Article

M. Dejardin and E. Cornélis become members of the Central Economic Council

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.
See content
Article

An ERC Consolidator grant for Professor Guillaume Berionni's B-YOND project!

The ERC CoG, a funding instrument of the European Research Council (ERC), enables outstanding scientists to implement innovative concepts over a period of five years and thus strengthens the European research landscape. The B-YOND project will focus on the reprogramming of chemical elements properties in order to initiate the creation of a new generation of more robust and accessible catalysts.
See content
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.
See content
Article

Michaël Lobet, the physicist of the invisible who twists light

Let's go and discover the qualified researchers of UNamur, winners of the funding granted by the FNRS in 2022. Today, we meet Michaël Lobet, currently a lecturer at UNamur, who will begin his new mandate as a qualified FNRS researcher at the NISM Institute next fall. The subject of his research: twisted optics for the manipulation of slow photons or how to create light traps. Explanations.
See content
Article

The UNamur to host two prestigious international Francqui Chairs in April 2023

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.
See content
Article

Fighting disease with digital simulations

Lately, and thanks to LUMI, one of Europe's largest supercomputers, the limits of our knowledge of cell lipid membranes have been pushed back. A team of Namur researchers, including Professor Benoît Champagne and Drs. Pierre Beaujean and Charlotte Bouquiaux, has just published in the Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling. The results of this study pave the way for new approaches in the field of membrane lipid therapy.
See content
Event

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
See content
Article

UNamur researchers published in Nature Physics

Professor Timoteo Carletti of the University of Namur has just published in the prestigious journal Nature Physics in collaboration with Professor Ginestra Bianconi of Queen Mary University of London and eight other international researchers. This groundbreaking study could lead to the development of new AI algorithms, new ways of studying brain function, or breakthroughs in disciplines such as physics, climate science, finance and many others.
See content
Event

Public defense of doctoral thesis in Physical Sciences - Andrea Scarmelotto

Abstract Radiotherapy is a cornerstone of cancer treatment and is currently administered to approximately half of all cancer patients. However, the cytotoxic effects of ionizing radiation on normal tissues represent a major limitation, as they restrict the dose that can be safely delivered to patients and, consequently, reduce the likelihood of effective tumor control. In this context, delivering radiation at ultra-high dose rates (UHDR, > 40 Gy/s) is gaining increasing attention due to its potential to spare healthy tissues surrounding the tumor and to prevent radiation-induced side effects, as compared to conventional dose rates (CONV, on the order of Gy/min).The mechanism underlying this protective effect-termed the FLASH effect-remains elusive, driving intensive research to elucidate the biological processes triggered by this type of irradiation.In vitro models offer a valuable tool to support this research, allowing for the efficient screening of various beam parameters and biological responses in a time- and cost-effective manner. In this study, multicellular tumor spheroids and normal cells were exposed to proton irradiation at UHDR to evaluate its efficacy in controlling tumor growth and its cytotoxic impact on healthy tissues, respectively.We report that UHDR and CONV irradiation induced a comparable growth delay in 3D tumor spheroids, suggesting similar efficacy in tumor control. In normal cells, both dose rates induced similar levels of senescence; however, UHDR irradiation led to lower apoptosis induction at clinically relevant doses and early time points post-irradiation.Taken together, these findings further highlight the potential of UHDR irradiation to modulate the response of normal tissues while maintaining comparable tumor control.JuryProf. Thomas BALLIGAND (UNamur), PresidentProf. Stéphane LUCAS (UNamur), SecretaryProf. Carine MICHIELS (UNamur)Dr Sébastien PENNINCKX (Hôpital Universitaire de Bruxelles)Prof. Cristian FERNANDEZ (University of Bern)Dr Rudi LABARBE (IBA)
See content
Article

Quantum chemistry at the University of Sfax thanks to the ERASMUS+ program

A practical training course in computational quantum chemistry was organized from May 26 to 30, 2025 as part of an ERASMUS+ collaboration between the University of Sfax and the University of Namur. This inter-university training course for PhD students in chemistry and physics from the Tunisian University brought together more than 20 students.
See content
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.
See content
Article

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.
See content