Fonds pour la Recherche Scientifique - FNRS / Funds for Scientific Research - FNRS Knowledge has become a major challenge for our societies in recent years.The knowledge society is increasingly focused on know-how, expertise, creativity and innovation. The creation and dissemination of knowledge are becoming major drivers of both economic and social competitiveness and growth.The F.R.S.-FNRS has been at the heart of this challenge for over 85 years. It has always played a vital role in our conquest of the future by supporting researchers, fundamental research and researcher training. Today, it is more committed than ever to meeting this challenge. It encourages the development of new areas of research and the disinterested pursuit of knowledge which can lead to the most innovative and crucial discoveries, the source of the most useful applications. As Pierre Joliot noted, “disinterested” research can only take place in a climate of intellectual freedom. This freedom, essential to creativity, imagination, the emergence of new discoveries and the maintenance of excellence, is at the heart of what the F.R.S.-FNRS is about. Such freedom to research is a sound investment for the future. Véronique Halloin F.R.S.-FNRS Secretary General