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New Christian churches are experiencing spectacular growth, particularly in Africa. While they are attracting a growing number of followers, it is notable that women are joining them far more often than men. Catherine Guirkinger, a professor and researcher in development economics, examines this gendered phenomenon of religious conversion and the economic mechanisms underlying it. This original research has just received prestigious WelCHANGE funding through the 2025 call for proposals from the F.R.S-FNRS. 

The FNRS has awarded the five-year Ernest-John Solvay Prize in the Social Sciences to Jean-Marie Baland, Professor in the Department of Economics at UNamur's EMCP Faculty and co-founder of the DeFiPP Institute's Centre de Recherche en Economie du Développement (CRED). A major accolade for a career devoted to the study of poverty, informal institutions and sustainable development..

Alexandre Mauroy has been a professor and researcher in the Department of Mathematics for almost 10 years, working in the field of dynamical systems. He is also Director of the naXys Research Institute, which puts its expertise in complex systems at the service of UNamur researchers from all disciplines. Aware of the sometimes austere reputation of maths among the general public, Alexandre Mauroy works to demonstrate that this discipline is at the heart of today's technological and scientific challenges..

Our keynote speakers for 2026 are Professor Roosmarijn Vandenbroucke (Ghent University) and Professor Nelly Litvak (Eindhoven University of Technology). More information on the "Women in Science" website

The F.R.S.-FNRS has just published the results of its various 2025 calls for proposals. These include the "Credits & Projects" and "WelCHANGE" calls, as well as the "FRIA" (Fund for Research Training in Industry and Agriculture) and "FRESH" (Fund for Research in the Humanities) calls, which aim to support doctoral theses. What are the results for UNamur? Twenty-eight projects have been selected, demonstrating the quality and richness of research at UNamur. 

On the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science proclaimed on February 11 by the United Nations General Assembly, and as part of the European alliance European Space University for Earth and Humanity (UNIVERSEH) focusing on the theme of space, discover the testimonies of four women scientists from UNamur working on astronomical themes.

Statistics usually focus on anticipating events that fall within the norm. But what about rare events? They are dealt with by a branch of mathematics called extreme value theory, in which Anna Kiriliouk, lecturer in statistics at UNamur, is a specialist. Applied to the climate, this theory enables us to better predict extreme climatic events, at a time when these are multiplying due to climate change.

Program FEBRUARY 139.00-9.30 Registration Auditorium E13Chair: Jean-Marie Baland9.30-10.15 Catherine Guirkinger (University of Namur) - Height, parental investments and marriage payments in sub-Saharan Africa10.15-11 Clément Imbert (Sc Pos Paris) - Dry Lives: Climate Adaptation and Mortality in the Semi-arid Regions of Brazil 11-11.30 coffee break11.30-12.15 Karlijn Morsink (Utrecht University) - Keeping the Peace while Getting Your Way: Information, Persuasion and Intimate Partner Violence12.15-13.00 Liam Wren-Lewis (Paris School of Economics) - Decentralization, Ethnic Fractionalization, and Public Services: Evidence from Kenyan Healthcare 13.00-14.10 Lunch Break and EC MeetingChair: Guilhem Cassan14.15-15.00 Christelle Dumas (University of Fribourg) Informal labor exchange teams and participation on the labor market: Evidence from rural Tanzania15.00-15.45 Andreas Madestam (University of Stockholm) Credit Contracts, Business Development and Gender: Evidence from Uganda15.45-16.15 Coffee Break16.15-17.00 Salvatore di Falco (University of Geneva) Farming, Non-Farm Enterprise, and Migration Under Incomplete Markets17:00-17:45 Jadnith Kaur (University of Glasgow) How Much Do I Matter? Teacher Self-Beliefs, Effort, and Education Production18:15 EUDN General Assembly 19.30 Conference DinnerFEBRUARY 14Chair: Sylvie Lambert9.30-10.15 Yannick Dupraz (University of Paris Dauphine) A century of language and migration in India10:15-11:00 Laura Montebruck (Stockholm University) Fiscal exchange and Tax Compliance: Strengthening the the Social Contract Under Low State Capacity 11-11.30 coffee break11.30-12.15 Justine Knebelmann (Sciences Po, Paris) Discretion versus Algorithms: Bureaucrats and Tax Equity in Senegal12.15-13.00 Imelda (Geneva Graduate Institute) Crime in the Dark: Role of Electricity Rationing 13.00-14.00 Lunch BreakChair: Catherine Guirkinger14.00-14:45 Rieger Matthias (Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management, Rotterdam) Shaken, not Stunted? Global Evidence on Natural Disasters, Child Growth and Recovery14.45-15:30 Guilhem Cassan (University of Namur) Political Determinants of the News Market: Novel Data and Quasi-Experimental evidence from India 15.45 End of the Conference Full program

An astrophysics expert, Professor André Fűzfa (Faculté des sciences, Institut Naxys) also harnesses his scientific knowledge to take everyone on a journey into the world of the imagination, through literature. Finding Ganymede is his new novel, co-created with illustrator Fabrice Rasir, an alumnus of the Mathematics Department. A book that incorporates images generated by artificial intelligence (AI). The novel is thus a skilful blend of graphic AI, physics and fiction that helps stimulate the imagination while providing an instructive dimension.

Professor Timoteo Carletti of the University of Namur has just published in the prestigious journal Nature Physics in collaboration with Professor Ginestra Bianconi of Queen Mary University of London and eight other international researchers. This groundbreaking study could lead to the development of new AI algorithms, new ways of studying brain function, or breakthroughs in disciplines such as physics, climate science, finance and many others.

For the past ten years, Professor Guilhem Cassan has been working on the question of the link between the media and political life in collaboration with Professor Julia Cagé, who has just been awarded the highly prestigious Yrjö Jahnsson Prize, which recognizes the best European economist under the age of 45. The UNamur Department of Economics (EMCP Faculty) and the DeFiPP Institute (CRED Centre) have a network and recognized international expertise in development economics and environmental economics.

The program 2:00 pm | Keynote lecture on the use of AI in research - Hugues BERSINI, Professor at the Université libre de Bruxelles: "Can science be just data driven?" 3:00 pm | Presentations by UNamur researchers3:00 pm | Catherine Guirkinger: Use of AI in an economic history project3:15 pm | Nicolas Roy (PI: Alexandre Mayer): AI at the service of innovation in photonics and optics: revealing the secrets of scrolls through the classification of animal species15:25 | Nemanja Antonic (PI: Elio Tuci): An in silico representation of C. elegans collective behaviour<15h35 | Nicolas Franco : The benefits and dangers of "predicting the future" with covid-like machine learning models 15h45 | Michel Ajzen : Managerial and human implications of AI in organizations <15h55 | Robin Ghyselinck (PI : Bruno Dumas) : Deep Learning for endoscopy: towards next generation computer-aided diagnosis4:05 pm | Auguste Debroise (PI : Guilhem Cassan) : LLMs to measure the importance of stereotypes within gender representations in Hollywood films16h15 | Gabriel Dias De Carvalho : Learning practices in physics using generative AI16h25 | Sébastien Dujardin (PI : Catherine Linard) : Where Geography meets AI: A case study on mapping online flood conversations16h35 | Jeremy Dodeigne : LLMs in SHS: revolutionary tools in a Wild West Territory? Reflections on costs, transparency and open science16h45 | Antoinette Rouvroy : Governing AI in Democracy17h00 | Keynote lecture on ethics and guidelines to consider when using AI in research projects and writing research articles - Bettina BERENDT, Professor at KU Leuven18h00 | Benoît Frenay and Michaël Lobet : Creation of an IA scientific committee at UNamur18:10 | DrinkA certificate of attendance, worth 0.5 cross-disciplinary doctoral training credits, will be issued on request. Contact: secretariat.adre@unamur.beThis event is free of charge, but registration is required. I want to register