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In human societies as well as in ecosystems, opportunistic behaviour does not always prevail. The scientific article, fruit of the collaboration between research teams in India, Slovenia and Belgium, has just been published in the prestigious PNAS journal.

September 14, 2026 What's on the schedule for everyone9:00 a.m. | Welcome at Pedro Arrupe, Rue de Bruxelles 67, 5000 Namur9:30 a.m. | Ceremony at Pedro Arrupe 11:00 a.m. | Back-to-school celebration at Saint-Loup Church—to be confirmed, rue du Collège, 5000 Namur—followed by a welcome for students by the student clubs. Block 1 - All Programs On September 14, starting at 1:30 p.m., on the ground floor of the Faculty building (in front of the Adam Smith Auditorium). Students who have earned 30 or more credits – Information and Communication On September 14, starting at 1:00 p.m. on the first floor (Lecture Hall E12) of the Faculty.  Students who have earned 30 or more credits – Political Science On September 14, starting at 2:00 p.m. on the 3rd floor (E34) of the Faculty building.  Students who have earned 30 or more credits – Economics and Management and Management Engineering On September 14, starting at 3:15 p.m. on the first floor (Lecture Hall E12) of the Faculty. Block 3 in Economics and Management and Management Engineering On September 14, starting at 1:45 p.m., on the ground floor of the Faculty building (in front of the Adam Smith Auditorium). Block 1 - Master's in Management Science and Management Engineering On September 14, starting at 1:45 p.m., on the ground floor of the Faculty building (in front of the Adam Smith Auditorium). Master's in Management Science (60 & 120) with Course Units (Bridge Program) On September 14, starting at 1:00 p.m. on the first floor (Lecture Hall E13) of the Faculty. Master's Degree in Economics  On September 14, starting at 9:30 a.m. at the Louvain-La-Neuve campus. Master's Degree in International and Development Economics On September 3, starting at 12:00 p.m., “Orientation Days” will be held in Seminar Room E33 (3rd floor) of the Faculty. Monday, September 14, “Welcome Session” at 11:00 a.m. in Seminar Room E33 (3rd floor) of the Faculty. Time-Shifted Programs On September 12, starting at 9:00 a.m. on the 1st floor (Lecture Hall E13) of the Faculty.  And before school starts? Give yourself the best possible chance—enroll in preparatory courses!Preparatory courses allow you to get a taste of university-level education by reviewing the subjects essential to your future program of study.Designed exclusively for students graduating in 2026, these preparatory courses—scheduled between mid-August and early September—are tailored to each university program.Learn more about the schedules for the different sessions and register for the preparatory courses...  To make the most of your first semester at the university, be sure to attend the orientation days!The orientation days will take place on September 10 and 11, 2026.On the agenda: a tour of the campus and the city, a student housing fair (KàPs), themed workshops (student rights, digital tools, budgeting, student engagement, sports, and more), a barbecue, and a super-enthusiastic team ready to help you discover life on campus!Thursday, September 10: 7:30 a.m. – Student check-in; 8:30 a.m.–12:40 p.m. - Workshops for students; 12:40 p.m. – Lunch – Barbecue available by registration (€3.60 per sausage sandwich / falafel sandwich) and a bar run by the AGE; 2:00–6:00 p.m. - Project-based student housing fair; 8:30 p.m.–1:00 a.m. – Bunker reserved for first-year studentsFriday, the 11th: 8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. - Workshops for students; 12:30 p.m. - Lunch; 2:00 p.m. - Depending on the faculty: organized by the faculty or open to all.Reserved for new students - Information will be sent after registration at UNamur.    Image Manage Your Studies All important information, links, and FAQs. Learn more

The PDID symposium is finally back in 2026! Organized every two years by the Belgian Biophysical Society (BBS) and the Laboratoire de Chimie Physique des Biomolécules (CPB), the PDID symposium is an intimate and friendly event for exchanging new ideas and meeting leading experts in the field in the quintessentially Belgian city of Namur, the capital of Wallonia, located at the confluence of the Meuse and Sambre rivers.We welcome participants from any scientific background who are particularly interested in delving into the world of biomolecular dynamics and exploring their unique behaviors, including structural transitions, interaction networks, protein-ligand interactions, self-assembly, amyloid fibrillation, condensation, phase separation, and phase transitions. Through the lens of biophysics, biochemistry, bioinformatics, and molecular biology, the program aims to cover both experimental and computational approaches for characterizing such intricate and elusive systems in health-related, biotechnological, and biomaterial contexts. Detailed program and registration here

Le Confluent des Savoirs (CDS), UNamur’s public outreach and research dissemination service, has launched INSIGHT OUT, a series of popular science videos aimed at introducing the general public—as well as schoolchildren—to university research that is often considered too specialized to be accessible outside the academic world. 

JuryProf. Steve LANNERS (UNamur), ChairProf. Johan WOUTERS (UNamur), SecretaryProf. Pierre FRANCOTTE (ULiège)Dr. Marie HAUFROID (UCB)Prof. Lionel POCHET (UNamur)AbstractCurrently, Mycobacterium tuberculosis remains the second deadliest infectious agent in the world, responsible for 1.6 million deaths in 2021. The burden and cost of current treatment (6 months and 4,000 euros), coupled with the alarming emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains, underscore the absolute urgency of developing new therapeutic molecules. This study focuses on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis phosphoserine phosphatase (MtSerB2), an enzyme essential for serine biosynthesis and vital to the pathogen’s survival. Furthermore, this protein plays a key role in host invasion (through its interactions with the NF-κB factor and the cellular cytoskeleton), making MtSerB2 a prime therapeutic target for the development of new, potent anti-tuberculosis drugs.One of the innovative strategies explored in this thesis is based on destabilizing the protein’s structure (disruption of protein structure). The goal is to design a molecule capable of disrupting the enzyme’s conformation, thereby causing it to lose its catalytic activity. This new class of molecules is expected to exhibit significantly higher selectivity for MtSerB2 compared to its human homolog, human phosphoserine phosphatase (hPSP).To this end, the Mycobacterium avium phosphoserine phosphatase (MaSerB) was initially used as a model system, justified by its 83% sequence identity with MtSerB2 and its propensity to crystallize rapidly. Initially, a virtual screening of drugs already available on the market was conducted to identify potential inhibitors of MaSerB. Enzymatic assays based on malachite green detectionwere then performed to evaluate the inhibitory activity of the various candidates. The results demonstrated increased selectivity of these compounds for dimeric proteins (MtSerB2 and MaSerB) compared to the human enzyme hPSP.Notably, subsequent enzymatic assays conducted directly on MtSerB2 revealed response profiles that differed from those observed with the MaSerB model. To elucidate the molecular basis of these differences, the structure of the protein in its ligand-bound state is currently being investigated. To this end, protein-inhibitor complexes have been crystallized and will be analyzed by X-ray diffraction.

JuryProf. Carine MICHIELS (UNamur), ChairProf. Anne-Catherine HEUSKIN (UNamur), SecretaryProf. Stéphane LUCAS (UNamur)Dr. Rudi LABARBE (IBA)Prof. Joao SECO (German Cancer Research Center)Prof. Simon GALAS (University of Montpellier)AbstractRadiotherapy is one of the most widely used treatments for cancer and plays a central role in modern oncology. While technological advances have greatly improved the precision of radiation delivery, damage to healthy tissues surrounding the tumor remains a major limitation. In recent years, an innovative approach known as FLASH radiotherapy has attracted considerable attention. Unlike conventional radiotherapy, FLASH delivers the therapeutic radiation dose within a fraction of a second using ultra-high dose rates. A growing body of evidence suggests that this approach may reduce radiation-induced side effects in healthy tissues while maintaining the ability to control tumours. However, the biological mechanisms responsible for this protective effect remain poorly understood.This thesis addressed two key challenges in FLASH research. The first was the development and characterization of an experimental platform capable of generating ultra-high dose rate irradiations using the ALTAÏS accelerator at the University of Namur. This work involved designing irradiation systems, validating beam dosimetry, and establishing robust experimental protocols to ensure accurate and reproducible exposure conditions. The second objective was to introduce a new biological model for FLASH investigations: the microscopic nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). This organism offers several advantages, including a short life cycle, ease of handling, low cost, and the conservation of many fundamental biological processes shared with higher organisms. These characteristics make it an attractive complementary model for studying radiation responses and exploring the mechanisms underlying the FLASH effect.This thesis demonstrated the suitability of C. elegans as a model for investigating biological responses to ultra-high dose rate irradiation. Studies of developmental and neurobiological endpoints across multiple irradiation conditions highlighted its potential for mechanistic FLASH research. Together, these findings provide valuable tools to advance our understanding of the FLASH effect. More broadly, they contribute to the development of safer radiotherapy strategies aimed at reducing treatment-related toxicity and improving patient quality of life.

Researchers at ULiège and UNamur are developing a new electrochromic material: MoWOx.

An international team of researchers has just published an article in the prestigious journal Light: Science & Applications (LSA) from the Nature group.  The teams led by Professors Michaël Lobet and Alexandre Mayer (University of Namur) collaborated with the team led by Professor Shanhui Fan, one of the leading experts in the field, from the prestigious Stanford University in California (USA).  The result: an article entitled ‘Twist-Induced Beam Steering and Blazing Effects in Photonic Crystal Devices’, or the study of beam deflection by twisting in photonic crystal devices.  Come on, let's twist light again at UNamur! 

Michaël Lobet, professor in the Department of Physics, and André Fuzfa, astrophysicist and professor in the Department of Mathematics at UNamur, have just been awarded a grant from the Wernaers Fund to develop an original scientific project: the design of a comic strip that will explore all the fascinating facets of energy. Aimed at a "student" audience, it will weave the link between science and science fiction, and will be produced thanks to the invaluable pencil strokes of illustrator Jean-Marc Dubois.

Since its launch in December 2022, ChatGPT, the chatbot developed by OpenAI, an artificial intelligence company co-founded by Elon Musk, has continued to elicit astonished comments and concerned questions, including: is the human brain still useful?

Faced with the ecological crisis and soaring energy prices, the energy transition has become an undeniable emergency. Every day, at UNamur, researchers from a wide range of fields - geology, chemistry, physics, computer science - are thinking about innovative ways of dealing with this perilous future.

Professors, lecturers, assistants and pedagogical experts from UNamur took part in a workshop to evaluate and critique the use of ChatGPT in university courses. Numerous examples of practices including AI in teaching were carried out in the courses offered at UNamur this term. A survey was also carried out among Block 1 students on their use and knowledge of artificial intelligence.