Having signed a three-year agreement with the ministry of Culture, Higher Education and Research in May last year, 2008 was a significant year for CRP Gabriel Lippmann. Fernand Reinig reported that the research institution met all targets fixed by the performance contract, including the all-important financial indicators. Indeed, the annual budget for 2008 rose by some 9% to 15 million euros, but the centre managed to fund this by increasing its income from contract research by some 42% to 3.4 million euros. Income from competitive funding also rose, though only by 3%, to stand at 3.1 million euros. Including “other” income of some 0.7 million euros, CRP Gabriel Lippmann’s own funding of 7.2 million euros last year almost matched the ministry’s 7.8 million euro contribution.

Reinig is clearly pleased with the result, but he included a caveat in his announcement. “We use the term self-financing with prudence,” he said. Indeed, Reinig is far from happy that the institution is going to have to stump up 12 million euros – two-thirds – of its investment budget for the 2008-2010 period. “That means we will have to dip deep into our reserves for investment, which could be exhausted by the end of 2010.”

Impact of the crisis

Reinig points out that although some 105 research projects (an increase over the year of 16%) were launched in 2008 that number could increase dramatically in 2009 after a public appeal for projects last year. On the other hand, the crisis has had a negative impact on some sectors that would normally invest in research. The centre’s Research in Automobile Equipment department, for example, has already experienced a down-turn as manufacturers are currently less inclined to commission new projects. Reinig suggests that the department will have to re-orientate its research from being multi-technology and mono-sectorial towards developing mono-technology and multi-sectorial research, with a specific focus on the domain of sensors.

Nevertheless, CRP Gabriel Lippmann did increase staff by more than 16% last year, and now has some 190 employees in its Belvaux headquarters, which have also been expanded by around 4,000 square metres. This has also allowed the centre to host the University of Luxembourg’s photovoltaic laboratory. In addition, researchers at Gabriel Lippmann contributed some 220 international publications and as well as 31 doctorates currently being prepared, a further completed seven theses were submitted in 2008. CRP Gabriel Lippmann is also a founding member of the Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg (IBBL), which was established last year and whose research facility is currently under construction.

Reinig and his team are therefore keen to stress the importance of the real impact CRP Gabriel Lippmann has on the local economy, which they say is not reflected in its excellent financial performance alone. “We hope that the government will assure sufficient financial contributions to public research beyond 2010, in view of the indispensable role it plays in the modern economy.”