UNIVERSEH Alliance

UNamur joins the UNIVERSEH Alliance. It's a historic signing for UNamur: since December 2022, it has been a member of the European Space University for Earth and Humanity (UNIVERSEH) Alliance, which focuses on the theme of space. This is a real recognition of UNamur's expertise in the field of space, and a gateway to new international collaborations in both teaching and research, around a field that is driving employment and socio-economic development.

Towards new European opportunities

UNIVERSEH (European Space University for Earth and Humanity) is part of the "European Universities" initiative promoted by the European Commission. Its ambition is to develop a space to meet the societal, social and environmental challenges arising from European space policy.

The objectives include building an interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral training offer and joint teaching programs, developing innovative pedagogical models, strengthening mobility and multilingualism in Europe, promoting diversity and enhancing inclusiveness within the alliance and beyond, in the space field. UNamur thus joins the six other partners in this alliance, which tackles the space theme from a variety of angles: science, engineering, economics, social sciences and humanities, patents and innovation, entrepreneurship, science and medicine, sustainable development, art and culture, ...

People and interdisciplinarity at the heart of the project

"The UNIVERSEH alliance is perfectly in line with the values upheld at UNamur: placing people at the heart of our scientific approaches. Joining UNIVERSEH represents a source of influence for our expertise and a fantastic opportunity for our entire academic community, both for our scientists, academics and students, to forge new fruitful collaborations"

Annick Castiaux, Rector of UNamur

UNamur will enrich the alliance with its extensive expertise in ambitious, cross-disciplinary research projects. Among these: the RISE (Rotifer In SpacE) project developed in collaboration with SCK-CEN and funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), or the work carried out by the Space group, within the Namur Institute for Complex Systems (naXys), which examines the formation, evolution and ability of extrasolar systems. Let's also mention UNamur's astronomical observatory as a high-performance tool for conducting various observations of the sky and the sun, but also and work that helps meet the needs of the aeronautical market for intelligent electronic equipment, as well as those linked to the development of new 2D and 3D coatings, or nanomaterials with properties applicable in different atmospheric environments.

UNamur also has teams of interdisciplinary experts who contribute to research on the sustainable management of natural resources present in space and on the nature of the ethical, legal and economic challenges linked to the exploitation of extraterrestrial resources. "We will also be able to contribute to the development of the UNIVERSEH network thanks to our recognized expertise in innovative pedagogy and multilingualism, or through our experience in scientific mediation," emphasizes Annick Castiaux. By becoming a member of this network, UNamur strengthens its presence in the European landscape and fuels its international development strategy.

"In line with one of the objectives of the Universe 2025 strategic plan, our involvement in UNIVERSEH intensifies already existing collaborations with the universities of Luxembourg, Toulouse and Rome Tor Vergata. Furthermore, the Alliance enables us to add strong new partners to our international network. This is a perfect illustration of our desire to expand our network systematically and thoughtfully"

Jeroen Darquennes, Vice-Rector for International Relations

Excellent news for students, researchers and the general public

At UNamur, professors and researchers are delighted with this European alliance which augurs new collaborations in teaching, research and service to society.

"At UNamur, we are internationally renowned in the field of celestial mechanics, a discipline that describes the motion of celestial bodies such as space debris, asteroids, etc. using mathematical and physical theories. We look forward to sharing our expertise with Alliance universities", emphasizes Anne-Sophie Libert, Director of the Namur Institute for Complex Systems (naXys) and Professor in the Department of Mathematics.

An enthusiasm shared by Anne-Catherine Heuskin, director of the LARN Laboratory, member of the NISM and Narilis Institutes, and professor in the Department of Physics, who welcomes the fact that "students in the network, and therefore at UNamur, can have access to high-quality training in the space field. We're not limiting ourselves to one discipline, or even to the hard sciences. The approach is so much broader, cross-sectoral.That's what makes it even more enriching."

André Füzfa, professor in the Department of Mathematics, and member of the naXys, also sees new opportunities for disseminating scientific knowledge to the general public. "Our University will make available to the Alliance its program for disseminating knowledge in astronomy and astrophysics and its educational astronomical observatory, which is an exceptional tool for raising awareness of STEAMs through the discovery of the sky."