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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

With its expertise in the field of geology and biodiversity conservation, the UNamur is one of the partners of the new Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse National Park designated by the Walloon Government. Alongside the other actors and promoters of the project, the UNamur will make its knowledge and experience available to enhance and preserve this exceptional natural heritage!

At the end of January 2023, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) returned a real treasure to Belgium: a medieval charter bearing the seal of the Count of Flanders Philippe d'Alsace, formerly kept in the abbey of Messines (West Flanders), which had disappeared at the beginning of the First World War. A look back at the tribulations of this archival document, the restitution of which is the result of a fruitful collaboration between the PraME Centre of UNamur, the General Archives of the Kingdom and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Department of Art History and Archaeology of UNamur is participating for the first time in an experimental archaeology project, within the framework of a doctoral thesis on the production of glass in the Roman period. Conducted in partnership with Malagne, the Rochefort archaeopark, the Specularia project aims to gain a better understanding of the reality of the gestures and techniques of Gallo-Roman craftsmen and to scientifically validate hypotheses that are still debated today. To carry out this experiment, the Department of Art History and Archaeology is launching its first participatory funding.

Research centers AcanthuM (Monumental, archaeological and artistic heritage) See content ARaiRe (Recherches namuroises en histoire Rurale, 1500-1850) See content Fontes Antiquitatis center See content HiSI research center (History, sounds and images) See content Pratiques médiévales de l'écrit (PraME) research center See content

Two researchers from the Institut Patrimoines, Transmissions, Héritages (PaTHs) have just been awarded funding from the F.R.S - FNRS following calls whose results were published in December 2024. The PaTHs institute is a federation of research centers and groups that have sprung up in and around the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. The institute is distinguished by its emphasis on critical analysis of the "traces" of the past (written, material, monumental, landscape, visual, sound...), to the point of placing the "trace" itself at the heart of scientific questioning.

The F.R.S.-FNRS has just published the results of its various 2024 calls. Equipment calls, research credits and projects, FRIA doctoral grants and Mandant d'Impulsion Scientifique (MIS), there are many instruments to support fundamental research. Find out more about UNamur's results.

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

A new platform dedicated to research in the humanities and social sciences (SHS) is being launched at UNamur. The aim? To offer SHS researchers methodological support tailored to their needs and strengthen SHS excellence at UNamur. This platform, SHS Impulse, will provide various services such as financial support for training, consultancy, access to resources, or co-financed software purchases.

Stanford University has published a prestigious ranking that highlights the most influential researchers in a wide range of scientific fields. The list, based on bibliographic criteria, aims to provide a standardized means of identifying the world's scientific leaders. It is one criterion among others for assessing the quality of scientific research. Twelve researchers from the University of Namur are among them!

In May 2025, the Department of Physics welcomed two special visitors: Serge Mathot and François Briard from Namur, both alumni of UNamur and members of CERN. Several activities were on the program, ranging from a visit to the particle accelerator, to science popularization and thematic seminars, particularly in heritage sciences. The aim? To identify areas or activities in which UNamur and CERN could strengthen their collaboration.