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The design and analysis of the individual and collective behaviour of small biological vermiform robots: this is the objective of BABots, an ambitious interdisciplinary research project led by the University of Namur and conducted by a consortium of seven European partners. This project could lead to multiple and promising solutions in the field of agriculture, bio-industry or even industry and medicine.

Jelena Luyts has been awarded a prize for her research on climate migration in Senegal.

The two UNamur professors were appointed for a four-year term. The academic members of the Central Economic Council (CEC) are chosen in order to inform the debates of the social partners (employers and trade unions) present at the council with their expertise.

An international team of researchers, including Prof Frederik De Laender, from the University of Namur, publish in Nature Communications. The editor highlights that the authors use theoretical models and field data to show how eco-evolutionary processes can force species to develop more similar characteristic traits in more species-rich communities to avoid competition. Which goes against what we intuitively perceive.

A pterosaur from Brazil that preserved melanosomes in its feathers provides insight into the function of primitive feathers. An international team of palaeontologists and geologists, including UNamur (Dr Aude Cincotta and Prof. Johan Yans), has demonstrated that pterosaurs, the flying cousins of dinosaurs, had feathers and were able to control their colour.

From 11 to 13 May 2022, a hundred or so scientists and actors from the economic and cultural world gathered at UNamur to discuss the issue of water pollution. The aim? To share and enrich knowledge, but also to alert and inform about its long-term effects on fauna, flora and human beings. Scientific sessions, workshops and a conference for the public were on the programme for these three days.

At the beginning of each academic year, the Board of Trustees grants Namur Research College (NARC) Fellowship status to researchers who demonstrate a high level of research achievement and who have recently received a prestigious award or funding. A look back at the fellowship of Professor Frederik De Laender.

Networks are fundamental to the modelling of complex systems, systems composed of an incredibly large number of interacting parts. Applications are numerous, in neuroscience, epidemiology, but also in computer science and engineering. A collaboration between the University of Catania (Italy) and the University of Namur, led by Professor Timoteo Carletti of the Department of Mathematics (naXys Institute), has developed a new formalism that allows the modelling of systems where several parts interact at the same time (multi-body) and in an asymmetric way. This research has been published in the prestigious journal Communication Physics, part of the Nature group.

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) published a report (August 2022) which lists and assesses the different values we place on nature. This is a huge task carried out over three years by experts from all over the world, including Nicolas Dendoncker, professor at the Department of geography and member of the ILEE Institute at the UNamur.

In a new study published in February 2023 in the Journal of Luminescence, an international group of scientists led by Sébastien Mouchet from UNamur, reported the previously unknown fluorescence properties of transparent insect wings. This research highlights the valuable information that can be obtained from advanced optical characterisation techniques.

From 17 April 2023, UNamur will host two prestigious international Francqui Chairs. Professor Timoteo Carletti (Department of Mathematics - naXys Institute) will host Professor Ginestra Bianconi, one of the leading experts on networks and high-order structures. Professor Romain Houssa (Faculty of Economics, Social Sciences and Management - DeFiPP Institute) will welcome Professor Karel Mertens, an expert in macroeconomics.

Do you know the rivulus? It is a small fish that lives in the Caribbean and has some amazing characteristics. It is indeed capable of self-fertilisation! But in this case, what happens to genetic diversity, which is essential for the evolution of a species? Welcome in the mangroves of Florida and Belize to find an answer.