Wallonie-Bruxelles International (WBI) is a major funder of international collaborative projects. A wide range of actions are proposed, within the framework of different instruments, such as Permanent Joint Commissions, bilateral scientific cooperation actions in the field of scientific research, or international attractiveness grants. Competitive calls for projects are issued on a regular basis. Several researchers from the University of Namur are involved in projects funded by WBI.

Hubert Curien WBI Program - France (Sunflower Program)

It is a tool proposed within the framework of the Scientific Exchanges Sub-Committee of the France - CFB Joint Commission.

It enables the development of scientific and technological cooperation between higher education and research establishments and public bodies in Wallonia-Brussels and France, in the field of basic research by supporting mobility, mainly of young researchers and PhD students.

The TOURNESOL program is implemented by WBI, in partnership with the F.R.S.- FNRS.FNRS and for France, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in liaison with the Ministry of National Education, Research and Technology.

The projects funded by this program have a maximum duration of two years.

Some examples of projects financed

2023-2025

  • Catherine Guirkinger: "Family dynamics and colonial power in the Belgian Congo: a quantitative approach" in collaboration with the Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Recherche Appliquée en Economie (LIRAES), Université de Paris Cité
  • Benoît Champagne: "UMSPIRE - Utilisation d'interrupteur MoléculaireS multi-modes en vue de développer des procédés PhotocatalytIques Respectueux de l'Environnement | Using Multimodal molecular Switches for greener PhotocatalytIc pRocEsses" in collaboration with MOLTECH-Anjou (laboratoire mixte CNRS- Université d'Angers)

2021-2023

  • Emile Haye: "PlasmoCaps - Using the plasmonic effect to enhance the capacitive effect of transition metal nitrides" , in collaboration with the University of Lorraine
  • Vincent Liégeois : "AORTE - Au coeur de la chiralité avec l'Activité Optique Raman Théorique et Expérimentale" in collaboration with the University of Bordeaux
  • Yves Caudano : "Weak measurements, finite groups and photon wavefunction", in collaboration with Institut Fresnel - École Centrale de Marseille (ECM)

2020-2022

  • Laurence Meurant: "Grammatical databases in LSF and LSFB", in collaboration with Université de Lille

Scientific cooperation program between WBI and Romania

As part of the scientific cooperation program between WBI, the FRS-FNRS and the Romanian academy offer an annual call for scientific projects focusing on the basic sciences.

Some examples of projects already funded

  • Bruno Dumas: "Teaching, learning and evaluation in a socially distancing world (ELEVATOR)", in collaboration with Universitatea Babeș-Bolyai Cluj-Napoca
  • Guy Terwagne: "New earth-rare-free nanomagnetic composites with ion implantation-induced L10 tetragonal phrase (Maglmplant-LlO)", in collaboration with Institut National de Physique des Matériaux
  • Sabine Henry: "The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on mobility intentions in Europe", in collaboration with Alexandru Ioan Cuza Iasi University

Wallonia-Brussels-Quebec Permanent Joint Commission 2022-2024

The Commission mixte permanente Wallonie-Bruxelles-Québec aims to boost partnerships between Quebec and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.

To this end, it draws up a biennial program of activities and issues calls for cooperation projects based on the sectoral priorities of the Quebec and Wallonia-Brussels governments.

Example of project funded

  • Jean-Noël Colin: "Development of a Wallonia-Brussels-Quebec research cluster in cyber-physical systems security", in collaboration with the University of Sherbrooke

Bilateral cooperation Wallonia-Brussels - Brazil

WBI-CONFAP Program 2022-2024

As part of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Brazilian National Council of State Funding Agencies (CONFAP) and Wallonie-Bruxelles on academic and scientific cooperation, CONFAP and WBI are offering a call for joint research and innovation projects aimed at supporting scientific exchanges between research groups in Brazil and the French Community of Belgium.

Example of funded project

  • Gipsi Lima Mendez : "MICROBIOMONITOR - Harnessing marine microbiomes to develop microbial biosensors for ocean pollution monitoring" in collaboration with Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)

Bilateral cooperation Wallonia-Brussels-China

MOST program 2021-2023

As part of the bilateral scientific research cooperation between Wallonia-Brussels and China, the MOST program has been implemented to foster scientific excellence in their partnership.

Some examples of funded projects

  • Bao Lian Su & Olivier Y. : "High performance hierarchical porous materials for energy storage (MatStockNRJ)", a collaborative project with the Institut de la Matière Condensée et des Nanosciences (UCLouvain), Northwest University of China, Northwestern Polytechnical University and Wuhan University of Technology.
  • Luc Henrard: "Nanoscale junction for logic gate at molecular level", in collaboration with Ji Hua Laboratory - Advanced Manufacturing Science and Technology GuangDong Laboratory

Wallonia-Brussels-Morocco Permanent Joint Commission 2023-2027

In application of the existing cooperation agreement between WBI and the Kingdom of Morocco, the joint standing committee has determined a new cooperation program for the period 2023-2027. This program is focused on priority geographical and thematic areas of intervention. In this context, a call for joint projects covering various fields such as education, ecology, digital and entrepreneurship has been launched.

Example project funded

  • Catherine Linard: "RTC2: Territorial resilience to climate change" in collaboration with the Institut Scientifique du Service Public de Wallonie and Hassan II University, Casablanca