All "ARC" projects led by or with researchers from ULB

Two types of ARC exist at ULB: ‘consolidating’ ARCs, intended for recently hired academics, and ‘advanced’ ARCs, for more experienced teams.

For the 2020-2025, 2018-2023 and 2016-2021 calls for proposals, 9 "consolidator" and 9 "advanced" projects are supported at the ULB. 



 

2020-2025 projects

ARC "Consolidator" 2020-2025

CapTure: Capillary Trapping and Slender Structure

Some nectar-feeding animals have ‘hairy’ tongues, shaped like a paintbrush. This is the case, for instance, of the bee, whose tongue hairs spread out when in contact with nectar. Little is still known about the role these hairs play in capturing the liquid; this project’s goal is to better understand the mechanisms at play. Read more...

Spokesperson: Fabian Brau, Nonlinear Physical Chemistry Unit, Faculty of Sciences

tRNA hypomethylation and fragmentation in pancreatic β-cells – a novel mechanism of diabetes development

We currently do not fully understand what causes certain types of diabetes. This project’s goal is to gain insight into the development of monogenic diabetes, which is caused by mutations in a specific gene, and of type 1 diabetes (which is polygenic). Read more...

Spokesperson: Mariana Igoillo Esteve, ULB Center for Diabetes Research, Faculty of Medicine

EXPLORE: Contribution of gEnome-wide eXPression profiLes tO the Risk of hEpatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent form of liver cancer, and the third cause of cancer deaths worldwide. It occurs especially often in patients suffering from liver diseases related, for instance, to alcohol, diabetes and excess weight. HCC is particularly resistant to therapeutic intervention. Read more...

Spokesperson: Eric Treppo, Laboratory of Experimental Gastroenterology, Faculty of Medicine

Immune-Mediated Mechanisms driving brain repair and regeneration

The central nervous system (CNS) includes the brain and the spinal cord. Its immune functions are fulfilled by microglial cells, which are a specific population of macrophages. These cells have multiple roles related to physiology and pathology. Read more...

Spokesperson: Valérie Wittamer, IRIBHM, Faculty of Medicine

OPSTAT: Measure-characterising linear OPerators with applications to asymptotic analysis and STATistical inference

This project’s goal is to develop tools that can estimate the ‘dissimilarity’ between various probability distributions. This type of problem occurs in particular in the context of applications of the well-known central limit theorem, Read more...

Spokesperson: Yvik Swan, Probability and Statistics unit, Faculty of Sciences

Defending democracy: resistance strategies against autocratization attempts

Changes in political regimes towards autocracy are at the forefront of the news today. With an alarming increase in autocratic tendencies across the world, the scientific debate in the field of political regime studies had recently put on its agenda an analysis of the opposite process to democratization, known as autocratization. Read more...

Spokesperson: Luca Tomini, Cevipol, Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences

SUPERNET: Firm Heterogeneity, Superstar Firms and Production Networks

This research agenda studies the existence and evolution of superstar firms in global and local value chains and production networks. Recent decades have reinforced the widespread existence of superstar firms. Read more...

Spokesperson: Glenn Magerman, ECARES, Faculty Solvay Brussels School of economics and Management

Cosmology tests of Particle physics models

Some 95% of our universe is made up of forms of matter and energy whose exact nature we still do not know. In particular, many sources of cosmological data lead us to conclude that 80% of the universe’s matter is dark matter. Read more...

Spokesperson: Laura Lopez Honorez, service de Physique théorique, Faculty of Sciences

Assessing Intellectual Property Relevant Similarities In Images Through Algorithmic Decision Systems

The question of whether there are similarities between two given objects is a central one in the field of intellectual property (IP) rights. The answer is an extremely complex one, better left to IP offices and judges—through administrative and legal procedures, respectively—, who do not have proper analysis tools. Read more...

Spokesperson: Julien Cabay, Centre de Droit privé, Faculty of Law and Criminology


ARC "Advanced" 2020-2025

Noise sensitivity of gene regulatory networks underlying cell fate specification

During the embryo’s development, cells divide and specify into different cell types that will form, starting from a single cell, all the tissue and organs of the adult individual. This specification is governed by gene regulatory networks, which control the expression of key proteins that characterize a given cell type. Read more...

Spokesperson: Geneviève Dupont, Unit of Theoretical Chronobiology, Faculty of Sciences

The ‘Ammonium’ nutrient and toxic waste: molecular analysis of transmembrane transport and impact on growth and differentiation’

Bacteria, fungi, and plants import ammonium as a major source of nitrogen; by contrast, in animals, this compound is known for its role in pH homoeostasis and for being toxic when it accumulates. Read more...

Spokesperson: Anna Maria Marini, IBMM, Faculty of Sciences

HERICOL: Héritages coloniaux en Belgique: universités, mobilisations et contre-mobilisations

Since the 1990, new forms of discourse and mobilization have emerged to question Belgium’s colonial past and postcolonial present. Various social players—journalists, researchers, archivists, community activists, artists, members of the African diaspora, former colonists and their descendants, national and political players, etc.—have contributed to putting the issue of colonial legacy on the public agenda. Read more...

Spokesperson: Hajjat Abdellali, GERME, Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences

Why sculpture is not boring? Pour une histoire des techniques et pratiques de la sculpture à l’époque industrielle (1850-1914), basée sur l’étude d’après le modèle 3D

Charles Baudelaire’s Salon de 1846 included an article that is still famous today, entitled ‘Pourquoi la sculpture est ennuyeuse’ (‘Why sculpture is boring’), in which he highlights the public’s lack of interest in sculpture, a medium that remained too classical in the first half of the 19th century. Read more...

Spokesperson: Sébastien Clerbois, CReA-Patrimoine, Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences

Social rights in the European Union (1960-2020): from market to social citizenship and back?

Spokesperson: Amandine Crespy, Cevipol, Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences

GbO — Guaranteed by Optimization

This project’s goal is to advance the state of the art of optimization-based design in robotics. The researchers will develop and study an original method to automatically generate control software that guarantees a number of dynamic properties such as stability, constraint satisfaction, adaptability, and resilience. Read more...

Spokesperson: Mauro Birratari, IRIDIA, Brussels School of Engineering

ENLIGHTEN ME: Enabling with light, enzymes and metals - a global approach for the activation of carbon dioxide and methane

Carbon dioxide and methane are the two main greenhouse gases, and they are being released at dramatically increasing rates. This means there is an obvious and significant need to reduce emissions of these gases; transforming them into easily usable chemicals is one of the most attractive options for this. Read more...

Spokesperson: Gwilherm Evano, Service de Chimie et Physico-Chimie Organiques, Faculty of Sciences

Partial Differential Equations in interaction

This project focuses on the mathematical understanding of complex multiphysical systems involving interactions between fluid flows and structure movements, for instance blood flowing through an artery or wind pushing the blades of a wind turbine. Read more...

Spokesperson: Denis Bonheure, Département de mathématiques, Faculty of Sciences

From algebra to combinatorics and back

In this project, we will study several related questions in algebra and geometry, by merging of combinatorial and categorical techniques. In algebraic geometry, one studies so-called "algebraic spaces", which are geometric objects that are fully described by their associated “coordiante algebra”. Read more...

Spokesperson: Joost Vercruysse, Département de mathématiques, Faculty of Sciences

If you are a researcher at ULB and wish to submit an ARC application, please contact the Research Department:
fonds.recherche@ulb.be
Updated on January 23, 2025