Research institut

Institute of Life, Earth and Environment

Welcome to ILEE, the Institute of Life, Earth and Environment at the University of Namur, committed to addressing pressing environmental issues.We bring together a team of experts from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to work collaboratively using innovative technologies and rigorous scientific methods to make meaningful contributions to the field of environmental science. 

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Research institut

Namur Institute of Language, Text and Transmediality

Bringing together linguists and literary scholars, UNamur's Institute of Language, Text and Transmediality provides a platform for interdisciplinary diachronic and synchronic research into the multiple ways in which different types of verbal and multimodal communicative practices manifest themselves in, give shape to, are regulated by and reflect culture and society.

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Article

"School and Deafness" by M. Ghesquière and L. Meurant wins an award

On 30 November 2022, Magaly Ghesquière and Laurence Meurant (UNamur), co-authors of the book "School and Deafness” (in French “Ecole et Surdité - Une expérience d'enseignement bilingue et inclusif", received the prize for the best book for Teaching and Continuing Education from the Parliament of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. This is another fine award that complements the recent release of the first bilingual sign language-French contextual dictionary searchable in sign language.
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Article

Belgium-Tunisia collaboration: geological and ecological challenges

On Thursday 29 September 2022, the Vice-Rector for International Relations, the International Relations Service and the Department of Geology received Professor Fakher Jamoussi (Tunisia) as part of the "Tunisia on the move - 2022" project. For more than twenty years, the teams of Professors Johan Yans and Fakher Jamoussi have been weaving scientific, didactic and human collaborations aiming at enhancing the fabulous subsoil of Tunisia.
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Article

"La Salle des Pros", the new partner of education professionnals

The four UNamur continuing education centers specializing in the education sector have come together within "La Salle des Pros" to strengthen their collaborations, their cross-functional approach and their visibility. However, each center retains its autonomy and its faculty roots in order to preserve its specificities and maintain a close link with research and the initial training of teachers.
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Article

REF: 4 days of meetings on education and didactics

The Réseau international francophone de recherche en éducation et formation (REF), founded in 1989, brings together every two years in one of the four founding countries (France, Belgium, Quebec, Switzerland) researchers in education sciences and didactics. The meetings are usually held over two days and take the form of parallel symposia on different educational research themes, linked by a common thread. They took place at UNamur last July. A look back at a successful edition.
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Article

From the Namur snail to the Galapagos snail, there is only one step!

An international team of researchers, including Prof Frederik De Laender, from the University of Namur, publish in Nature Communications. The editor highlights that the authors use theoretical models and field data to show how eco-evolutionary processes can force species to develop more similar characteristic traits in more species-rich communities to avoid competition. Which goes against what we intuitively perceive.
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Article

Geologists discover that pterosaurs had feathers

A pterosaur from Brazil that preserved melanosomes in its feathers provides insight into the function of primitive feathers. An international team of palaeontologists and geologists, including UNamur (Dr Aude Cincotta and Prof. Johan Yans), has demonstrated that pterosaurs, the flying cousins of dinosaurs, had feathers and were able to control their colour.
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Article

The long-term effects of pollution in our rivers, oceans and lakes

From 11 to 13 May 2022, a hundred or so scientists and actors from the economic and cultural world gathered at UNamur to discuss the issue of water pollution. The aim? To share and enrich knowledge, but also to alert and inform about its long-term effects on fauna, flora and human beings. Scientific sessions, workshops and a conference for the public were on the programme for these three days.
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Article

Fluorescence: A Closer Look at Insects’ Transparent Wings

In a new study published in February 2023 in the Journal of Luminescence, an international team of scientists led by Sébastien Mouchet of UNamur has revealed previously unknown fluorescent properties of the transparent wings of certain insects. This research demonstrates that valuable information can be obtained using state-of-the-art optical characterization techniques. Here’s how it works.
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Article

A quality research environment through the Namur Research College

At the beginning of each academic year, the Board of Trustees grants Namur Research College (NARC) Fellowship status to researchers who demonstrate a high level of research achievement and who have recently received a prestigious award or funding. A look back at the fellowship of Professor Frederik De Laender.
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Article

« Let's take nature’s values into account »

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) published a report (August 2022) which lists and assesses the different values we place on nature. This is a huge task carried out over three years by experts from all over the world, including Nicolas Dendoncker, professor at the Department of geography and member of the ILEE Institute at the UNamur.
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