The five-year Ernest-John Solvay Prize, one of the FNRS's most prestigious honors, was awarded this November 24, 2025 to Jean-Marie Baland, professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Namur since 1991. The prize, awarded every five years, recognizes researchers whose work has marked their discipline by its originality and impact.

"Jean-Marie Baland combines theoretical rigor with field studies conducted in countries such as India, Nepal, Kenya and Chile. His research tackles key issues such as economic development, poverty reduction and environmental protection," emphasizes the FNRS jury.

As a specialist in less developed countries, Jean-Marie Baland has devoted his work to the analysis of informal institutions, a subject for which he was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant in 2009. His research also explores the determinants of deforestation, the consequences of poverty, and more recently, the causes of infant mortality in South Asia, or domestic violence.

What's always motivated him?

"The desire to understand the world. My motivation in my research has always been to produce knowledge before wanting it to have a societal impact. The usefulness of research is of course important, but personally it's not what drives me forward. Of course, the results of my research are regularly used to shape public policy, for example. But that's not an end in itself for my work as a researcher ", he stresses.

Jean-Marie Baland's academic career has been studded with prestigious distinctions: Chaire Francqui (2008), Distinguished Fellow Award at Harvard (2007), member of the Academia Europaea (2012)... So many accolades that testify to his scientific influence.

But one of his proudest achievements is the creation of UNamur's Center for Research in Development Economics (CRED), founded with Professor Jean-Philippe Platteau. Jean-Marie Baland is a member of the Centre de recherchéche en économie du développement (CRED). A center now internationally recognized for its expertise in development economics, applied microeconomics and environmental economics, contributing to research with a strong societal impact. "The CRED today includes five academics and some fifteen researchers," says Jean-Marie Baland. The economist is also one of the founders of the Master of Specialization in Development Economics .

To the generation of future economists, Jean-Marie Baland addresses this wish:

"Interested in fields that make sense to you! And work as part of a team, even with people who think differently from you. For me, this experience of human interaction has been a very rich experience," he concludes.

These prestigious prizes, awarded every five years by the FNRS, were presented this November 24, 2025 by King Philippe to one researcher and five researchers from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. They confirm the international recognition and crown the exceptional careers of these scientists, in all disciplines. The Excellentieprijzen of the FWO, Flanders' equivalent of the FNRS, were also awarded on November 24 by His Majesty the King. At the ceremony, Véronique Halloin, Secretary General of the FNRS, congratulated the winners, thanking the 42 members of the international juries, as well as the sponsors who make these awards possible. She also spoke of "essential issues for scientific research and society as a whole", insisting on the need "to maintain the level of funding for fundamental research, to keep its full place for strategic research but also for the human and social sciences."

Whether it concerns linguistics, economics, politics, sustainable development, law, history, educational sciences, literature or translation, research in the humanities and social sciences is as eclectic as it is rich and essential for tackling society's challenges. Of UNamur's eleven research institutes, seven are directly involved in SHS research. While there is a high degree of complementarity in these areas of research, better pooling of resources, sharing and easier access to certain services, resources and support will help to sustain and strengthen the excellence of SHS research at UNamur. It is with this in mind that the SHS impulse platform has just been created.

• Axis 1 - Support for the acquisition of databases, documentary resources and software
• Axis 2 - Subsidy for cutting-edge training in the use of specialized methods
• Axis 3 - Funding access to the SMCS "Support en Méthodologie et Calcul Statistique" platform at UCLouvain, thanks to an inter-university partnership.
• Axis 4 - Setting up an SHS space, containing a laboratory for running experiments and shared work tools promoting exchanges between researchers.

This initiative, launched in January 2025, addresses the specific challenges faced by SHS researchers. The long-term aim is to sustain and expand the services. "We will also hire a researcher expert in methodological analysis in SHS who will be able to inform innovative methodologies and frame the methodological design of research projects," emphasizes Sandrine Biémar, vice-dean of UNamur's Faculty of Education and Training Sciences, a member of the IRDENA institute and the SHS Impulse management committee. "The wish is also to support networking between SHS researchers at UNamur and to be a lever for setting up interdisciplinary projects," adds Sandrine Biémar.

The platform's management team is made up of representatives of the university's various SHS institutes, and ensures efficient management of resources. The platform's impact will be assessed during its initial phase (2025-2027), enabling strategies for its sustainability and development to be defined.

Guilhem Cassan - Department of Economics, EMCP Faculty and Institut DeFiPP (CRED) at the University of Namur - and Julia Cagé - Department of Economics, Sciences Po Paris -, are studying in particular how political life influences the newspaper market in the USA and India, using newly collected data and cutting-edge econometric methods.

This link through research feeds back into the teaching of the economics department, which has a long tradition of integrating cutting-edge research and teaching. Professor Julia Cagé has been a guest lecturer on several occasions in the EMCP Faculty courses, in this case in the Block 2 Integrated Teaching Unit and in research seminars organized by the Institut DeFiPP.

The Yrjö Jahnsson Prize is awarded every two years to a European economist under the age of 45 "who has made a contribution in theoretical and applied research of outstanding importance to the study of economics in Europe". The 2025 prize is awarded jointly to Julia Cagé and David Yanagizawa-Drott for their work on the political economy of the media. Julia Cagé's most recent book, "Une histoire du conflit politique", co-authored with Thomas Piketty, had an extraordinary media and political impact in France in 2023.

For several years now, the doctoral school of economics and management at Benin's University of Abomey-Calavi (UAC) and researchers from UNamur's Department of Economics and the Institute Development Finance & Public Policies (DeFIPP) develop research training activities.

Every 2 years, researchers from both institutions take part in a conference called the Vodoun School of Economics (VoSE), held in Ouidah, Benin. This doctoral school in economics is coordinated by Professor Romain Houssa. Doctoral students and academics from Benin and Namur presented their research in January 2025. The program included two inaugural lectures and 16 presentations. The special feature of this year's edition was the introduction of sessions on the replication and appropriation, by PhD students, of studies published in top economics journals.

The first inaugural lecture, given by Professor Jean-Marie Baland of the University of Namur, focused on research methodology in development economics. The second focused on modeling commodity prices in a general equilibrium model. It was presented by Romain Houssa of the University of Namur.

The 16 papers covered a variety of topics including:

• political determinants of government budget quality
• the labor market
• poverty and growth
• climate change
• natural resource management
• covid-19
• the role of raw materials in structural change
• investment financing by private networks
• the impact of innovations in the military on the economy's productivity

Each paper was discussed first by an academic before being subjected to a general discussion with participants.

After the conference, researchers from Benin will benefit from a research stay at UNamur to strengthen their research project. This activity is supported by the ARES Institutional Support (IA) program and the Erasmus+ program.

The AI-ARES-UAC project is the ARES institutional support (AI) program at the University of Abomey-Calavi (UAC) in Benin. Alongside VoSE, this multidisciplinary research and innovation support program aims to strengthen scientific collaborations between FWB researchers and Benin as well as other countries in this West African region, notably Togo, Niger or Burkina-Faso.

The aim is to improve the quality of multidisciplinary scientific research and innovation in a "One Health" approach, and to enhance the value of results in the fields of food, nutrition and the health of children and women of childbearing age, taking into account socio-economic factors, equity and inclusion.