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Well hidden from passersby, caves nevertheless conceal particularly aesthetic secrets. For the past four years, Martin Vlieghe has been pursuing a PhD in geology at UNamur.  He is exploring the origin of the surprisingly varied colours of certain concretions nestled in the heart of Belgian and French caves. Together with Prof. Johan Yans and Gaëtan Rochez, he samples, observes, and analyses these magnificent objects with the aim of uncovering the mysteries they conceal.

In the coming months, the University of Namur will participate in an exceptional space mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), alongside Belgian astronaut Raphaël Liégeois. The BeBlob project, led by researchers Boris Hespeels (ILEE Institute) and Anne-Catherine Heuskin (NARILIS Institute), aims to study the DNA repair capabilities of a fascinating organism: the blob (Physarum polycephalum).

Alison Forrester is a F.R.S.-FNRS Qualified Researcher (CQ). Her research focuses on studying compounds that can modify the efficiency of protein production processes within our cells, and thus open up new therapeutic avenues. Together with a group of top international researchers, she has published a road map article in the prestigious journal Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology.

To mark International Women's Day, celebrated on March 8, we invite you to discover the portraits of seven inspiring women from the university's seven faculties. Throughout March, a series of portraits of women from the university will be on display in various areas of the campus. Conceived and produced by four UNamur students and coordinated by the University Community Life Service (VéCU), this project offers an inspiring showcase for the careers, voices, and commitments of these women who bring the institution to life on a daily basis.  

Created on the initiative of the Belgian Nuclear Research Center SCK CEN, this Chair is awarded every two years by the F.R.S.-FNRS and the FWO to recognize a leading researcher in the field of nuclear sciences and their applications. In 2025, the Chair will pay tribute to Carine Michiels' brilliant career and her outstanding contributions to radiobiology and cancer research. 

Which chatbot can we really trust? A reliable answer to this question can now be provided thanks to a unique scientific tool: the AI Score. Developed by a multidisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Namur, it provides an objective, reproducible, and transparent way of measuring the reliability of educational chatbots.

Are we prisoners of our genetic heritage? Can filiation be reduced to genes alone? Can we escape our destiny? Existential questions we all ask ourselves, and to which Gaëlle Pontarotti, lecturer and researcher in the Department of Sciences, Philosophies and Societies at UNamur, sheds new light in her book Par-delà les gènes. Une autre histoire de l'hérédité, published last October by Gallimard.

JuryProf. Régis HALLEZ (UNamur), PresidentProf. Jean-Yves MATROULE (UNamur), SecretaryDr. Rob VAN HOUDT (SCK CEN)Dr. Kristel MIJNENDONCKX (SCK CEN)Prof. Liselot DEWACHTER (UCLouvain)AbstractThe viable-but-nonculturable (VBNC) state is a type of bacterial dormancy triggered by sublethal stress, where cells remain intact but lose the ability to grow on standard media. This poses challenges for microbial monitoring and public health, as VBNC cells can evade detection and might regain virulence upon resuscitation. Copper compounds are explored as antimicrobial agents, however sublethal Cu concentrations were shown to induce the VBNC state in certain bacteria. This thesis investigates the Cu-induced VBNC state in Cupriavidus metallidurans, a metal-resistant betaproteobacterium, and examines the involvement of its Cu resistance determinants (CRDs). While resuscitation is usually mediated by external factors, we aimed to uncover intrinsic processes that enable spontaneous resuscitation, a rare phenotype lacking mechanistic understanding. Proteomic analysis revealed that expression of CRDs, among others, correlated with mitigated dormancy. Time-resolved profiling showed that VBNC cells exhibit highly dynamic proteomes: VBNC entry involved oxidative stress response, and resuscitation correlated with metabolic reconstitution and the strong induction of periplasmic CRDs. Temporal clustering corroborated the explored proteomic modifications. Through mutational studies we identified the plasmid-encoded copAB system as the minimal resuscitation factor, where integrity of the CopA methionine-rich domain proved critical. ICP-MS analysis indicated that detoxification relies on Cu sequestration rather than export. Altogether, this work uncovers key intrinsic factors and proposes a mechanistic basis for spontaneous resuscitation from the Cu-induced VBNC state in C. metallidurans. These insights refine our understanding of the VBNC state as a dynamic survival strategy and of bacterial Cu resistance.

JuryDr Luca FUSARO (UNamur), PresidentProf. Carmela APRILE (UNamur), SecretaryProf. Francesco GIACALONE (University of Palermo)Prof. Paolo PESCARMONA (University of Groningen)Prof. Michelangelo GRUTTADAURIA (University of Palermo)AbstractThis PhD research focused on the design, synthesis, and catalytic evaluation of novel materials based on metal phthalocyanines (MPCs) and imidazolium bromide salts. The initial materials were extensively characterized using a wide range of analytical, spectroscopic, and spectrometric techniques, including solid-state NMR, XPS, TEM, EDX, FT-IR, Raman, CHN analysis, ICP-OES, N₂ physisorption, and TGA. These systems showed remarkable performance in promoting the cycloaddition of CO₂ to epoxides to form cyclic carbonates. Building on these results, a new class of catalysts was developed by covalently anchoring metal phthalocyanines and imidazolium salts onto multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), yielding materials denoted as MPC@MWCNTs. This strategy enabled the creation of a versatile family of catalysts-prepared with different metal centers (Al, Mg, Fe, Ni, Co, Cu, Zn)-while maintaining a unified synthetic approach. The incorporation of MWCNTs was aimed at enhancing both catalytic activity and stability through synergistic support effects. The resulting MPC@MWCNTs were successfully applied in diverse catalytic contexts: CO₂ valorization into cyclic carbonates (Mg-, Fe-, Cu-, and Zn-based systems), nitro-reduction reactions to afford amines (Fe-based system), and electrocatalytic methanol oxidation for energy-related applications (Ni-based system). Overall, this work demonstrated the potential of MPC@MWCNT hybrid materials as robust, tunable, and multifunctional catalysts for sustainable chemical transformations. Attend the event remotely (Teams)

Alexandre Mauroy has been a professor and researcher in the Department of Mathematics for almost 10 years, working in the field of dynamical systems. He is also Director of the naXys Research Institute, which puts its expertise in complex systems at the service of UNamur researchers from all disciplines. Aware of the sometimes austere reputation of maths among the general public, Alexandre Mauroy works to demonstrate that this discipline is at the heart of today's technological and scientific challenges..

Today, our planet is undergoing major climatic changes. Particularly in the face of rising temperatures, it is not easy to predict how flora and fauna will react and adapt in disturbed ecosystems. International research, in which Professor Johan Yans' team (Department of Geology and ILEE Institute) is taking part, has found some answers in fossils, which have been the memory of Darwinian evolution for millions of years. Explanations.

JuryDr. Nikolai TUMANOV (UNamur), PresidentProf. Bao-Lian SU (UNamur), SecretaryProf. Yann GARCIA (UCLouvain)Prof. Teng BÊN (Jinhua University)Prof. Guillaume BERIONNI (UNamur)Prof. Alain KRIEF (UNamur)Prof. Alain KRIEF (UNamur)AbstractPorous crystals with structural flexibility are difficult to realize because flexible molecules often rearrange or leave the lattice, leading to pore collapse. Since the early 2000s, it has become clear that combining robust intermolecular interactions with flexible linkers and deformable nodes can stabilize porous crystals during guest removal. Frameworks such as MOFs, COFs, and HOFs benefit from strong noncovalent interactions, yet permanently porous HOFs remain uncommon due to dense molecular packing.Porous organic salts (POSs) offer an alternative strategy, assembling predictable networks from oppositely charged organic ions where electroneutrality and stoichiometry guide structure formation. However, most 3D POSs rely on planar guanidinium or tetrahedral tetraphenylmethane derivatives, resulting in a narrow set of topologies compared with the thousands of 3D nets catalogued in the Reticular Chemistry Structure Resource (RCSR).Here we report triptycene-based ionic frameworks (TIFs) formed via charge-assisted ammonium-sulfonate hydrogen bonding. By tuning triptycene symmetry and functionalization, together with sulfonate linker geometry, we generated diverse supramolecular architectures with tailored porosity, stability, and function.