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Scientists from 33 European countries join forces to generate reference genomes for nearly a hundred European species

In a new publication, the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) announces the success of its pilot project. This pioneering initiative has brought together a vast collaborative network of researchers and institutions in 33 countries to produce high-quality reference genomes of 98 European species. This continental effort paves the way for a new, inclusive and equitable model of biodiversity genomics.
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Article

Parchment bindings under the microscope

To restore an old book correctly, it is essential to know the secrets of its manufacture and the reasons for its deterioration. Thanks to the King Baudouin Foundation's Jean-Jacques Comhaire Fund, the restoration workshop of the Moretus Plantin University Library has launched a new research project on parchment bindings in the Southern Netherlands in the 16th and 17th centuries. The aim is to gain a better understanding in order to improve conservation.
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Event

Historical sociology - Session 2. The construction of notions: analytical operators, comparatism and singular concepts

If interdisciplinarity is a buzzword within the academic bureaucracy, it's hard to conclude that it exists in practice. Embracing a slogan does not an epistemology make, and claiming progress is no guarantee of it. To prevent the interdisciplinary approach from being reduced to avant-gardism, it is necessary to define the practical conditions for bringing together the different social sciences, going beyond the encounter between academic disciplines or the eclectic taste for the exotic. The eight sessions of the course presented below will seek to provide both a method for the construction of analytical notions by young researchers in history and sociology, and a set of tools favoring the objectification of scientific work in the social sciences.Session 2 - The construction of notions: analytical operators, comparatism and singular conceptsAs the division of labor between sociology as a producer of notions and history as a source of examples constitutes one of the main epistemological obstacles to a consistent practice of historical sociology, it is necessary to define a method for the elaboration of notions that can serve as analytical operators. In this context, the question of comparatism, a term covering diverse and sometimes contrary practices, appears central.Possibility of following the seminar online via Teams
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Biodiversity and evolutionary adaptation

For four billion years, life on earth has been evolving and transforming in response to environmental change, resulting in fluctuating biological diversity. Ecosystems provide humanity with a wide range of free services that must be managed responsibly.
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Annual Research Day

The program 2:00 pm | Keynote lecture on the use of AI in research - Hugues BERSINI, Professor at the Université libre de Bruxelles: "Can science be just data driven?" 3:00 pm | Presentations by UNamur researchers3:00 pm | Catherine Guirkinger: Use of AI in an economic history project3:15 pm | Nicolas Roy (PI: Alexandre Mayer): AI at the service of innovation in photonics and optics: revealing the secrets of scrolls through the classification of animal species15:25 | Nemanja Antonic (PI: Elio Tuci): An in silico representation of C. elegans collective behaviour<15h35 | Nicolas Franco : The benefits and dangers of "predicting the future" with covid-like machine learning models 15h45 | Michel Ajzen : Managerial and human implications of AI in organizations <15h55 | Robin Ghyselinck (PI : Bruno Dumas) : Deep Learning for endoscopy: towards next generation computer-aided diagnosis4:05 pm | Auguste Debroise (PI : Guilhem Cassan) : LLMs to measure the importance of stereotypes within gender representations in Hollywood films16h15 | Gabriel Dias De Carvalho : Learning practices in physics using generative AI16h25 | Sébastien Dujardin (PI : Catherine Linard) : Where Geography meets AI: A case study on mapping online flood conversations16h35 | Jeremy Dodeigne : LLMs in SHS: revolutionary tools in a Wild West Territory? Reflections on costs, transparency and open science16h45 | Antoinette Rouvroy : Governing AI in Democracy17h00 | Keynote lecture on ethics and guidelines to consider when using AI in research projects and writing research articles - Bettina BERENDT, Professor at KU Leuven18h00 | Benoît Frenay and Michaël Lobet : Creation of an IA scientific committee at UNamur18:10 | DrinkA certificate of attendance, worth 0.5 cross-disciplinary doctoral training credits, will be issued on request. Contact: secretariat.adre@unamur.beThis event is free of charge, but registration is required. I want to register
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A furnace to reproduce magmatic processes in Mars rocks

Max Collinet, professor of geology at the Faculty of Science and researcher at the Institute of Life, Earth and Environment (ILEE), has just been awarded equipment funding (EQP) from the F.R.S - FNRS following calls whose results were published in December 2024.
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Article

Mapping life

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..
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Article

Biodiversity of American rivers analyzed over 30 years

A team of American researchers, with the help of Frédérik De Laender, professor in the Department of Biology at UNamur, has just published in the prestigious journal Nature. Their study describes how changing stream temperatures and human introductions of fish can alter river biodiversity in the USA.
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Understanding the history of violence against women in Senegal: research wins ARES "Gender and Health" award

Angélique Aristondo, a C2W post-doctoral fellow at UNamur, has distinguished herself by winning the second 2023 Gender and Health Research Award from the ARES Women and Science Committee. Her research project focuses on violence against women in Senegal.
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ALTAïS - Penetrating the depths of matter to meet today's challenges

Founded some 50 years ago, the Laboratoire d'Analyse par Réactions Nucléaires (LARN) in the Department of Physics at the University of Namur is home to a 2MV tandem particle gas pedal named ALTAÏS (Accélérateur Linéaire Tandetron pour l'Analyse et l'Implantation des Solides), in operation since 1999.
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PFAS: "The problem is not limited to tap water".

Recognized for his expertise in ecotoxicology, Professor Patrick Kestemont is one of the scientific experts mandated by the Walloon Region, to advise the Government and examine all the consequences on human health of PFAS, these chemical substances present in our environment.
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Specularia" wins US film awards

The documentary produced as part of the experimental archaeology research project, "Specularia", wins an award at an American festival, organized by the University of Pittsburgh and the University of South Carolina!
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