessment methodology and occupational risk assessment (health of workers on the production site).

Legend : from left to right, Dr. Tom Wirtz, Dr. Elorri Igos, Dr. Benedetto Rugani