Heritage sciences are experiencing a resurgence at UNamur. This field of research—which involves applying techniques and expertise from the exact sciences (physics, chemistry, biology) to study ancient heritage objects—is reinventing itself thanks to the PHOENIX project, led by seven researchers from the Faculties of Science (Department of Physics) and Philosophy and Letters (Departments of History and Classical Languages and Literatures). 

“PHOENIX emerged from the collaboration of several researchers from different backgrounds, yet all driven by the same desire to study the materiality of heritage objects. One notable figure is Julien Colaux, whose predecessor had led the first heritage science projects at UNamur’s Laboratory of Analysis by Nuclear Reactions (LARN). It’s a sort of return to our roots,” recalls Nicolas Ruffini-Ronzani, a researcher in the Department of History, president of the PaTHs Institute, and one of the project’s leaders. 

With PHOENIX, researchers aim to “make” two types of objects speak: ancient coins and medieval parchments (see box). More specifically, their research is guided by three objectives:

• To understand the composition of the artifacts being studied. For the parchments, to identify the animal species (sheep, goat, or calf); and for the coins, to characterize the metal alloy.
• Gain a better understanding of the production and processing workflow. For example, determine which parts of the animal were used in the production of a parchment.
• To propose the most precise dating possible. 

It is in this last objective that the main challenge lies. “We won’t be able to date these objects to within a year,” warns Olivier Deparis, a professor in the Department of Physics and a member of the NISM research institute. “The idea is to provide a time frame that is as precise, if not more so, than that already provided by paleography (the study of ancient scripts) or textual analysis. If we can narrow it down to a quarter-century, that will already be a significant step forward.”

To achieve this, the PHOENIX team uses various non-invasive techniques, in particular infrared and Raman spectroscopy, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), and ion beam analysis (IBA). These approaches—which utilize UNamur’s state-of-the-art tools such as the ALTAÏS particle accelerator (see Omalius #36)—provide detailed information on the physicochemical composition of materials, such as the animal origin and ink formulations for parchments or the type of metal alloy for coins. “The use of the exact sciences will enrich our studies and thus allow us to better understand how these objects were produced in the past,” explains Nicolas Ruffini-Ronzani. “Contrary to what one might think, collaboration between the humanities and the exact sciences has a long history, dating back to the 19^th century, and even much earlier in the case of coins.”

These tools will make it possible to examine parchments and coins down to the finest detail, at the pixel level. These in-depth analyses therefore generate a colossal volume of raw data to process. This is where artificial intelligence comes into play to speed up the processing and reveal the information “hidden” in the data, identifying major trends invisible to the naked eye. 

Above all, it will provide a boost in meeting the challenge of dating the objects under study. Dated documents, such as charters, will thus be used as references to test the model’s robustness by comparing the results obtained with already known dates. “If the results are convincing, the technique could be applied to undated documents,” says Nicolas Ruffini-Ronzani. This would represent a significant breakthrough in historical research.

“The use of machine learning methods is not a panacea,” Olivier Deparis qualifies, however. “We wanted to explore it as an open-ended question to assess its benefits.”

PHOENIX could thus herald a new era for heritage sciences, where artificial intelligence—much like the phoenix after which the project is named—opens up new ways to analyze and understand materials from the past.

• Francesca Cecchet (Department of Physics – NISM and NARILIS Institutes)
• Lucas Baseil (Department of Physics – NISM Institute)
• Julien Colaux (Department of Physics – NISM and PaTHs Institutes)
• Olivier Deparis (Department of Physics – NISM, naXys, and PaTHs Institutes)
• Christophe Flament (Department of Classical Languages and Literatures – PaTHs Institute)
• Louise Fauchier (Department of Classical Languages and Literature – PaTHs Institute)
• Laurent Houssiau (Department of Physics – NISM Institute)
• Alexandre Mayer (Department of Physics – NISM and naXys Institutes)
• Giulia Morabito (Department of Physics – NISM and PaTHs Institutes)
• Nicolas Ruffini-Ronzani (Department of History – PaTHs Institute)
• Nicolas Gros (Department of Physics – NISM and PaTHs Institutes)
• Manon Bart (Department of Physics – NISM and naXys Institutes)

The PHOENIX project is funded by the Concerted Research Action (ARC) program from September 2024 to August 2029. It is a continuation of the interdisciplinary Pergamenum21 project, launched in 2014 by the Moretus Plantin University Library (BUMP) under the leadership of Professor Olivier Deparis and dedicated to the scientific study of parchment with a view to improving conservation practices.

Young people from Rochefort showcased the PHOENIX project at the international First Lego League competition, a robotics contest open to students aged 10 to 16. To align with the annual theme focused on new technologies in the field of archaeology, this team from the Rochefort Youth and Culture Center drew inspiration from IBA technology to develop a research game designed to identify the origin of Ancient Greek coins modeled using a 3D printer. Their project caught the jury’s eye and earned them a spot in the national finals, which took place last March. Beyond the competition, this original game will be presented during Family Day at the Malagne Archaeological Park (Rochefort). 

This award recognizes young Belgian scientists whose work makes a significant contribution to the advancement of medicine and the biomedical sciences. 

Above all, this designation represents recognition of our scientific, academic, and societal commitment to the field of health. Through our respective careers, we share a common desire to contribute, through research, teaching, and interdisciplinary dialogue, to a better understanding of public health issues and, more broadly, to improving the health of the population.

- Charlotte Beaudart and Jonathan Douxfils

“This designation is also important because it allows us to engage in a space for reflection that goes beyond the usual institutional frameworks,” adds Jonathan Douxfils.

 The College indeed offers a valuable opportunity to collaborate with researchers from other universities, other disciplines, and other generations of scientists. 

“In a context where medical, scientific, and societal challenges are becoming increasingly complex, this cross-disciplinary and transgenerational approach seems essential to us for fostering collective intelligence, serving the Academy, the scientific community, and society,” he continues. 

Within this College, Charlotte Beaudart and Jonathan Douxfils will contribute their expertise in their respective fields (clinical pharmacology and toxicology, as well as aging), fostering a culture of collegiality, knowledge sharing, and collaboration. 

“Our ambition is to help develop initiatives that bridge the gaps between basic research, clinical research, public health, and innovation, while fostering a scientific culture grounded in rigor, openness, cooperation, and service to the common good,” they conclude. 

The European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis, and Musculoskeletal Diseases (ESCEO) and the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) have also recently awarded him the 2026 ESCEO-IOF Pierre Meunier Prize (https://www.osteoporosis.foundation/news/charlotte-beaudart-receives-prestigious-esceo-iof-pierre-meunier-young-scientist-award) for the young scientist. This prestigious annual award was presented in April 2026 during the WCO-IOF-ESCEO Congress in Prague. 

Charlotte Beaudart’s work focuses on aging and, more specifically, on sarcopenia, a condition characterized by the loss of muscle mass and function in older adults. Through her research, Charlotte Beaudart has made a significant contribution to a better understanding of this condition, notably through the development of the SarcoPhAge cohort (for Sarcopenia and Physical Impairments with advancing Age), a Belgian cohort comprising more than 500 individuals over the age of 65 who were prospectively followed for 10 years, and the creation of the SarQoL questionnaire, now used internationally to assess the quality of life of patients with sarcopenia.

Since 2023, he has headed a research unit in clinical pharmacology and toxicology, comprising seven faculty members and about ten doctoral students. Professor Douxfils collaborates with numerous researchers in the industrial, hospital, and academic sectors to develop precise and sensitive biomarkers in hemostasis, serology, oncology, and, more recently, neurology. He has secured significant funding for his research in thrombosis, hemostasis, infectious diseases, oncology, and gene therapies. His multidisciplinary approach and expertise in blood biomarkers enable him to work on interconnected projects. He has also served as a pharmacovigilance expert at the European Medicines Agency as an evaluator, co-chairs the SSC Control of Anticoagulation at the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH), and is a member of the Haemostasis Diagnostics expert team at ECAT as well as the Belgian Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis (BSTH). He coordinates the recommendations of the International Council for Standardization in Hematology (ICSH) on the measurement of direct oral anticoagulants and is an associate editor for several scientific journals.

At the initiative of its Permanent Secretary, Georges Casimir, the Academy sought to establish a College of Young Researchers with which it collaborates in a structured and regular manner. It serves as an advisory and forward-looking body for the Academy.
Its mission is:

1. to attract and engage young researchers in the scientific and academic life of the ARMB;
2. to foster reflection on current and future challenges in basic, translational, and clinical (bio)medical research;
3. to serve as a source of ideas and proposals for the ARMB’s Executive Board, Sections, and Committees;
4. to organize, in collaboration with the Academy, at least one annual scientific session dedicated to young researchers.

The College consists of 36 full members, with six members per ARMB Section; the Executive Board may propose up to four additional full members to bring the total to 40. Members must be under 46 years of age as of December 31 of the year of their appointment and must have held a master’s degree for at least 11 years.

For the MSCA Doctoral Networks 2025 call, 1,616 proposals were submitted and 141 were selected, representing a success rate of 9.6%. In this highly competitive environment, the selection of three projects involving UNamur sends a strong signal: it confirms the scientific excellence of Namur’s teams and their ability to build high-level international partnerships in support of doctoral training and innovation. Six doctoral dissertations will be eligible for funding.

In many neurological diseases, both inflammation of the nervous system and imbalances in the gut microbiota are observed. GlycoAxis aims to go beyond simple correlations by identifying the molecular “messengers” that link the gut, the immune system, and the brain. The project focuses on complex sugars found on the surface of certain bacteria (glycans), which are suspected of playing a key role in immune activation and neuroinflammation. The goal: to better understand these mechanisms and pave the way for new diagnostic tools, imaging techniques, or biomarkers for brain health.

In the face of climate change, pollution, and habitat fragmentation, some ecosystems weather the shocks… while others collapse. ReDiLeep focuses on a key driver of this resilience: response diversity—that is, the fact that different species (or ecological functions) do not all react in the same way to a disturbance. The project aims to better measure and model this mechanism in order to link research more directly to the needs of conservation, restoration, and public policy regarding biodiversity.

Our digital communications rely on light: optical fibers, sensors, and photonic circuits capable of processing information. But with the explosion of data, the rise of AI, and the advent of ever-faster networks, it is becoming crucial to control light dynamically—much faster than is possible with current components, which are often “static.” SPARK is exploring a new approach: combining spatiotemporal metamaterials (nanoscale structures designed to shape light) with light that is itself “structured” in space and time. The result: reconfigurable photonic technologies for computing, imaging, and ultra-fast communications.

Long COVID remains difficult to diagnose and treat, particularly in Belgium. A recent report estimated that this hidden epidemic will impose an annual societal cost of tens of billions of euros on OECD member countries. In the absence of clear biomarkers, many practitioners still sometimes mistakenly attribute some of the symptoms to psychosomatic causes. Since 2022, the team led by Prof. Charles Nicaise (Molecular Physiology Research Unit - Namur Research Institute for Life Sciences (NARILIS) - UNamur), notably through the work of Margaux Mignolet, a FRIA researcher and PhD student, has been exploring the hypothesis of immune dysregulation occurring during acute infection and leading to the production of autoantibodies directed against components of the nervous system.

Thirteen patients whose symptoms were consistent with long neurological COVID and were confirmed by tests assessing their cognitive and pain-related complaints were included in this study. 

After collecting blood samples, the researchers isolated the patients’ immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies and studied their effects in a passive transfer mouse model at Professor Charles Nicaise’s LNR laboratory. The animals underwent a battery of behavioural tests assessing, in particular, pain sensitivity thresholds, as well as other cognitive, anxiety, or depressive disorders.

• IgG transfer and pain: After transfer of IgG from patients, mice develop painful hypersensitivity, specifically mechanical allodynia—meaning that a tactile stimulus that is usually painless becomes painful—as well as thermal hyperalgesia—meaning that an uncomfortable hot or cold stimulus becomes very painful.
• Specificity of the effect: the transfer of these IgG to laboratory mice does not induce cognitive (e.g., memory), anxiety, or depressive disorders, suggesting distinct mechanisms depending on the symptoms.
• Proof of causality: when the antibodies are destroyed before injection, or when serum from which IgG has been removed is injected, the painful effect disappears.
• Target of autoantibodies: IgG binds to the spinal ganglia along the spinal column, structures containing sensory neurons that relay information, for example, between the skin and the brain. Autoantibodies recognize peripheral neurons involved in pain (nociception) and the perception of body position or deep sensation (proprioception).

Left: Mouse ganglion (a structure located along the spine). Green indicates sensory neurons; red indicates antibodies from long-COVID patients; yellow indicates the colocalization of neurons and antibodies. This demonstrates that the patients’ antibodies target sensory neurons.  

Right: Human ganglion to which antibodies from long-COVID patients were applied to verify whether binding to sensory neurons occurs as in mice. In blue, cell nuclei; in red, antibodies from long-COVID patients, proving that antibodies from long-COVID patients bind to human sensory neurons. 

“We are the second group in the world, following UMC Utrecht just a few weeks ago, to demonstrate that painful symptoms in long-COVID patients are mediated by an autoimmune reaction, based on the presence of immunoglobulin G-type autoantibodies,” summarizes Prof. Charles Nicaise. 

Other studies conducted independently at Yale University and King’s College London are currently undergoing peer review and appear to support these findings. 

These findings help to provide scientific evidence for some aspects of long COVID by establishing a biological basis for the pain component. They open up therapeutic avenues aimed at identifying and then eliminating circulating pathogenic autoantibodies—for example, through plasmapheresis (plasma filtration) or targeted therapies based on anti-autoantibodies. The study suggests, however, that the frequently reported cognitive impairments may stem from other mechanisms that have yet to be elucidated.

• Charles Nicaise, URPhyM, NARILIS, UNamur
• Margaux Mignolet, URPhyM, NARILIS, UNamur
• Catherine Deroux, Memory Clinic, UCL Namur University Hospital (Godinne campus)
• Prof. Pierre Bulpa, Intensive Care, CHU UCL Namur (Godinne site)

As well as all the staff, doctors, virologists, students, laboratory technicians, patients, and volunteers whom the team thanks for their dedication.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a human tragedy that has claimed millions of lives worldwide and placed our entire society under immense strain. But it has also been a powerful collective experience for many scientists at UNamur, whose research continues in an effort to better understand this disease and its consequences.

Read our article: Covid-19, Five Years On: A Look Back at UNamur’s Major Role in Addressing the Pandemic