European funding The EU’s framework programme Horizon 2020 offers attractive and competitive funding for research and innovation projects. In our role as National Contact Point, we strive to increase the successful participation of Luxembourg organisations in Horizon 2020 as well as in the programmes of the European Space Agency (ESA) and other European programmes funding R&D and innovation. 42 new Horizon 2020 projects with Luxembourg participants received a total of €21.72 million of funding in 2016. The main Luxembourg beneficiaries from Horizon 2020 funding included the University of Luxembourg, the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), Goodyear, ArcelorMittal and Creos, but we also provided much support to smaller companies to help them be part of European projects. Start-up MyScienceWork is one example of a smaller firm that successfully participated in a Horizon 2020 project this year. Luxembourg participation in Horizon 2020 Accumulated figures for 2014 – 2016 0 Horizon 2020 projects obtained involving 72 Luxembourg organisations 0 million of Horizon 2020 funding obtained of the funding was obtained by SMEs of Horizon 2020 success rate Luxembourg ranks 5th among all participating countries We helped our clients match their ideas with the most relevant opportunities offered by Horizon 2020 and optimise their projects to increase their chances for success. We provided help with finding project partners – European universities and companies – that could enhance their project ideas. We also reviewed project proposals and gave legal and financial advice. In addition to individual, one-to-one support we organised several workshops for project coordinators as well as organisations that wanted to participate in Horizon 2020 for the first time. The topics included financial and legal matters as well as intellectual property rights. Our annual Horizon 2020 Day in October attracted over 80 participants. Luxinnovation manages LUXCOR, the Luxembourg Contact Office for Research & Innovation in Brussels. In 2016, LUXCOR became part of key networks such as IGLO (Informal Group of RTD Liaison Offices) and ERRIN (European Regions Research and Innovation Network) and identified thematic networks of interest to Luxembourg. We coordinated a possible Luxembourg participation in the future Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) Advanced Manufacturing and participated in a strategic discussion with European Commissioner Moedas on the possible creation of a European Innovation Council. We organised a seminar on cybersecurity in Brussels and set up a working group that will prepare a position paper regarding the mid-term evaluation of Horizon 2020. The programmes of the European Space Agency (ESA) offer a range of opportunities for Luxembourg’s space sector. ESA’s Ministerial Council was held in 2016 to decide on programmes and budgets for 2017-2021. We contributed to preparing proposals both for ESA programmes, based on discussions with Luxembourg organisations and the new national priorities in this field, and the national action plan and budget for the same period. Together with the Ministry of the Economy, we represented Luxembourg interests in ESA and European Commission programme committees. We also contributed to a working group aiming to establish processes and standards to be applied when developing low-cost microsatellites. 0 ESA and LuxIMPULSE projects funded in 2016 0 million of ESA and LuxIMPULSE funding obtained