At NaDI, researchers provide innovative solutions to the new societal challenges posed by the digital revolution (eGov, eHealth, eServices, Big data, etc.). Coming from a variety of disciplines, researchers combine their expertise in IT, technology, ethics, law, management or sociology. Grouping six research centers from various disciplines, the Namur Digital Institute offers a unique multidisciplinary expertise to all areas of informatics, its applications and its social impact.
Among its main competencies are formal methods, man-machine interface, requirement engineering, modeling techniques to reason and design complex software systems, testing, quality insurance, software product lines, data bases, big data, machine learning and more generally artificial intelligence, security, privacy, ethics by design, technology assessment and legal reasoning.
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
Towards a new generation of human-inspired linguistic models: a groundbreaking scientific study conducted by UNamur and VUB
Towards a new generation of human-inspired linguistic models: a groundbreaking scientific study conducted by UNamur and VUB
Can a computer learn a language like a child? A recent study published in the leading journal Computational Linguistics by Professors Katrien Beuls (Université de Namur) and Paul Van Eecke (AI-lab, Vrije Universiteit Brussel) sheds new light on this question. The researchers argue for a fundamental revision of the way artificial intelligence acquires and processes language.

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"Children learn their mother tongue by communicating with people in their environment. By playing and experimenting with language, they try to interpret the intentions of their interlocutors. In this way, they gradually learn to understand and use linguistic constructs. This process, in which language is acquired through interaction and meaningful context, constitutes the core of human language acquisition"
"The current generation of large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT, learn language in a very different way," continues Paul Van Eecke. "By observing in huge quantities of text which words often appear in close proximity to each other, they learn to generate texts that are often indistinguishable from human texts. This leads to extremely powerful models in many forms of text generation, from text synthesis or translation to question answering, but which at the same time have a number of inherent limitations. They are thus prone to hallucinations and biases, often struggle with forms of human reasoning, and require huge amounts of data and energy to build and use."
The researchers propose an alternative model in which artificial agents learn language as humans do: by participating in meaningful communicative interactions in their environment. In a series of experiments, they show how these agents develop linguistic constructs directly related to their environment and sensory perceptions. This leads to linguistic models that :
- Are less prone to hallucinations and biases because their understanding of language is based on direct interaction with the world.
- Manage data and energy more efficiently, leaving a smaller ecological footprint.
- Are more grounded in meaning and intention, enabling them to understand language and context in a more human way.
"The integration of communicative and situated interactions into AI models is a crucial step in the development of the next generation of linguistic models. This research offers a promising route to linguistic technologies that approximate the way humans understand and use language," the researchers conclude.
Source: Katrien Beuls, Paul Van Eecke; Humans Learn Language from Situated Communicative Interactions. What about Machines?Computational Linguistics 2024; 50 (4): 1277-1311. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00534

Two UNamur academics join the Collegium of the Académie Royale de Belgique
Two UNamur academics join the Collegium of the Académie Royale de Belgique
Anthony Simonofski and Olivier Sartenaer, have been elected to join the prestigious Collégium de l'Académie royale de Belgique. Bringing together young researchers (under 40) from Wallonia-Brussels who have particularly distinguished themselves in their careers, the Collégium's objectives include promoting the arts and research.

Anthony Simonofski is Professor of Digital Transformation at the UNamur School of Management (EMCP Faculty) and a member of the Namur Digital Institute (University of Namur). It is recognized for its innovative research in governance and digital transformation.

"For 5 years, I'll be part of the Collegium of the Royal Academy of Belgium, and also of the "Technology and Society" class. My participation will enable me to contribute my vision and interdisciplinary expertise on digital transformation. During this mandate, I will be able to participate in the Academy's various work concerning its knowledge dissemination events such as its colloquia or scientific valorization (prizes, competitions, grants)", explains Anthony Simonofski.
One of the missions he hopes to accomplish as part of his mandate is to exchange on digital issues through an interdisciplinary approach. "Today's digital challenges require an interdisciplinary approach, combining IT, managerial, legal, sociological perspectives and much more. The 'Technology and Society' class will enable these exchanges to elaborate constructive reflections for a harmonious integration of digital in our society," he emphasizes. He will also make his expertise in digital transformation available. "It presents a whole series of new challenges such as inclusion, adoption or the necessary participation of citizens. So I'd like to make my research in this area available, and perhaps even encourage the Academy itself to enter into a more participatory approach towards citizens via digital channels," Anthony Simonofski points out.
Author of the podcast "Pop-Code" about digital education, which he is producing with his colleague Benoit Vanderose (Faculté informatique- UNamur), Anthony SIMONOFSKI also defends the concept of art as a vehicle for popularizing science. "At the Collegium, I want to work to make digital research accessible and engaging, by initiating collaborative projects that combine scientific rigor and artistic innovation to reach a wider and more diverse audience." Finally, by becoming a member of the Collegium, Anthony Simonofski will ensure representation of UNamur's expertise on digital, notably by relaying the interdisciplinary vision of the Namur Digital Institute and the EMCP Faculty.
Olivier Sartenaer, meanwhile, is Professor of Philosophy at UNamur and his research focuses on metaphysics and the philosophy of science. "By joining the Collegium, I hope to enrich the reflections of the Humanities and Moral and Political Sciences class with my expertise in epistemology and philosophy of science. I also hope to help bring the class closer to those more oriented towards the natural sciences, thanks to the feet I have somewhat in both universes.

Incidentally, I also hope to represent UNamur there," Olivier Sartenaer points out. "Integrating the Collegium is a nice recognition of my work. Secondly, it will enable me to meet a lot of interesting people and, together, to cross-fertilize our expertise to reflect on major societal issues at our monthly sessions. I'll be able to present and discuss my work, and also discover the work of Belgian scientific colleagues. Finally, it will enable me to take advantage of some of the Academy's support (access to premises, publications, networks, etc.) to organize events, or disseminate my work".

The Collegium of the Royal Academy of Belgium
Le Collégium de l'Académie royale de Belgique est un organe qui rassemble des jeunes chercheurs et chercheuses (moins de 40 ans) de Wallonie-Bruxelles qui se sont particulièrement distingués dans leur carrière. Fondé en 2009, le Collégium a pour mission de soutenir l'Académie dans ses objectifs de promotion des arts et de la recherche. Il organise également des cours-conférences de niveau universitaire, gratuits et accessibles à un large public.

21 new F.R.S.-FNRS grants for research at UNamur
21 new F.R.S.-FNRS grants for research at UNamur
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 "research credits and projects" call resulted in 14 grants for ambitious new projects. These include two "equipment" grants, five "research credits (CDR)" grants and seven "research projects (PDR)" grants, including one in collaboration with the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland. The FRIA doctoral research support call will fund 6 doctoral fellowships.
A prestigious Mandat d'Impulsion Scientifique (MIS) has also been obtained. This 3-year funding supports young permanent researchers wishing to develop an original and innovative research program while acquiring scientific autonomy within their department.
Results in detail
Call for Equipment
- Max Collinet, Institut ILEE
- Catherine Michaux, with Stéphane Vincent and Guillaume Berionni, co-sponsors, Institut NISM
Call for Research Credits (CDR)
- Thierry Arnould, Institut NARILIS
- Thomas Balligand, Department of Medicine
- Danielle Leenaerts, Institut PaTHs
- Denis Saint-Amand, Institut NaLTT
- Elio Tuci, Institut NADI
Appel Projets de Recherche (PDR)
- Nathalie Burnay, in collaboration with "the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland", Institut Transitions (Subject to acceptance by SNSF Switzerland)
- Catherine Guirkinger, Institut DEFIPP, co-promoter in collaboration with UCLouvain
- Luca Fusaro, Institut NISM
- Laurence Meurant, Institut NaLTT
- René Preys, Institut PaTHs
- Stéphane Vincent, Institut NISM, co-promoter in collaboration with UCLouvain
- Johan Wouters, Institut NISM, co-promoter in collaboration with UCLouvain
Fonds pour la formation à la Recherche dans l'Industrie et dans l'Agriculture (FRIA)
- Alix Buridant - Promoter: Henri-François Renard, Institut NARILIS ; Co-sponsor: Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck - Austria -
- Constance De Maere d'Aertrycke - Promoter Nicolas Gillet, Institut NARILIS
- Noah Deveaux - Promoter: Benoît Champagne, Institut NISM
- Nicolas Dricot - Promoter: Muriel Lepère, Institut NISM; Co-promoter: Bastien Vispoel, Institut NISM and Université Grenoble Alpes
- Laurie Marchal - Promoter Thierry Arnould. Co-promoter: Patricia Renard. Institut NARILIS
- Léa Poskin - Promoter: Catherine Michaux, Institut NISM; Co-promoter: Jean-Pierre Gillet, Institut NARILIS
Mandat d'Impulsion Scientifique (MIS)
- Arthur Borriello, Institut Transitions
Congratulations to all and sundry
!F.R.S.-FNRS missions
The mission of the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique - FNRS is to develop basic scientific research through initiatives presented by researchers. It promotes the production and development of knowledge by supporting individual researchers on the one hand, and by financing research programs carried out in laboratories and departments located mainly in the universities of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation on the other.
Based on the sole criterion of scientific excellence, financial support from the F.R.S.-FNRS is provided in several ways. Numerous calls for funding are launched each year to support fundamental research at all levels of researchers' careers.

Our researchers in the World's Top 2% Scientists list
Our researchers in the World's Top 2% Scientists list
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!

This list, created by Stanford University and published in August 2024 is compiled in collaboration with Elsevier's ICST lab from Scopus data, aims to provide a standardized means of identifying the world's best scientists and recognizing those scientists who have had a significant impact on their respective fields.
While this list has been adopted by many institutions as a reliable measure of research impact, it is not the only way to evaluate research. Based strictly on bibliometric data, it is also subject to criticism.
Since September 2023, the University of Namur has been strengthening its commitment to the implementation of research assessment reform with the signing of the "Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) "agreement.
This agreement commits the institution to a series of principles, including taking into account career diversity and emphasizing qualitative research criteria rather than relying solely on bibliometric (and therefore quantitative) data.
Namur University researchers honored
- Charlotte Beaudart - Faculty of Medicine, Narilis Institute
- Benoît Champagne - Faculty of Science, NISM Institute
- Alain Decrop - EMCP Faculty, NaDi-CRIDS Institute
- Olivier Deparis - Science Faculty, NISM Institute and PaTHs Institute
- Jonathan Douxfils - Faculty of Medicine, Narilis Institute
- Patrick Kestemont - Faculty of Science, ILEE Institute
- Alexandre Mayer - Faculty of Science, NISM Institute and Institut naXys
- Carine Michiels - Faculty of Science, Institut Narilis
- Antoinette Rouvroy - Faculty of Law, ESPHIN Institutes and NaDi-CRIDS Institute
- Frédéric Silvestre - Faculty of Science, ILEE Institute
- Bao-Lian Su - Faculty of Science, NISM Institute
- Johan Wouters - Faculty of Science, NISM Institute
The list is updated every year, with data on the whole career and impacts on a single year, for the sake of transparency and relevance.
The measurement criteria used
A variety of bibliometric measures are taken into account to ensure a fair and balanced representation of researchers' work.
- The C-score: this composite score is based on various bibliometric factors, including the total number of citations.
- The h-index: this impact indicator takes into account the number of a researcher's publications as well as the number of their citations.
- The percentiles of fields and subfields : scientists are classified into 22 major fields and 176 subfields. Only those who rank in the top 2% of their subfield are taken into account.
- Career-wide or single-year impact: rankings are available for both career-wide impact and single-year performance, providing a better understanding of long-term contribution and recent achievements.
Research excellence
Figuring among this top 2% of scientists is therefore a prestigious recognition of an individual's contribution to science and demonstrates the excellence of their research, enhancing their reputation in academia and industry.
The ranking offers visibility across all disciplines, drawing attention to work that might otherwise remain in a niche or be under-appreciated. It also serves as a benchmark for institutions and governments to assess the influence of their research programs.
Many institutions use the ranking to measure the success of their faculty, or other entity, which can also enhance credibility within the academic community.
This list encourages scientists to focus on producing high-quality, impactful research rather than chasing quantity.
By compiling data from all scientific fields and offering a fair, metrics-based approach, this ranking not only celebrates individual achievements, but also highlights the importance of impactful research in advancing knowledge. However, it must be qualified, as it only takes into account quantitative data, which are not necessarily representative of the full diversity of research.
According to another database, that of UNESCO, the number of researchers in the world is increasing by 300,000 per year, reaching 9 million today. The Top 2% comprises 200,000 names, including twelve researchers from the University of Namur.
Congratulations to them for their excellent research and for this prestigious worldwide recognition!

Towards a new generation of human-inspired linguistic models: a groundbreaking scientific study conducted by UNamur and VUB
Towards a new generation of human-inspired linguistic models: a groundbreaking scientific study conducted by UNamur and VUB
Can a computer learn a language like a child? A recent study published in the leading journal Computational Linguistics by Professors Katrien Beuls (Université de Namur) and Paul Van Eecke (AI-lab, Vrije Universiteit Brussel) sheds new light on this question. The researchers argue for a fundamental revision of the way artificial intelligence acquires and processes language.


"Children learn their mother tongue by communicating with people in their environment. By playing and experimenting with language, they try to interpret the intentions of their interlocutors. In this way, they gradually learn to understand and use linguistic constructs. This process, in which language is acquired through interaction and meaningful context, constitutes the core of human language acquisition"
"The current generation of large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT, learn language in a very different way," continues Paul Van Eecke. "By observing in huge quantities of text which words often appear in close proximity to each other, they learn to generate texts that are often indistinguishable from human texts. This leads to extremely powerful models in many forms of text generation, from text synthesis or translation to question answering, but which at the same time have a number of inherent limitations. They are thus prone to hallucinations and biases, often struggle with forms of human reasoning, and require huge amounts of data and energy to build and use."
The researchers propose an alternative model in which artificial agents learn language as humans do: by participating in meaningful communicative interactions in their environment. In a series of experiments, they show how these agents develop linguistic constructs directly related to their environment and sensory perceptions. This leads to linguistic models that :
- Are less prone to hallucinations and biases because their understanding of language is based on direct interaction with the world.
- Manage data and energy more efficiently, leaving a smaller ecological footprint.
- Are more grounded in meaning and intention, enabling them to understand language and context in a more human way.
"The integration of communicative and situated interactions into AI models is a crucial step in the development of the next generation of linguistic models. This research offers a promising route to linguistic technologies that approximate the way humans understand and use language," the researchers conclude.
Source: Katrien Beuls, Paul Van Eecke; Humans Learn Language from Situated Communicative Interactions. What about Machines?Computational Linguistics 2024; 50 (4): 1277-1311. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00534

Two UNamur academics join the Collegium of the Académie Royale de Belgique
Two UNamur academics join the Collegium of the Académie Royale de Belgique
Anthony Simonofski and Olivier Sartenaer, have been elected to join the prestigious Collégium de l'Académie royale de Belgique. Bringing together young researchers (under 40) from Wallonia-Brussels who have particularly distinguished themselves in their careers, the Collégium's objectives include promoting the arts and research.

Anthony Simonofski is Professor of Digital Transformation at the UNamur School of Management (EMCP Faculty) and a member of the Namur Digital Institute (University of Namur). It is recognized for its innovative research in governance and digital transformation.

"For 5 years, I'll be part of the Collegium of the Royal Academy of Belgium, and also of the "Technology and Society" class. My participation will enable me to contribute my vision and interdisciplinary expertise on digital transformation. During this mandate, I will be able to participate in the Academy's various work concerning its knowledge dissemination events such as its colloquia or scientific valorization (prizes, competitions, grants)", explains Anthony Simonofski.
One of the missions he hopes to accomplish as part of his mandate is to exchange on digital issues through an interdisciplinary approach. "Today's digital challenges require an interdisciplinary approach, combining IT, managerial, legal, sociological perspectives and much more. The 'Technology and Society' class will enable these exchanges to elaborate constructive reflections for a harmonious integration of digital in our society," he emphasizes. He will also make his expertise in digital transformation available. "It presents a whole series of new challenges such as inclusion, adoption or the necessary participation of citizens. So I'd like to make my research in this area available, and perhaps even encourage the Academy itself to enter into a more participatory approach towards citizens via digital channels," Anthony Simonofski points out.
Author of the podcast "Pop-Code" about digital education, which he is producing with his colleague Benoit Vanderose (Faculté informatique- UNamur), Anthony SIMONOFSKI also defends the concept of art as a vehicle for popularizing science. "At the Collegium, I want to work to make digital research accessible and engaging, by initiating collaborative projects that combine scientific rigor and artistic innovation to reach a wider and more diverse audience." Finally, by becoming a member of the Collegium, Anthony Simonofski will ensure representation of UNamur's expertise on digital, notably by relaying the interdisciplinary vision of the Namur Digital Institute and the EMCP Faculty.
Olivier Sartenaer, meanwhile, is Professor of Philosophy at UNamur and his research focuses on metaphysics and the philosophy of science. "By joining the Collegium, I hope to enrich the reflections of the Humanities and Moral and Political Sciences class with my expertise in epistemology and philosophy of science. I also hope to help bring the class closer to those more oriented towards the natural sciences, thanks to the feet I have somewhat in both universes.

Incidentally, I also hope to represent UNamur there," Olivier Sartenaer points out. "Integrating the Collegium is a nice recognition of my work. Secondly, it will enable me to meet a lot of interesting people and, together, to cross-fertilize our expertise to reflect on major societal issues at our monthly sessions. I'll be able to present and discuss my work, and also discover the work of Belgian scientific colleagues. Finally, it will enable me to take advantage of some of the Academy's support (access to premises, publications, networks, etc.) to organize events, or disseminate my work".

The Collegium of the Royal Academy of Belgium
Le Collégium de l'Académie royale de Belgique est un organe qui rassemble des jeunes chercheurs et chercheuses (moins de 40 ans) de Wallonie-Bruxelles qui se sont particulièrement distingués dans leur carrière. Fondé en 2009, le Collégium a pour mission de soutenir l'Académie dans ses objectifs de promotion des arts et de la recherche. Il organise également des cours-conférences de niveau universitaire, gratuits et accessibles à un large public.

21 new F.R.S.-FNRS grants for research at UNamur
21 new F.R.S.-FNRS grants for research at UNamur
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 "research credits and projects" call resulted in 14 grants for ambitious new projects. These include two "equipment" grants, five "research credits (CDR)" grants and seven "research projects (PDR)" grants, including one in collaboration with the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland. The FRIA doctoral research support call will fund 6 doctoral fellowships.
A prestigious Mandat d'Impulsion Scientifique (MIS) has also been obtained. This 3-year funding supports young permanent researchers wishing to develop an original and innovative research program while acquiring scientific autonomy within their department.
Results in detail
Call for Equipment
- Max Collinet, Institut ILEE
- Catherine Michaux, with Stéphane Vincent and Guillaume Berionni, co-sponsors, Institut NISM
Call for Research Credits (CDR)
- Thierry Arnould, Institut NARILIS
- Thomas Balligand, Department of Medicine
- Danielle Leenaerts, Institut PaTHs
- Denis Saint-Amand, Institut NaLTT
- Elio Tuci, Institut NADI
Appel Projets de Recherche (PDR)
- Nathalie Burnay, in collaboration with "the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland", Institut Transitions (Subject to acceptance by SNSF Switzerland)
- Catherine Guirkinger, Institut DEFIPP, co-promoter in collaboration with UCLouvain
- Luca Fusaro, Institut NISM
- Laurence Meurant, Institut NaLTT
- René Preys, Institut PaTHs
- Stéphane Vincent, Institut NISM, co-promoter in collaboration with UCLouvain
- Johan Wouters, Institut NISM, co-promoter in collaboration with UCLouvain
Fonds pour la formation à la Recherche dans l'Industrie et dans l'Agriculture (FRIA)
- Alix Buridant - Promoter: Henri-François Renard, Institut NARILIS ; Co-sponsor: Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck - Austria -
- Constance De Maere d'Aertrycke - Promoter Nicolas Gillet, Institut NARILIS
- Noah Deveaux - Promoter: Benoît Champagne, Institut NISM
- Nicolas Dricot - Promoter: Muriel Lepère, Institut NISM; Co-promoter: Bastien Vispoel, Institut NISM and Université Grenoble Alpes
- Laurie Marchal - Promoter Thierry Arnould. Co-promoter: Patricia Renard. Institut NARILIS
- Léa Poskin - Promoter: Catherine Michaux, Institut NISM; Co-promoter: Jean-Pierre Gillet, Institut NARILIS
Mandat d'Impulsion Scientifique (MIS)
- Arthur Borriello, Institut Transitions
Congratulations to all and sundry
!F.R.S.-FNRS missions
The mission of the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique - FNRS is to develop basic scientific research through initiatives presented by researchers. It promotes the production and development of knowledge by supporting individual researchers on the one hand, and by financing research programs carried out in laboratories and departments located mainly in the universities of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation on the other.
Based on the sole criterion of scientific excellence, financial support from the F.R.S.-FNRS is provided in several ways. Numerous calls for funding are launched each year to support fundamental research at all levels of researchers' careers.

Our researchers in the World's Top 2% Scientists list
Our researchers in the World's Top 2% Scientists list
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!

This list, created by Stanford University and published in August 2024 is compiled in collaboration with Elsevier's ICST lab from Scopus data, aims to provide a standardized means of identifying the world's best scientists and recognizing those scientists who have had a significant impact on their respective fields.
While this list has been adopted by many institutions as a reliable measure of research impact, it is not the only way to evaluate research. Based strictly on bibliometric data, it is also subject to criticism.
Since September 2023, the University of Namur has been strengthening its commitment to the implementation of research assessment reform with the signing of the "Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) "agreement.
This agreement commits the institution to a series of principles, including taking into account career diversity and emphasizing qualitative research criteria rather than relying solely on bibliometric (and therefore quantitative) data.
Namur University researchers honored
- Charlotte Beaudart - Faculty of Medicine, Narilis Institute
- Benoît Champagne - Faculty of Science, NISM Institute
- Alain Decrop - EMCP Faculty, NaDi-CRIDS Institute
- Olivier Deparis - Science Faculty, NISM Institute and PaTHs Institute
- Jonathan Douxfils - Faculty of Medicine, Narilis Institute
- Patrick Kestemont - Faculty of Science, ILEE Institute
- Alexandre Mayer - Faculty of Science, NISM Institute and Institut naXys
- Carine Michiels - Faculty of Science, Institut Narilis
- Antoinette Rouvroy - Faculty of Law, ESPHIN Institutes and NaDi-CRIDS Institute
- Frédéric Silvestre - Faculty of Science, ILEE Institute
- Bao-Lian Su - Faculty of Science, NISM Institute
- Johan Wouters - Faculty of Science, NISM Institute
The list is updated every year, with data on the whole career and impacts on a single year, for the sake of transparency and relevance.
The measurement criteria used
A variety of bibliometric measures are taken into account to ensure a fair and balanced representation of researchers' work.
- The C-score: this composite score is based on various bibliometric factors, including the total number of citations.
- The h-index: this impact indicator takes into account the number of a researcher's publications as well as the number of their citations.
- The percentiles of fields and subfields : scientists are classified into 22 major fields and 176 subfields. Only those who rank in the top 2% of their subfield are taken into account.
- Career-wide or single-year impact: rankings are available for both career-wide impact and single-year performance, providing a better understanding of long-term contribution and recent achievements.
Research excellence
Figuring among this top 2% of scientists is therefore a prestigious recognition of an individual's contribution to science and demonstrates the excellence of their research, enhancing their reputation in academia and industry.
The ranking offers visibility across all disciplines, drawing attention to work that might otherwise remain in a niche or be under-appreciated. It also serves as a benchmark for institutions and governments to assess the influence of their research programs.
Many institutions use the ranking to measure the success of their faculty, or other entity, which can also enhance credibility within the academic community.
This list encourages scientists to focus on producing high-quality, impactful research rather than chasing quantity.
By compiling data from all scientific fields and offering a fair, metrics-based approach, this ranking not only celebrates individual achievements, but also highlights the importance of impactful research in advancing knowledge. However, it must be qualified, as it only takes into account quantitative data, which are not necessarily representative of the full diversity of research.
According to another database, that of UNESCO, the number of researchers in the world is increasing by 300,000 per year, reaching 9 million today. The Top 2% comprises 200,000 names, including twelve researchers from the University of Namur.
Congratulations to them for their excellent research and for this prestigious worldwide recognition!