News

SnT celebrates 10-year anniversary with Partnership Day

  • Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT)
    University / Central Administration and Rectorate
    04 June 2019
  • Category
    Research, University

The Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) of the University of Luxembourg celebrated its 10-year anniversary at the occasion of its yearly Partnership Day.

Minister of Higher Education and Research Claude Meisch, University Rector Stephane Pallage, and Björn Ottersten, Director of the SnT looked back at the development of the last ten years and glanced into the future of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) research.

From a small start-up structure with a couple of employees and a “coffee machine as its most valuable asset”, as Björn Ottersten explained, the SnT has grown into a research centre with 300 staff from over 40 nationalities. Since its launch, the SnT participated in more than 70 major EU research projects, 17 of which were acquired over the last year.

The University’s research centres operate in close proximity to the requirements of industry and society. Currently, SnT has 43 industry partners; it has generated four spin-offs over the years, filed 35 patents and holds 14 active licenses. Since 2009, SnT researchers were awarded three ERC Advanced Grants, one of the most prestigious distinctions for scientists in Europe. During that period, the Centre acquired over 125 million euros in external funding. Björn Ottersten pointed out that the SnT plays a major role in attracting ICT talent field to Luxembourg explaining that “40 per cent of our alumni stay in Luxembourg.”

Keynote speaker Marc Hamilton, vice president of the US technology giant NVIDIA, provided insights into current developments in the field of artificial intelligence. SnT’s Partnership Day is a traditional opportunity to treat guests from politics, academia and industry to demonstrations of the Centre’s wide range of future-oriented research projects – from autonomous vehicles to space resources, from Fintech to IoT, and from cybersecurity to secure and compliant data management.

Director Björn Ottersten’s take on the last ten years is upbeat: “The Centre’s development exceeded all the expectations that we had when we started the SnT,” he says.

    

SnT is turning 10! We’ve come a long way since launching our activities in 2009. Stay tuned for a year full of celebrations, cutting-edge research, and new milestones.

OVER 40 INDUSTRY PARTNERS | MORE THAN 70 EUROPEAN PROJECTS | 103 GRADUATED PHDS | 4 SPIN-OFFS