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The annual conference of Trail, the structure that brings together all artificial intelligence researchers in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, and entitled "Inclusion, Parcimony and Plurality: the Future of AI?", was held at UNamur on May 14. 150 participants came to listen to a particularly rich and varied program.

Characterization of trehalase from Acyrthosiphon pisum for the design of new insecticides SummaryAphids are major pests in agriculture, causing direct damage to plants and acting as vectors for phytopathogenic viruses. Conventional insecticides are widely used to control them, but their toxicity and efficacy pose problems in terms of the environment, human health and the emergence of resistance to these compounds. New alternatives are therefore needed, such as biological control using predators or parasitoids. However, these methods are not always economically viable on a large scale. As part of this thesis, another approach is being explored which involves developing new insecticides targeting the biochemical functions of aphids.The project aims to discover new inhibitors of trehalase, an enzyme essential for insect energy metabolism. Inhibition of this enzyme could disrupt vital insect functions without affecting mammals. This research involved several stages: the purification and complete characterization of trehalase from Acyrthosiphon pisum (the model for this study), the in vivo, in vitro and in silico analysis of commercial inhibitors on this enzyme, before moving on to the search for new inhibitors. Two points of integrated insect management were explored, biological and chemical control.The biological side saw the study of a strain of Streptomyces naturally producing trehalase-inhibiting metabolites, notably validamycin A, a molecule recognized in the literature as one of the best inhibitors, but not applicable as an insecticide. Other molecules appear to have interesting features, but we have not been able to isolate and characterize them.The chemical side has enabled us to create a pharmacophore hypothesis based on experimental results on molecules obtained by virtual screening. Although these molecules are not usable as insecticides as they stand, this hypothesis provides a better understanding of trehalase inhibitors in general and can be used to refine future analyses. JuryProf. Jean-Yves MATROULE (UNamur), presidentDr Catherine MICHAUX (UNamur), promoter and secretaryProf. Frédéric FRANCIS (ULiège), co-promoterProf. André MATAGNE (ULiège)Dr Rudy CAPARROS (ULiège)Dr Morgan HANS (Biocidal)

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has just published a study in the prestigious journal Nature, listing and assessing the different values we place on nature. Nicolas Dendoncker, professor in the Department of Geography and member of the ILEE Institute at UNamur, is one of the co-authors.

TEF-Health: Testing and Experimentation Facilities for Health AI and Robotics is a major European project aimed at the rapid adoption of solutions based on artificial intelligence and robotics in the medical sector. UNamur, with the expertise of its Centre de Recherche Information Droit et Société (CRIDS), is a partner in this project.

EMBO Courses and Workshops are selected for their excellent scientific quality and timelines, provision of good networking activities for all participants and speaker gender diversity (at least 40% of speakers must be from the underrepresented gender). Organisers are encouraged to implement measures to make the meeting environmentally more sustainable.Upon registration - More info and registration on the EMBO website.

Floriane Goosse, a PhD student at the University of Namur, within the NaDI-CeRCLe research center, has received the prestigious "Best Research Paper Award" for her thesis paper conducted in collaboration with Wafa Hammedi, professor in the Department of Management at UNamur, and Dominik Mahr, from Maastricht University.

In 2021, the European Union has embarked on a titanic project to safeguard the genomes of all eukaryotic species in Europe. In other words, all living organisms, with the exception of bacteria and archaea (micro-organisms). Called ERGA, for European Reference Genome Atlas, and in which UNamur is participating thanks to Professor Alice Dennis, this project hopes to help safeguard biodiversity, at a time when a fifth of European species are in danger of extinction..

How can teleworking and face-to-face work be reconciled? How can these professional practices be framed to reinforce the innovative and sustainable dimensions of hybrid work? These are the questions that Michel Ajzen, a specialist in organizational management, is tackling as part of his teaching assignments in the Department of Management Sciences at UNamur. His research focuses on hybrid work and organizational innovation, with a transdisciplinary approach aimed at reinventing managerial practices to meet contemporary challenges.

Our society is undergoing a digital revolution, impacting its organization, but also its practices, and even its values. Most sectors of our society have to integrate this revolution, including eHealth, eGov, eServices, collaborative economy. Solving these challenges requires a transdisciplinary approach including technology, scientific foundations, but also societal, ethical, juridical and economic viewpoints.NADI aims at federating all the UNamur researchers working on the following challenges in 7 research fields:

Building on a tradition of computer science research at the University of Namur, NaDI federates six research centers focusing on different aspects of the digital society.

Contact Co-President Bruno Dumas bruno.dumas@unamur.be Co-President Alexandre de Streel alexandre.destreel@unamur.be Organization Discover the members

NADI offers extensive expertise in artificial intelligence: bio-inspired robotics, robust, interactive, interpretable and safe machine learning, automatic program verification, declarative programming, business intelligence, knowledge representation and automatic software testing. This has already led to numerous collaborations with medical experts, industry and civil society. Along with other areas of expertise at NADI, AI experts are also exploring the educational, ethical, societal and legal implications of AI.