Research Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS)

Funding Instruments

The IAS – Luxembourg will achieve its missions through four strategic funding instruments:

Distinguished

Description: The aim of the instrument Distinguished is to enable and encourage research groups of the University of Luxembourg to engage with distinguished international scientists, but also wider personalities, including policy makers, and representatives of the arts, government or industry. Distinguished fellows will strengthen UL’s activities and reinforce the development of new ideas in research and innovation, teaching approaches and for addressing global challenges, thereby enriching Luxembourg’s academic and intellectual environment. In order to ensure that a wide cross-section of the University community as well as Luxembourg society benefits from the impact of the visit, IAS Visiting Fellows will take part in activities such as: (i) conducting interdisciplinary research, including the preparation of research projects and proposals with members of the University of Luxembourg (ii) training events targeted at early career scholars, (iii) public events to engage society, together with the UL community and other IAS visiting fellows, (iv) and, where appropriate, in teaching activities.

Selection principles: Applicants to the “Distinguished” fellowship will be assessed by the College of the IAS fellows. The duration of stay can be from a minimum of 2 weeks to a maximum of 3 months. The selection is based on the quality of the applicant and their fit with the host research group at the University of Luxembourg.

Audacity

Description: The aim of the instrument Audacity is to enable audacious interdisciplinary research, breaking the barriers between scientific disciplines and sectors, and fostering increased collaboration at the University of Luxembourg. The projects are expected to be at the forefront of science and to have a distinctly bold and audacious character with a high element of risk. The projects can act as preliminary studies thereby enabling and reinforcing later submissions to external funding instruments used by UL such as FNR, Horizon Europe, ERC, ESA etc. Securing such follow-up funding will be considered as a success measure of the Audacity instrument.

Selection principles: The IAS will open a yearly call for projects with a maximum lifespan of 4 years. The Scientific Council of the IAS, composed of UL-internal and UL-external experts, will select the project proposals after oral presentations by the applicants potentially supported in their task by international experts. The presentations will be open to the UL community, thereby making the selection process an open scientific event of the UL. The selection criteria are the excellence, audacious character and interdisciplinarity of the submitted projects. Principal investigators having been granted an IAS Audacity project are not eligible to submit a new project for the 2 years following their grant acquisition.

Young Academics

Description: The instrument Young Academics aims to attract outstanding PhD candidates and Post-doctoral researchers, who wish to conduct their interdisciplinary research in a consortium grouping distinct UL’s departments (faculties), research groups (ICs), or entities. Their interdisciplinary project would be run under the responsibility of two academic staff holding Thesis supervision rights. This instrument contributes to positioning UL as the place to be for interdisciplinary research, and as an attractive employer with appealing working conditions. For their career development, the selected Young Academics will benefit from schemes such as the University of Luxembourg Leadership Academy (ULLA), a catalogue of interdisciplinary and short courses or lectures in transversal skills.

Selection principles: Applicants to “Young Academics” will be selected by the Scientific Council of the IAS, potentially supported in their task by international experts. The selection criteria are excellence of the candidate and the quality of an interdisciplinary project. Professors affiliated to the University of Luxembourg (in the sense of Professeurs affiliés, Law on the organisation of the University, Art. 28) are eligible to co-supervise Young Academics of the IAS with UL ADR-holders, under the conditions that the doctoral position is co-funded by, and contracted with, their respective institution. Young Academics co-supervised by an Affiliate Professor will undergo the same selection process and will integrate the community of doctoral candidates of the IAS – Luxembourg.

Brainstorm

Description: The IAS will support these small-size brainstorm meetings (minimum 5 and maximum 15 people all together incl. Coord-PIs) considered as the ideal forum for exchanges on emerging research reflexion, often covering more than one discipline or sector. These workshops, organised by a member of the UL or an IAS – Luxembourg DISTINGUISHED Visiting Fellow, are expected to bring together a select group of international and UL scientists, to discuss the latest pre-publication research and innovation at the edge of the concerned field. Targeted participants include international experts, UL researchers including UL Doctoral or Post-doctoral researchers and YOUNG ACADEMICS from the IAS. Junior participants will gain new understanding of emerging fields through dialogue with more senior experts. The BRAINSTORM workshops are expected to lead to new research projects, initiatives, networks or short position/white papers published internationally, further increasing UL’s visibility.

Selection principles: Applications to the Brainstorm workshops will be assessed by the College of IAS fellows. The selection is based on the quality of the Brainstorm idea, the international recognition of the participants, and the potential to lead to new ideas and initiates.

Activity Overview

DistinguishedAudacityYoung AcademicsBrainstorm
202312Replaced by YIA Funding1
2022133
2021210
20216
20194

Call schedules 2024

Distinguished & Brainstorm

1 March 2024: Call opening
24 May 2024: Institutional Validation
31 May 2024: Deadline for project proposals submission
20 September 2024: Selection Committee Meeting (no pitch – indicative date)
Mid-October 2024: Communication of results to PIs

Audacity

1 June 2024: Call opening
13 September 2024: Institutional Validation
20 September 2024: Deadline for project proposals submission
28 & 29 November 2024: Selection Committee Meeting (pitch – indicative dates)
Mid-December 2024: Communication of results to PIs

Young Academics

No call in 2024 – Replaced by the MSCA-COFUND postdoctoral programme Young International Academics (YIA).
More information on YIA section or in the dedicated website.

Fellowship & affiliation

Fellowship policy

The Institute for Advanced Studies of the University of Luxembourg fosters top-level research by sponsoring and recruiting talented fellows (about five new fellows per year) through its various funding instruments:

  • Doctoral Fellows: through the Young Academics scheme, successful applicants are offered a 48-month doctoral fellowship programme, see Funding Instruments.
  • Postdoctoral Fellows: The Young International Academics (YIA) Postdoctoral Programme is a career development programme hosted by the Institute for Advanced Studies Luxembourg (IAS) of the University of Luxembourg (UL) to nurture early-career postdoctoral researchers to gain momentum in interdisciplinary research. YIA candidates are international talents holding a recent doctoral degree and willing to propose and realise their own interdisciplinary research projects through a bottom-up approach. YIA will welcome ten postdoctoral fellows with individual fellowships of 36 months each. Visit the dedicated website.
  • Senior Fellows: DISTINGUISHED fellows will strengthen UL’s activities and reinforce the development of new ideas in research and innovation, teaching approaches and for addressing global challenges, thereby enriching Luxembourg’s academic and intellectual environment. Funding can be requested for visits of a minimum of 2 weeks and a maximum of 3 months. See Funding Instruments.

These funding instruments are part of the Institute for Advanced Studies of the University of Luxembourg and have the objective to leverage bold and interdisciplinary projects at the very forefront of science, to break the walls between scientific disciplines and sectors, and to foster collaboration at the University. The conditions for applying to these international, open and competitive calls can be found in the Documents section.

Affiliation and acknowledgement

PIs and anyone employed on an IAS funded project shall name the IAS as their secondary affiliation (in addition to their primary UL department or research unit affiliation) on any publications and other scientific outputs accruing from an IAS funded project.

Address to be used:
Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Luxembourg, Campus Belval, L-4365 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

Publications and any other communication materials generated by an IAS funding instrument must acknowledge the financial support from the IAS in the following form:
Author X acknowledges financial support of the Institute for Advanced Studies of the University of Luxembourg through a “Name of the funding instrument (please select between Audacity, Brainstorm, Distinguished or Young Academics)” grant (Year)