In order to understand the full complexity of a given research topic—e.g. Brussels, Europe, cancer, etc.—, it is necessary to combine different approaches and call upon a variety of experts with wide-ranging skills.

ULB is fully committed to this European dynamic consisting in having researchers in various disciplines work together on research projects.

The University has created 11 interdisciplinary research institutes (including one with VUB), each of which covers a topic with high societal relevance.

 

EBxl, ULB's network of studies on Brussels

The largest research hub in Brussels, ULB is also a key player in research about the city itself.

ULB's network of Studies on Brussels, EBxl includes researchers in archaeology, architecture, law, economics, history, political science, sociology, public health, etc., who come together to decode the country's capital.
 

IB2, the interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels

Biologists, chemists, physicians, etc. must deal with volumes of data that are increasingly difficult to store, while computer scientists and statisticians can help them model, understand, and digest all this information.

The Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in  Brussels, IB2 created by ULB and VUB, brings all these people together.
 

IEE, the Institute for European Studies

Europe has significant potential as a topic of study, especially in Brussels where experts, high-ranking officials, and EU decision-makers are gathered.

The Institute for European Studies, IEE focuses its research on four areas: EU law, political science, economics, and history.
 

iiTSE, Interfaculty Institute for Socio-Ecological Transformations

The interfaculty Institute for Socio-Ecological Transformations brings together research activities for the understanding and significance of the radical societal changes made necessary to meet the imperatives of strong sustainability.

The iiTSE is defined by a double specificity: on the one hand, the Institute wants to develop two-way exchanges on the dynamics of transformations and their implications and societal significance. It aims to develop a strong analytical and critical perspective on the societal issues in which these transformations fit. In addition, the Institute brings together multiple sources of expertise favouring interdisciplinarity in order to apprehend its research object - socio-ecological transformations which are polydimensional and polysemantic by definition, and which require bringing together ecological, economic, social, applied, medical, legal, institutional and political perspectives, etc.

I3h, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in Healthcare

New models for innovation collaboration are emerging in the field of healthcare.

These are at the heart of research projects and education programmes at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in Healthcare, I3h.
 

MSH, the Institute for Human Sciences

In line with the questions and debates that animate today's civil society, the Institute for Human Sciences - Maison des Sciences humaines, MSH hosts five centres:

AmericaS (interdisciplinary centre for American Studies),  
LIEU (interdisciplinary laboratory for Urban Studies),
OMAM (observatory  of the Arab and Islamic Worlds),
STRIGES (interdisciplinary research structure on Gender, Equality and Sexuality)
et EASt (East Asian Studies).
 

TRANSFO, Research Centre for Social Change

Based in the Charleroi Ville-Haute campus, the Research Centre for Social Change—TRANSFO—aims to provide insight into current social transformations, inequality structures, the dynamics of social change and the conditions for social emancipation. Its research covers three areas: labour, employment and social transformations; urban mutations and territorial dynamics; democratic changes and participatory governance.

U-CRI, ULB Center for Research in Immunology

Vaccination has been a significant driver of progress in healthcare. Today, immunology is opening up untold perspectives in the fight against a variety of pathologies: cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and autoimmune diseases, as well as allergies, allograft, or even cancer.

Biologists, chemists, engineers, and physicians at ULB Center for Research in Immunology study all these diseases using both a fundamental and a clinical approach.

U-CRC, ULB Cancer Research Centre

Cancer is a complex disease that must be tackled using a variety of skills: cellular and molecular biology, genomics, epigenetics, proteomics, immunology, and even bioinformatical analysis of cancer.

There are all gathered at the ULB Cancer Research Center, U-CRC in which researchers from ULB, Hôpital Erasme et the Bordet Institute work together.
 

U-IRIS, ULB Interdisciplinary Research Institute for Sports

U-IRIS, ULB Interdisciplinary Research Institute for Sports brings together the research skills available at ULB in the fields of sports and physical activity, in order to foster collaboration and interdisciplinary research.
Research at U-IRIS, both fundamental and applied, is centred around five main areas: clinical research - sports medicine; high-level sport - performance; rehabilitation - disability and sport; sport and society (including education through sport); prevention - public health - nutrition.

U-IRIS gathers teams from various faculties: Philosophy and Social Sciences, Medicine, Psychology and Education, Motor Sciences, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, School of Public Health.

UNI, ULB Neuroscience Institute

Understanding the development and operation of the brain is among the most fascinating and difficult challenges of science today. Researchers must identify mechanisms that exist at very different scales: from genes to consciousness, and from neural pathways to human behavior.

The Institut des Neurosciences, UNI takes advantage of tight synergies to study all dimensions of the brain's complexity.
Updated on April 2, 2023