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The result of the historic twinning between the cities of Namur and Lafayette, the collaboration between UNamur and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette has taken on a new academic dimension in recent years. Formalized in 2022 with the signing of a framework agreement, this partnership has given rise to a mobility program aimed at strengthening the use of French and Francophonie within both universities. In 2026, this cooperation took concrete form with the arrival in Namur of William Lejeune, a second-year speech therapy student and the first Cajun student to benefit from this program, supported in particular by a grant from the Lafayette Foundation. Between cultural discovery, linguistic challenges, and academic ambitions, he recounts his experience on the other side of the Atlantic.

On February 21, the University of Namur hosted the symposium "Medicine and Literature," organized by the History of Medicine and Health Sciences Group, with the support of the Royal Academy of French Language and Literature of Belgium. Nearly 70 participants gathered at the Faculty of Medicine for a particularly open and stimulating day of reflection, devoted to the deep and ancient links between medical practices and literary creation.

Abstract Deep learning has revolutionized computer vision in recent years and has been applied to many fields. This thesis focuses on medical endoscopy, where deep learning can assist physicians in many tasks, such as navigating the lungs during bronchoscopy, assisting in the detection of lung diseases, detecting Crohn's disease from capsule endoscopy (PillCam), or automating the detection of polyps during colonoscopy procedures.This thesis, entitled From Pixels to Practice: Deep Learning for Endoscopy, explores how modern neural networks and learning paradigms can improve visual understanding in endoscopy, with the aim of contributing to computer-aided detection (CAD) systems that can be integrated into clinical workflows.This work follows an article-based structure and links methodological advances in geometric and temporal modeling to techniques for handling data scarcity and imbalance, as well as to the practical and clinical implications of deep learning for lung tumor detection, both from a clinical and practitioner perspective. The first part of the manuscript provides a common foundation for all subsequent parts. First, we present a general introduction to the field of machine learning in Chapter 1, explaining concepts such as classification, loss functions, and artificial neural networks. Next, Chapter 2 focuses on the field of deep learning for computer vision, detailing the main vision tasks, the concept of convolutional neural networks, ResNet, and U-Net. Finally, Chapter 3 describes medical imaging, with a focus on computed tomography (CT) scans and optical imaging. The second part of the thesis focuses on learning spatio-temporal representations. In Chapter 4, we use deep neural networks combining spatial features and temporal recurrence to address the problem of detecting the bronchial carina, an anatomical landmark that helps doctors navigate the lungs. By evaluating classification (ResNet-50), segmentation (nnU-Net), and recurrent (GRU) models on a bronchoscopy dataset we created, the study highlights the benefits of combining information from segmentation masks and temporal features. Chapter 5 continues the segmentation task by analyzing the extent to which rotation-equivariant U-Nets, based on E(2)-CNNs with C4, C8, and D4 symmetry groups, can improve performance when the orientation of objects in the image is arbitrary. Together, these chapters show how temporal and geometric modeling capture complementary aspects of visual structure. They further highlight that data imbalance and scarcity are recurring problems in deep learning. The third part studies learning in situations of data scarcity and imbalance. First, Chapter 6 explores supervised contrastive pre-training [1] on large, domain-close endoscopic datasets (Hyper-Kvasir [2], LDPolyp [3]), which is then transferred to smaller, disease-specific data (Crohn-IPI [4]). This methodology performs better than pre-training on ImageNet or based on cross-entropy, highlighting the value of domain-specific contrastive representations. Next, Chapter 7 introduces Mask-Aware Cropping (MAC), a new data augmentation technique that mitigates pixel-level imbalance in segmentation. On various datasets with varying imbalance regimes (URDE [5], Kvasir-SEG [6], HAM10000 [7]), MAC consistently improves Dice and IoU metrics under conditions of extreme imbalance. Together, these methods form a data-centric framework for effective learning when annotations are scarce or unevenly distributed. The fourth part of the thesis focuses on deep learning in the operating room. Chapter 8 proposes a first model (ResNet-50) for the visual detection of lung cancer in bronchoscopy, trained on real, in-vivo data. The model outperforms junior physicians, while remaining inferior to experts. This result shows that CAD systems for lung cancer detection are promising. Chapter 9 extends this work by evaluating the usability of a CAD system based on a deep learning model. Combining probability indices, temporal graphs, and saliency map overlays, a multicenter evaluation with 10 physicians is conducted. The tool received favorable feedback, with high usability (SUS score of 80.5 [8]) and strong clinical acceptance. Beyond endoscopy, the results concerning rotation equivariance and pixel imbalance can be generalized to other fields such as microscopy, dermatology, and aerial imaging. This shows that the proposed methods are applicable to visual learning under structured variability and limited data constraints.Keywords: machine learning, computer vision, medicine, endoscopy, convolutional neural networks, segmentation, recurrent models, equivariance.  Jury Prof. Bruno Dumas - University of NamurProf. Frénay Benoit - University of NamurProf. Schobbens P-Y. - University of NamurProf. Beuls Katrien - University of Namur,Dr. Benjamin Mertens - Lys MédicalProf. Oramas Mogrojevo José Antonio - University of AntwerpDr. Mancas Matei - University of Mons Register

Between the risks of “globocide” and the long-term management of nuclear waste, nuclear power embodies the anxieties of our time while remaining largely invisible in public discourse. Based on FNRS research led by Danielle Leenaerts, a lecturer in the Department of Archaeology and Art Sciences, a three-part project comprising an exhibition, a book, and an interdisciplinary study day offers a unique insight into how Belgian and international artists depict nuclear power. 

As part of its seminar, Centre Arcadie will be pleased to welcome Igor Krtolica for a session devoted to his book Romain Gary. De l'humanisme à l'écologie, Gallimard, 2025.Maître de conférences en philosophie à l'Université de Picardie Jules-Verne, junior member of the Institut universitaire de France, Igor Krtolica is the author (in addition to the work to be discussed) of Gilles Deleuze (PUF, coll. "Que sais-je? ", 2015), of Gilles Deleuze et Félix Guattari : Une philosophie des devenirs-révolutionnaires(Éditions Amsterdam, 2024) and of a commentary on an extract from Romain Gary's Les Racines du ciel entitled Antifascism, humanism and ecology (PUF, coll. "Classiques de l'écologie", 2025).After a presentation of the work, Igor Krtolica will be interviewed by Jean-Baptiste Vuillerod and Thibault De Meyer.Free admission. All welcome.Book presentation 1956: the Prix Goncourt is awarded to Racines du ciel, a novel whose hero, Morel, fights against the extermination of elephants in an Africa struggling for independence. Romain Gary described it as the first ecological novel. Ecology enabled him to resolve the unbearable political contradiction in which the post-war West finds itself: the impossibility of believing in man, the impossibility of giving up believing in man. How can we continue to give meaning to the idea of civilization? If we are to maintain the humanist ideal, we need to wage a battle in which man is no longer at the center. Such is the paradox explored here. This literary and philosophical essay reveals the complexity of Romain Gary's thought, his constant irony and humor, his contradictions, his rejection of dogmatism. And its modernity: ahead of his time, the novelist anticipated the controversies driving contemporary ecological thinking, where the human being is only a part of nature, but where nature itself becomes inseparable from history, society and politics. This previously unpublished synthesis of Romain Gary's work is an original analysis of the tension between humanist commitment and ecological cause.. Toutes les activités du Centre Arcadie

As part of its seminar, Centre Arcadie will be pleased to welcome Jeanne Etelain for a session devoted to her book Zones. Terre, sexes et science-fiction, Flammarion, 2025.Jeanne Etelain, PhD from New York University and Université Paris-Nanterre, teaches philosophy and contemporary theory at the École supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Montpellier.After a presentation of the book, Igor Krtolica will be interviewed by Jean-Baptiste Vuillerod and Thibault De Meyer.After a presentation of the book, Jeanne Etelain will be interviewed by Ludovic Dubois, Nathalie Grandjean and Sébastien Laoureux.Free admission. Welcome to all.Book presentation Zone: this ubiquitous term nevertheless remains elusive. In a stunning conceptual investigation at the crossroads of geography, psychoanalysis and science fiction, Jeanne Etelain explores how "zone" has become central to understanding space, in the contemporary context of a crisis in the planet's conditions of habitability. The zone thus emerges as a spatial modality that defies habitual categories, confronting us with space's power to act, whether it's nature, the Earth or the body. All Centre Arcadie activities

Conference organized by Centre Arcadie and the Department of Philosophy as part of the "Philosophie du cinéma" course and the "Cultures et pensées cinématographiques" Specialization Master's degree.Dork Zabunyan is Professor of Film Studies at Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis. His publications include Les Cinémas de Gilles Deleuze (Bayard, 2011), L'Insistance des luttes - Images, soulèvements, contre-révolutions (De l'incidence éditeur, 2016), Foucault va au cinéma (Bayard, 2011) with Patrice Maniglier, Jacques Rancière et le monde des images(Mimesis, 2023).In 2020 he published Fictions of Trump. Puissances des images et exercices du pouvoir(Le point du jour). In this conference, the aim will be to take up this work in the context of Trump's second term.Presentation of the workDonald Trump's body is almost everywhere, outside us, on our screens, caught up in information channels that disseminate still and moving images of him. He is also present within us, more or less floating, in the minds of his detractors and supporters alike. The 45th President of the United States of America is not, however, the book's only subject. Based on his countless audiovisual representations, both before and after his election, the aim here is to explore the function of images in the exercise of power today, the stories they tell and the discourses they condition. Two questions run through this essay: what is this strange love of power, conveyed by images of an authoritarian leader, to which individuals who have no interest in voting for him adhere? What filmic counter-fires, real or imagined, are likely to mobilize the powers of images to evade this power, or even to thwart it? All Centre Arcadie activities

It's official: the University of Namur joins the Réseau d'Échanges et de Liaisons entre Institutions d'Enseignement Supérieur Francophones (RELIEF). It thus becomes the fourth partner in this network, alongside the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), the Université Savoie Mont Blanc and the Haute École Spécialisée de Suisse Occidentale (HES-SO).

Born on the internet, memes are an integral part of digital culture. These images, often humorous, combine text and visuals to convey a message. At UNamur, Lieven Vandelanotte, professor of English language and linguistics and general linguistics at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, has taken an interest in them from a linguistic point of view. In his new book, co-written with Barbara Dancygier of the University of British Columbia, he deciphers how these creations play with words, images, and grammar. 

JuryProf. Guillaume BERIONNI (UNamur), PresidentProf. Stéphane VINCENT (UNamur), SecretaryProf. Carmen GALAN (University of Bristol)Dr. Louis FENSTERBANK (Collège de France)Prof. Raphaël ROBIETTE (Université catholique de Louvain)AbstractCarboxylic acids are ubiquitous in nature and inexpensive compounds. Decarboxylation has become a key chemical transformation and has been widely reported in organic chemistry except for carbohydrates. This reaction can be catalyzed by transition metal and can also be induced by light, thermal activation, or photocatalysis. Borylated compounds have stimulated the pharmaceutical industry's interest (Boromycin, Bortezomib or boron neutron capture therapy). Recent methodologies have been developed to transform carboxylic acids to boronate esters by metal-catalyzed or light-promoted or photocatalyzed reactions. In this thesis, we explored the synthesis of borylated carbohydrates through a decarboxylation pathway. More specifically, sialic acids being among the most important carbohydrates in glycobiology, we addressed the problem of the synthesis of borylated sialic acids. On the other hand, organophosphates play an important role in diverse fields: in materials chemistry, in agriculture, in organic chemistry, and in biochemistry. Phosphorylation is a key reaction in biological processes such as signal transduction and cell activity regulation. The formation of phosphorylated carbohydrates has been widely described through two-electron mechanisms. However, radical phosphorylation of carbohydrates remains unexplored. This Ph.D. thesis describes the development of new methodologies for the decarboxylative functionalization of carbohydrates, focusing on borylation and phosphorylation..

The success of female Cistercian monasticism in the Southern Netherlands in the 13th century - over forty houses in the dioceses of Liège and Cambrai - is a powerful indicator of the aspirations of a society in transformation, enthusiastic about new forms of spirituality and religious life. For all that, the phenomenon remains surprisingly little studied, despite the wealth of archaeological and historical sources. The program Thursday, December 11, 20259:30am: Welcome10:00am: Introduction by the symposium organizing committeeSession 1 - Chair: Marie-Élisabeth Henneau (Université de Liège)10:30am: Alexis Grélois (Université de Rouen-Normandie, GRHis) - L'appartenance des moniales à l'ordre cistercien (XIIe-XIIIe siècle): False debates and real questions11:30am: Coffee break11:45am: Michel Dubuisson (Abbaye de Villers asbl), Patrice Gautier (Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire), Louise Hardenne (Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire) - L'abbaye de La Cambre dans la filiation villersoise12:35pm: Lunch breakSession 2 - Chair: Jeroen Deploige (Universiteit Gent)1:40pm: Marie-Christine Laleman (City of Ghent), Els De Paermentier (Universiteit Gent)- The Byloque Abbey in Ghent: between archaeological memory and archival wealth2:30pm: Pierre-Hugues Tilmant (SPW, AWaP), Marie Verbeek (SPW, AWaP), Sarah Cremer (Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique), Nicolas Ruffini-Ronzani (Université de Namur/Archives de l'État à Namur)- Dossier de fondation de l'abbaye Notre-Dame du Vivier: l'archéologie permet-elle lever un coin du voile?3:20pm: Coffee break3:40pm: François De Vriendt (Société des Bollandistes) - Memory and devotion in the female communities of Hainaut and Namurois. What place for local figures and traditions?4:30pm:Robin Moens (FWO/KU Leuven) - (What) spiritual walls? The spirituality of mulieres religiosae enclosed in and outside monastic space17:20: end of first day18:00: verre de l'amitié offered by SPWFriday, December 12, 2025Session 3 - Chair: Geneviève Laurent (SPW, AWaP)9:00: Philippe Mignot (SPW, AWaP) - Clairefontaine Abbey: archaeological data on the origins9:50am: Vincent Debonne (Vlaamse Overheid-Agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed), Robin Moens (FWO/KU Leuven)- Sisters a little slower than we thought. The Cistercian abbey of Val-des-Vierges near Oudenaarde10:40am: Coffee break11:00am: visit to the former abbey of Notre-Dame du Vivier, accompanied by AWaP archaeologists12:00pm: lunch breakSession 4 - Chair: Mathieu Piavaux (Université de Namur)1:00 pm: Virginie Boulez (SPW, AWaP), Alain Marchandisse (FNRS/Université de Liège) - La Paix-Dieu 1240-1244. Foundation of a Cistercian abbey under the episcopacy of Robert de Thourotte. Dialogue of historical and archaeological sources13:50: Marie Demelenne (Musée royal de Mariemont), Patrice Gautier (Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire), Jean-François Nieus (FNRS/Université de Namur)- The hermit, the lady and the clerics. Aux origines de l'abbaye de L'Olive (Morlanwelz)2:40pm: coffee break3:00pm: Emmanuel Bodart (Archives de l'État à Namur) - L'abbaye de Félixpré près de Givet. New revelations on its foundation and endowment (1246-1266)3:30pm: Paul Lambrechts (Herita vzw) - Herkenrode Abbey, a millennium of history: how to interpret myths, excavations and sources, and how to incorporate them into a project for the future?4:00 pm: Benoît Rouzeau (Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Trame UR 4284/ LAMOP UMR 858)- General conclusions4:30 pm: end of symposiumProgram in PDF format Organizing committee Aurore Carlier - Société archéologique de NamurPatrice Gautier - Musées royaux d'Art et d'HistoireXavier Hermand - Université de NamurFiona Lebecque - Société archéologique de NamurJean-François Nieus - FNRS/Université de NamurMatthieu Pignot - FNRS/Université de NamurNicolas Ruffini-Ronzani - Université de Namur/Archives de l'ÉtatPierre-Hugues Tilmant - SPW, AWaPMarie Verbeek - SPW, AWaP Practical information The Study Days organizing committee would like to thank the owners of the Abbey Notre-Dame du Vivier for their welcome and for making the premises available.Surrounding these Study Days revolves a multitude of events dedicated to the Abbey Notre-Dame du Vivier de Marche-les-Dames. To find out more, see the program at www.lasan.be I register it