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Professor Eli Thoré and Justine Bélik have just been honoured by the Adrien Bauchau Fund (FAB). Created in memory of the founder of the Biology Department at UNamur, the FAB has been promoting excellence in education and research in the life sciences since 1989.

An unusual piece of research recently mobilized teams from UNamur's Biology Department. Genetic analyses carried out by the Environmental and Evolutionary Biology Research Unit (URBE) were able to confirm the protected status of a herd of wild mouflons based in Gesves, and thus highlight the importance of saving them.

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 discovery of nuclear energy marked a turning point in human history. Today, alongside debates about its role in energy production and its destructive potential, nuclear energy continues to be used in a wide range of fields, such as medical research and cancer treatments. At UNamur, nuclear energy is thus at the heart of the work of biologists, physicists, and art historians.

This dissertation proposes to analyze the transformation of subjectivation and the revolutionary event through the works of Walter Benjamin and Gilles Deleuze.Methodologically, the aim is less to compare these two authors or to postulate the existence of a shared thought than to create a “collage,” in the sense proposed in Difference and Repetition, in order to highlight and bring into tension disparate elements through juxtaposition.On a theoretical level, the challenge is to account for the ruptures with causal and signifying chains that revolutionary moments reveal. From this perspective, we extend the Deleuze-Guattarian idea of the “utopia of immanence.” Developed during a fleeting convergence with the Frankfurt School, it situates revolutionary politics in a non-place: outside of stratifications and in opposition to social formations. Driven by a Benjaminian impulse, this notion is unfolded in its negative dimension.In turn, the tradition of the oppressed is drawn onto this plane of immanence. Far from establishing subterranean continuities between established minorities, it consists in the exploration of a field of ruins from which it becomes possible to break with culture and humanity frozen into monumental forms.The JuryProf. Louis CARRÉ (Chair), UNamurProf. Sébastien LAOUREUX (Advisor, Secretary), UNamurProf. Éric ALLIEZ (Co-advisor), University of Paris 8Prof. Jacques-Olivier BÉGOT, University of RennesProf. Maud HAGELSTEIN, ULiègeProf. Frédéric RAMBEAU, University of Paris 8You are cordially invited to attend this defense.The announcement of the results will be followed by a reception in the Academic Hall. More info

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. 

HISTAR Doctoral School Day - Program 10:00 a.m. | Lecture: The Hidden Side of Political Archives in Belgium By Marie-Laurence Dubois, CEO of Valorescence2:00 PM – 4:30 PM | Roundtable: Political Archives and Democratic ChallengesWith:Jean Faniel (CRISP)Marie-Laurence Dubois (Aksoni)Odile Gaultier-Voituron (Sciences Po Paris)Marie-Cerise Fivet (Citizenship and Participation)Joffrey Lienart (Emile Vandervelde Institute) Registration

Abstract When we communicate, we constantly adapt the way we speak so that we can be understood. The goal is to avoid overwhelming our conversation partner with too much new information, while also avoiding the unnecessary repetition of information they already know. In this context, certain pieces of information are highlighted in speech because they are considered new or important to the listener.This thesis focuses specifically on how we emphasize this type of information in conversation. It aims to understand how these mechanisms work, both in a spoken language (taking gestures into account as well), French, and in a sign language, LSFB. What methods are used? How often? And how are they employed in conversation?The presentation will be delivered in three languages: LSFB, French, and English. Jury Prof. Lieven VANDELANOTTE (Chair), UNamurProf. Laurence MEURANT (Advisor), FNRS – UNamurProf. Kathy HUET (Co-advisor), UMonsDr. Jorina BRYSBAERT, FNRS – UCLouvainProf. Véronique DELVAUX, FNRS – UMonsProf. Gaëlle FERRÉ, University of PoitiersProf. Pilar PRIETO VIVES, Pompeu Fabra UniversityDr. Anna PUUPPONEN, University of JyväskyläYou are cordially invited to attend this defense.The announcement will be followed by a reception in the Academic Hall. More info

A plant does not seem to have much in common with animals. Yet naturalists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries attempted to study plants as if they were animals: they set out, for example, to find an equivalent to the circulatory or respiratory systems. Why did they feel the need to resort to analogical reasoning? What results did they obtain? And more generally, what is the value of this type of reasoning?On the agendaTuesday, May 5, 202612:15 PM – Welcome and light lunch1:30 PM – Introductory remarksThibault De Meyer (University of Namur): Why Analogy?2:15 PM – Session 1: Theory and Practice - Cristiana Oghina-Pavie (University of Angers): The analogy of pragmatic knowledge: actions and transactions in 19th-century horticulture and Quentin Hiernaux (FNRS / Free University of Brussels): The plant-animal analogy employed by A.-P. de Candolle’s physiology in addressing the issue of the sensitivity of living beings3:45 PM – Coffee break4:15 PM – Plenary Session 1 - Thierry Hoquet (University of Paris Nanterre): Is the plant/animal analogy valid?5:45 PM – End of the first day7:00 PM – Conference dinnerWednesday, May 6, 20269:00 AM – Welcome9:15 AM – Session 2: Relationships and Boundaries of the Living - Dario Galvão (University of Namur): Analogy and the Faculties of the Living: Animal Reason and Plant Sensibility in the Enlightenment and Ugo Batini (University of Poitiers): Understanding Humanity Through Plants: Analogy and the Metaphysics of the Living in Schopenhauer10:45 AM – Coffee break11:15 AM – Plenary Lecture 2 – Pascal Duris (University of Bordeaux): Plants as Humans. Analogy in Linnaeus and the Linneans12:45 PM – Lunch break2:00 PM – Toward New Disciplines - Vera Staetmanns (Ruhr University Bochum): Do Plants Think? Analogy in the Plant Psychology of Raoul Heinrich Francé (1874–1943) and Matthieu Amat (University of Rouen Normandy): Analogy and Homology: Transfers from the Life Sciences to the Cultural Sciences in the 19th Century3:30 PM – Coffee break4:00 PM – Plenary Session 3 - Aliènor Bertrand (CNRS / ENS de Lyon): “Les œufs du vent” and Their Descendants5:30 PM – Closing of the conference5:45 PM – End of the dayContact: Dario Galvao - dario.galvao@unamur.be

In 2025, two iconic Walloon products—Walloon honey and Liège white blood sausage—were awarded the prestigious European PGI designation. Behind this success lies the AgriLabel project, to which UNamur has been contributing for over a decade. Working alongside producers, specialists, and public institutions, our Department of History played a decisive role: demonstrating, through historical sources and scientific analysis, the close connection between these products and their local terroir. A project at the heart of economic, identity-related, cultural, and scientific issues.

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). 

Abstract Wood combustion has historically provided essential heat and remains a crucial renewable energy source today. However, residential batch combustion inherently emits significant pollutants, including CO, VOCs, and PM. Since primary optimization measures cannot completely eliminate these emissions, secondary post-combustion remediation is necessary.To address this, the University of Namur and Stûv collaborated to evaluate the integration of a monolithic oxidation catalyst into an 8 kW residential wood stove.The initial study demonstrated exceptional abatement, reducing CO by 87%, PM by 66%, and highly toxic PAHs by over 90%. Crucially, in vitro assays on human lung cells proved that this chemical reduction directly translates to a 50% decrease in overall emission cytotoxicity.Subsequent mechanistic investigations using advanced speciation (PTR-TOF-MS) mapped the partial oxidation of non-methane VOCs. This revealed that the catalyst’s overall conversion efficiency is primarily limited by mass transfer rather than chemical kinetics.Finally, to overcome the inherent variability of batch combustion, a precise simultaneous direct-comparison methodology was developed. This novel approach confirmed the overall study’s findings, providing a robust and accurate framework for evaluating residential abatement technologies. Jury Prof. Catherine MICHAUX (UNamur), ChairProf. Bao-Lian SU (UNamur), SecretaryProf. Damien DEBECKER (UCLouvain)Prof. Hervé JEANMART (UCLouvain)Dr. Thomas DUQUESNE (Stüv)