About Us

A Glimpse into our Research 

The Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) conducts internationally competitive research in information and communication technology (ICT) with high relevance creating socio-economic impact. In addition to long-term, high-risk research, SnT engages in demand driven collaborative projects with industry and the public sector. Therefore, the centre has set up a partnership program with now over 60 members, where it develops strategic areas addressing challenges confronting the industry and the public sector in ICT. These resulting concepts present a genuine, long-lasting competitive advantage for companies in Luxembourg and beyond.

SnT has undergone rapid development since its launch in 2009; recruiting top scientists, launching over 90 EU and ESA projects, creating a technology transfer office (TTO), protecting and licencing IP, launching four spin-off companies, and creating a dynamic interdisciplinary research environment with some 360 people.

 

SnT's Strategic Research Priorities

The SnT priority areas are aligned to objectives in the government’s Digital Lëtzebuerg strategy. Specifically, SnT's actions address the diversification of the economy, bring research actors closer to areas of important economic activity, strengthen Public-private partnerships (PPP) and increase Luxembourg’s international focus, especially through greater participation in European programmes.

Space Systems Satellite communications – a sector of great importance in Luxembourg – is the most effective way of providing ubiquitous coverage with broadband connections. The conventional linear multimedia are progressively replaced by non-linear content which is consumed on-demand. This shift motivates novel techniques for delivering content to the end-user and presents tremendous opportunities for distribution via satellite networks.
FinTech The intersection between finance and ICT is a natural area of opportunity for Luxembourg. ICT tools are necessary to provide scalable and cost-effective compliant solutions for the financial and banking sector. The emergence of technologies such as blockchain-based systems, smart contracts, crowd-based funding or lending may have a disruptive impact on the sector. Here, security and trust concerns are central.
Cybersecurity Cloud-based infrastructures are the future for a service-based economy, offering flexibility, scalability, and affordability. These systems must be designed to ensure resilience against faults and human error as well as resisting intentional attacks. Critical infrastructures present a special challenge allowing SnT researchers to push the envelope regarding security and resilience.
IoT and Autonomous Vehicles ICT is a key driver of innovations in vehicular systems. Vehicles will be equipped with advanced sensor systems, monitored and controlled by embedded software for real-time decision making, connected, networked and self-managed. Providing secure and safe solutions in this highly dynamic and diverse environment is a considerable research challenge. SnT's research will contribute to creating secure infrastructures in this area.

 

Our Research Groups

SnT is organized into 15 research groups. 

• APSIA – Applied Security and Information Assurance Research Group
• Automation and Robotics Research Group
• CritiX – Critical and Extreme Security and Dependability Research Group
• CryptoLux – Cryptology Research Group
• CVI2 – Computer Vision, Imaging and Machine Intelligence Research Group
• EINT - Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and New Technology
• FINATRAX – Digital Financial Services and Cross-Organisational Digital Transformations Research Group
• IRiSC – Sociotechnical Cybersecurity Interdisciplinary Research Group 
• PCOG – Parallel Computing & Optimisation Research Group
• SEDAN – Service and Data Management in Distributed Systems
• SerVal – SEcurity, Reasoning and VALidation Research Group
• SIGCOM – Signal Processing & Satellite Communications Research Group
• Space R – Space Robotics Research Group
• SPARC - Signal Processing Applications in Radar and Communications Research Group
• SpaSys - Space Systems Engineering Research Group
• SVV – Software Validation and Verification Research Group
• TruX – Trustworthy Software Engineering Research Group

 

Our Laboratory Infrastructures

SnT counts 10 laboratory infrastructures, which support its research activities and ensure that research output will be carried closer to exploitation.

Computer Vision Lab	LunaLab	Aerial Robotics Lab
SatComLab	CubeSatLab	Concurrent Design Facility
360 Lab	Communication Lab	Zero-G Lab

5G-Space Lab

 

Collaborations

SnT has formed strategic research collaborations around the larger partnerships: Satellite Systems, Vehicular Networks, Smart City/Building/Home, Secure and Resilient Infrastructures, Automotive Software and Sensor Systems, Reliable and Secure Smart Grid Infrastructures, e-Government.

Projects

SnT's partnership programme allows research activity to be leveraged with public research funding through the European Framework Programme, European Space Agency, and the National Research Funding Agency (FNR). Industrial PhD student projects allow candidates to collaborate closely with a partner from industry or a government body. A list of our projects is available here.

Technology Transfer

The SnT Technology Transfer office (TTO) is developing best practices and ensuring that SnT's research results create an impact. The TTO provides structured instruments (proof-of-concept, training, support) facilitating the exploitation of research results through licencing and entrepreneurship.