University and society: should we be training technicians or citizens?
After focusing on the issues of the "Commons", the management of "common goods" , "health as a common good", this year the Chair turns its attention to the issue of "knowledge" as a "common good" and the role that the University is called upon to play in the creation and transmission of knowledge. As its title - "University and society. What can knowledge do for the common good?" - shows, the value and meaning that society places on knowledge, even more so from a universal perspective, is not self-evident. More info coming soon...
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Knowledge and the common good: how can a university be managed to serve the common good?
After focusing on the issues of the "Commons", the management of "common goods" , "health as a common good", this year the Chair turns its attention to the issue of "knowledge" as a "common good" and the role that the University is called upon to play in the creation and transmission of knowledge. As its title - "University and society. What can knowledge do for the common good?" - shows, the value and meaning that society places on knowledge, even more so from a universal perspective, is not self-evident. More info coming soon...
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Twenty films to understand digital technology: a fun challenge taken up by two experts from UNamur
Terminator to talk about AI? Wall-E to talk about technological dependence? The Truman Show to discuss social media? In a new book, two professors from UNamur, Anthony Simonofski (digital transformation—EMCP Faculty—NaDI Institute) and Benoît Vanderose (software engineering—Faculty of Computer Science—NaDI Institute), take readers on a journey at the crossroads of digital technology and cinematic imagination.
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Digital literacy through fiction: NaDI's interdisciplinary initiative
The Namur Digital Institute (NaDI) is launching a series of original events: "Les Séances du Numérique". Films followed by debates with experts to understand digital challenges and stimulate collective thinking. A project spearheaded by Anthony Simonofski, Anne-Sophie Collard, Benoît Vanderose and Fanny Barnabé.
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FNRS 2024 calls: Focus on the naXys Institute
Professor Elio Tuci has just been awarded Research Credit funding from the FNRS. The naXys institute specializes in the analysis of complex systems, whether in astronomy and dynamic cosmology, mathematical biology, optimization in optics, economic complexity or the study of the stability and robustness of these systems. The institute is structured around 6 research axes: Space, Bio, Optics, Eco, Robust and Robotics.
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Revue facultaire philo et lettres - Rétro philo: Back to the 80s
Practical info
Where: Amphithéâtre Vauban (rue de l'Arsenal, Namur).When: Doors open at 6:30pm / Show at 7:30pm.Price: On site: 7€ / Presales: 5€
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AI to the Future: User-Centric Innovation and Media Regulation
The workshop will feature:A keynote presentation on public value and AI implementation at VRT.Sessions on discoverability, user agency, and explainability.Discussions on regulation, including perspectives on the AI Act and transparency in media.An interactive session showingcasing AI-driven prototypes.The event will also highlight our project's latest findings. Join us for a day of thought-provoking discussions, knowledge exchange, and networking opportunities!Would you like to attend? Places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, so register as soon as possible. Registration will close on April 11, 2025.
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Thinking and travelling on foot: exploring memory and nature
The two authors will each read an excerpt from their book, then explain their choice to explore the themes of foot travel, nature and memory in their works. This reading will be followed by a discussion during which the audience and our students will be able to ask questions.This event aims to establish links between our research in "embodied cognition", cognitive narratology and travel literature, and our teaching activity. It will enable us to offer our students a bilingual activity while promoting the teaching and study of literature at UNamur and within the NaLTT Institute. We hope to invite interested researchers and their students via our respective networks. With this theme, we will also fit in with UNamur's ecological and pedagogical objectives.
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MOSI, from word to sign: a bilingual reading aid from French to Langue des signes de Belgique francophone (LSFB)
Instantly obtain a translation in sign language (LSFB) of a word written in French: that's what MOSI (Du mot au signe) makes possible. This new tool is the fruit of a collaboration between the University of Namur, the asbl École et Surdité and the asbl LSFB, supported by the King Baudouin Foundation.
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🐺 Loup, qui es-tu?
We are pleased to invite you, on Thursday June 19, 2025, to Julie Duchêne's lecture on the results of the "Loup, qui es-tu?" project.As part of this lecture, Julie Duchêne (PhD in History UNamur/FNRS FRESH) will present the results of her thesis devoted to the history of the wolf on Walloon and Luxembourg territories from the 18th to the 20th century, shedding new light on the history of the wolf in Wallonia. What were the images of the wolf conveyed by sources during this period? What policies were put in place by the various states to combat this species, until leading to its disappearance in the early 20th century? And, finally, who were the wolves that populated our lands at that time? Finally, Julie will share with the public the results of paleogenetic analyses carried out on a dozen naturalized wolves preserved in partner museums, institutions and venues throughout Wallonia, a project that was a first in Belgium, at the crossroads of history and biology. We hope to see many of you at this event. Welcome to you all!
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180 seconds to talk about research
The 11th edition of the Ma Thèse en 180 secondes competition was held this Friday, March 28, 2025 at the Faculty of Science. Three biologists will represent UNamur at the Belgian final, to be held in Mons on May 21.
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Public thesis defense - Manel Barkallah
Synopsis
The spreading of internet-based technologies since the mid-90s has led to a paradigm shift from monolithic centralized information systems to distributed information systems based upon the composition of software components, interacting with each other and of heterogeneous natures. The popularity of these systems is nowadays such that our everyday life is touched by them.Classically concurrent and distributed systems are coded by using the message passing paradigm-according to which components exchange information by sending and receiving messages. In the aim of clearly separating computational and interactional aspects of computations, Gelernter and Carriero have proposed an alternative framework in which components interact through the availability of information placed on a shared space. Their framework has been concretized in a language called Linda. A series of languages, referred to nowadays as coordination languages, have been developed afterwards. In addition to providing a more declarative framework, such languages nicely fit applications like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, in which users share information by adding it or consulting it in a common place. Such systems are in fact particular cases of so-called socio-technical systems in which humans interact with machines and their environments through complex dependencies. As coordination languages nicely meet social networks, the question naturally arises whether they can also nicely code socio-technical systems. However, answering this question first requires to see how well programs written in coordination languages can reflect what they are assumed to model.This thesis aims at addressing these two questions. To that end, we shall use the Bach coordination language developed at the University of Namur as a representative of Linda-like languages. We shall extend it in a language named Multi-Bach to be able to code and reason on socio-technical systems. We will also introduce a workbench Anemone to support the modelling of such systems. Finally, we will evidence the interest of our approach through the coding of several social-technical systems.
The Jury
Prof. Wim Vanhoof - University of Namur, BelgiumProf. Jean-Marie Jacquet - University of Namur, BelgiumProf. Katrien Beuls - University of Namur, BelgiumProf. Pierre-Yves Schobbens - University of Namur, BelgiumProf. Laura Bocchi - University of Kent, United KingdomProf. Stefano Mariani - UNIMORE University, Italy
Participation upon registration.
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