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.
Launched in 2010 by NARILIS (Namur Research Institute for Life Sciences), the “student-researcher” program is based on a simple yet ambitious idea: to enable motivated students to immerse themselves in research starting in their undergraduate years. The goal is not necessarily to train future academics, but to push students out of their comfort zones, to develop their ability to learn independently, and to tackle complex subjects methodically and autonomously. These are valuable skills, regardless of the career path they choose.
Today, this educational model is gaining traction beyond the NARILIS Institute. At the UNamur Law Faculty, Donaciene Quoirin tried the experiment last year as part of writing a scientific article alongside Géraldine Mathieu, a professor of family and juvenile law, and Bee Marique, a lawyer and teaching assistant. Her mission? To give children a voice. This year, she has joined Lisa Salmon in the CAPACITI project, focused on children’s rights, in collaboration with researcher Manon Brulard.
CAPACITI is a research project aimed at engaging children in learning about and advocating for their rights. Far from being a desk-bound endeavor, it involves going directly to meet with children—particularly in schools—to hear their voices and understand how they perceive their rights.
The students were therefore tasked with designing fun educational tools, leading workshops with classes, taking notes, and facilitating activities.
“For example, we created a little game called ‘Agree, Disagree,’ using signs, and a picture game to match a right with its illustration… These are practical tools we developed in collaboration with Manon Brulard,” explains Donaciene.
Lisa, for her part, focused on developing a board game inspired by Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit, while actively participating in on-site activities.
More recently, they have also contributed to in-depth research on the procedures for hearing children under Belgian law. This work will enable the creation of fun fact sheets for children to answer all their questions about how hearings before a judge take place.
What strikes Donaciene and Lisa is not only the intellectual depth of the project, but the human reality it reveals. During the workshops in schools, the children open up with disarming ease, sometimes on very sensitive topics.
“We’ve been here for two hours, and they’re coming up to us to talk about very personal things. I found that pretty impressive,” Donaciene says.
Lisa, for her part, was struck by the way the children sometimes look at one another: “What struck me is that even among themselves, they can judge each other. Children trying to speak, not very sure of themselves, facing a group that judges…”
On the issue of rights themselves, the conclusion is clear: children know little, or misunderstand, their practical implications. “They’re for them and they’re essential, but they don’t know much about them,” Lisa sums up. Donaciene, for her part, observes two types: those who know they have rights but feel they aren’t respected much in the face of parental authority, and those who’ve never heard of them.
“I really want to treat them as full-fledged researchers. I give them meaningful assignments—ones that will have a tangible impact. I don’t want to ask them to do work that no one will read.”
What makes this educational program particularly unique is also the nature of the relationship between the researcher and the students. Manon Brulard, the project’s principal investigator, is only three years older than Donaciene and Lisa. This closeness fosters a genuine, horizontal dynamic of collaboration, far removed from the traditional mentor-mentee model.
“I really want to treat them as full-fledged researchers. I give them meaningful tasks—tasks that will have a tangible impact. I don’t want to ask them to do work that no one will read,” Manon insists.
For her, working with student researchers also breaks the isolation inherent in research: “Research is a very solitary endeavor. Being able to discuss things after the sessions, to share ideas, is extremely enriching.”
The inclusion of the student-researcher status in the curriculum is no small matter. While Donaciene initially contributed on a volunteer basis as a student-researcher to the drafting of a scientific article, student participation in the CAPACITI project is now recognized as part of their legal internship, earning them 4 credits.
But beyond the credits, it is the experience itself that matters most. Donaciene puts it bluntly: seeing research from the inside, from its inception to its concrete outcomes, has opened her eyes to the profession of research. Lisa, for her part, regrets that the program is still not well-known enough: “If I hadn’t taken the Youth Law track, I would never have known this role existed.”
Both hope to continue the adventure next year and perhaps, one day, make research their career. Provided, they point out with clarity, that the criteria for entering an academic career do not close doors to students who are already rich in concrete and valuable experience.
