Search results

Extensive deliberations have been conducted to strengthen the fundamental research focus of the Master’s program in Biomedical Sciences at UNamur by integrating the curriculum from the Master’s program in Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology (BBMC). This ambitious project has led to the design of an entirely new program, conceived to fully leverage the complementary strengths of these two programs. 

As part of the English course of the Bachelor in Science and Medicine, students are introduced to the oral popularisation of scientific concepts. This year, these future biologists, chemists, geologists/geographers or pharmacists expressed themselves in the form of videos inspired by the famous French science popularisation programme, "C'est pas sorcier". A competition to choose the best video has been launched as part of the Printemps des sciences.

In late November, the Mont-Saint-Guibert-based company Cellistic® donated equipment it no longer used to UNamur. By enabling the university to give this equipment a second life, Cellistic is making an important gesture in support of the development of university research.

Since September 2023, Marc Hennequart, Professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at UNamur, has been conducting groundbreaking research into pancreatic cancer. His team, based at the Faculty of Medicine and the Institut Narilis, studies the early stages of oncogenesis (the process of transforming a normal cell into a cancerous one) to better understand the metabolic changes behind this particularly aggressive cancer.

Beautiful victory for Margaux Mignolet, a researcher at the Faculty of Medicine's Unité de Recherche en Physiologie Moléculaire (URPhyM), who wins 1st prize in the Belgian inter-university final of the Ma thèse en 180 secondes (MT180) competition. Her research? To better understand the mechanisms of antibodies active in cases of long COVID. The second prize in this national competition was also won by a candidate from Namur. It was Petra Manja, from the Unité de Recherche en biologie des micro-organismes (URBM), Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, and is pursuing a thesis aimed at understanding resistance mechanisms in the bacterium E. coli. Both are also researchers at the NARILIS Institute.

In May 2025, the Department of Physics welcomed two special visitors: Serge Mathot and François Briard from Namur, both alumni of UNamur and members of CERN. Several activities were on the program, ranging from a visit to the particle accelerator, to science popularization and thematic seminars, particularly in heritage sciences. The aim? To identify areas or activities in which UNamur and CERN could strengthen their collaboration.

The University of Namur participated in the recent Belgian state visit to Norway with the aim of strengthening collaboration between Belgian and Norwegian universities on major scientific and societal challenges. The UNamur delegation consisted of Rector Annick Castiaux, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Jean-Michel Dogné, and Professor Benoît Muylkens (Department of Veterinary Medicine). 

On Saturday, April 18, 2026, Vice-Rector for Research Benoît Champagne and Professor Anne-Catherine Heuskin, a Télévie project sponsor, represented the UNamur community on the set of the Télévie gala. On this occasion, they presented a check for 20,000 euros to support this FRS-FNRS initiative, which raises funds to finance numerous research projects at universities in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, with one goal: to improve treatments for this disease, which now affects nearly 80,000 new patients and claims nearly 30,000 lives each year in Belgium. 

Initiated and coordinated by Bernard Pireaux (UCLouvain), this collective work - co-authored in particular by Professors Laurent Houssiau and Jim Plumat (UNamur) - offers a reference manual to accompany students of medicine, biomedical sciences and life sciences throughout their course. Designed as a clear, progressive and practical tool, it illustrates just how essential physics is to the understanding of living organisms and to medical practice.

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.

The Covid-19 pandemic is a human tragedy that has caused millions of deaths worldwide and put our entire society under great strain. But it has also been a tremendous collective moment for many UNamur scientists, whose research continues in an attempt to better understand this disease and its consequences.

At UNamur, parchments are much more than objects of curiosity: they are at the heart of an interdisciplinary scientific adventure. Starting with historical sciences and conservation, the research has gradually incorporated the disciplines of physics, biology, chemistry, and archaeology.  This convergence has given rise to research in heritage sciences, driving innovative projects such as Marine Appart's doctoral work, supervised by Professor Olivier Deparis. This research has now been recognized with a publication in the prestigious journal Heritage Science (Nature Publishing Group).