On Friday 16 October 2015, six researchers were rewarded for their excellent efforts in the fields of research and science by the National Research Fund (FNR).

Presented by Yves Elsen, President of the Board of FNR, and Marc Schiltz, Secretary General of the FNR, the Awards Ceremony provided the winners with €5,000 in prize money. Four awards were given in the categories of 'Excellent Scientific Publication', 'Excellent Doctoral Thesis' and 'Excellent Promotion of Science Among the Public'.

For the third time, the FNR also awarded the FNR Special Award, which was received by Claude Wehenkel, physicist and former director of the Herni Tudor Public Research Centre, now the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST). Claude Wehenkel was awarde the prize for his extraordinary commitment to the development of science and research in Luxembourg. In his speech, Board Director Yves Elsen thanked Claude Wehenkel for his scientific commitment, emphasising Luxembourg's need for similarly-minded people in order to advance research with a socio-economic impact.

During the ceremony, Secretary of State for Higher Education and Research, Mark Hansen, highlighted the importance of communicating research, for both the general public of Luxembourg and an informed international audience.

The Awards winners were as follows:

In the category of 'Excellent Scientific Publication', the FNR rewarded two mathematicians from the University of Luxembourg, who established a new theory in the field of probability:

  • Ivan Nourdin and Giovanni Peccati (University of Luxembourg) for the publication 'Normal Approximations with Malliavin Calculus: From Stein's Method to Universality'.

A prize was awarded to an engineer in the field of wireless communication, who sought to optimise the use of radio frequencies.

  • Shree Krishna Sharma (University of Luxembourg - Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust) for the thesis 'Interweave/Underlay Cognitive Radio Techniques and Applications in Satellite Communication Systems'.

A second Award in the field of history science was given to a historian who analysed at which point different types of citizens wee created in Luxembourgish schools in the last two centuries:

  • Catherina Schreiber (University of Luxembourg) for the thesis 'Curricula and the Making of the Citizens. Trajectories from 19th and 20th Century Luxembourg'.

In the category 'Excellent Promotion of Science Among the General Public', the selected project was the Scienteens Lab du Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, a place of study at the University of Luxembourg where students can become lab researchers during the day:

  • Elizabeth John (University of Luxembourg - Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine) for Hands-on science activity - The Scienteens Lab, the first Luxembourgish student lab.

The FNR is now accepting proposals for the FNR Awards 2016, with a fixed submission dare of 1 April 2016. To enter, visit http://www.fnr.lu/fnr-awards