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For the past fifteen years or so, participatory and deliberative democracy mechanisms have been multiplying: participatory budgets, popular consultations, citizens' panels, and so on. Vincent Jacquet, a political scientist and coordinator of the European research project Citizen Impact (ERC project, European Research Council), studies the impact of these devices from the point of view of governors and citizens.

Trust of traditional political institutions and elected representatives, rise of authoritarian logics, definition of public services... Democracy today seems to be going through a turbulent zone. What role does the university play in this context? To shed light on this question, we interviewed four researchers from different disciplines: educationalist Sephora Boucenna, philosopher Louis Carré, political scientist Vincent Jacquet and legal scholar Aline Nardi. Their contrasting views sketch out the contours of an issue that is more topical than ever: thinking about and defending the link between university and democracy.

Established about ten years ago within the UNamur School of Law, the Center for Vulnerabilities and Societies (V&S) has established itself as a hub for research and critical reflection on contemporary situations of vulnerability. Born from the merger of two existing centers (PROJUCIT and Fundamental Rights and Social Cohesion), it has gradually organized itself around a clear objective: to analyze how the law addresses the realities experienced by people affected by poverty, precariousness, and discrimination, or whose fundamental rights are at risk of being compromised.

Increasingly demanding workloads, an imbalance between work and personal life, and greater performance scrutiny… the world of work is undergoing profound changes. In this context, how can we enable individuals to remain engaged and find lasting fulfillment in their professional lives? A new ARC research project called “SUSCARE” proposes an innovative solution: placing the concept of care at the heart of organizational practices.

The "Vulnerabilities and Societies" research center brings together members from various UNamur Faculties with the aim of studying the dynamics of vulnerability in our societies.

What if, starting in high school, students could contribute to real scientific research? That is the goal of the “student-researcher” program, launched at UNamur more than fifteen years ago. Donaciene Quoirin and Lisa Salmon, law students, have experienced it firsthand. Their stories.

Lately, and thanks to LUMI, one of Europe's largest supercomputers, the limits of our knowledge of cell lipid membranes have been pushed back. A team of Namur researchers, including Professor Benoît Champagne and Drs. Pierre Beaujean and Charlotte Bouquiaux, has just published in the Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling. The results of this study pave the way for new approaches in the field of membrane lipid therapy.

One year after receiving funding from the European Research Council (ERC) for his B-Yond project, Prof Guillaume Berionni has just been named a Fellow of the prestigious European chemistry society Chemistry Europe. This distinction makes him the new representative for Belgium for a period of 2 years.

Prof. Olivier Deparis and Dr Sébastien Mouchet (University of Namur, NISM Institute, Department of Physics) have published a book on the theme of physical optics and environmental biology. On the path of Jean-Pol Vigneron’s research, this “avant-garde” book according to Artech House, opens the door to bioinspired applications in the fields of optics, energy and the environment. Explanation.

This is a technical and scientific feat that has just been patented at the UNamur. Researchers from the Laboratory of Analysis by Nuclear Reactions (LARN), the Department of Physics of UNamur (NISM Institute) and the spin-off Innovative Coating Solutions (ICS) have succeeded in developing a carbon-based coating with innovative properties that can be used in a wide range of fields, including fuel cells, decoration, and mechanical parts for automobiles.

On 9 June 2023, the NISM and naXys Institutes, the Physics and Chemistry Departments and the Namur Research College were delighted to welcome Prof. Jean-Luc Brédas from the University of Arizona. A prestigious speaker of international renown, Prof. Brédas completed his doctoral thesis with Prof. Jean-Marie André at the University of Namur.

In January 2023, an international symposium on organic chemistry was held at UNamur in honour of the 80th birthday of Professor Emeritus Alain Krief. A scientific day with six renowned speakers, including Professor Jean-Marie Lehn, 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Interview.