Brussels-Capital Region

The university plays a major role as a source of technological innovation, including through various regional programmes involving external partners (private businesses, non-profits, etc.).

Using funds from the Brussels Institute for Research and Innovation (INNOVIRIS) and the ERDF 2021-2027, ULB plays an active part in research projects that impact the city of Brussels.

ULB takes part in the following research programmes:

 

Applied PhD

The Applied PhD programme supports PhD projects carried out in collaboration with a business or an administrative authority located in the Brussels Region. Here is a non-exhaustive list of current projects involving ULB:

DIVINBRUSSELS - Psychological Challenges of Diversity and Inclusion Policies in Brussels Organizations

Characterised by multiculturalism and diversity, the Brussels Region is home to various target groups that are struggling to find a place on the labour market. Despite multiple initiatives by Actiris Inclusive to support organisations in developing and implementing diversity plans, the success of these policies has been very limited so far. The general purpose of this PhD, run in collaboration with Actiris, is to provide insight into the role of psychological factors in the effectiveness of these policies.

ULB Supervisor: Claudia Toma - Centre Emile Bernheim de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Gestion (CEBRIG)

SEEFIB - Sustainable Entrepreneurial Ecosystems by FIB

In 2022, the Brussels-Capital Region launched an economic strategy called "Shifting Economy", designed to help Brussels transition to a sustainable, low-carbon, circular, social, democratic and digital economy. In this context, "SEEFIB" attempts to understand how the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the Brussels-Capital Region can better support emerging and existing businesses with a focus on sustainability. This PhD project is carried out in collaboration with finance & investment.brussels (FIB), the Brussels Regional Investment Company.

ULB Supervisor: Olivier Witmeur - TIMES²

STOEMP-EMF - Stochastic geometry modelling of public exposure to Electro-Magnetic Fields

Exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) is causing concern, particularly with the advent of 5G. The aim of this project is to develop and validate models for assessing this exposure. It focuses on the creation of new mathematical models and simulations to predict exposure to EMF, combining precise approaches to wave propagation with probabilistic models to better understand how waves disperse. The results will be compared with actual measurements taken in Brussels and Paris. The project includes collecting data in the field, defining and validating models, and analysing transmissions to assess their impact on exposure to EMF. The ultimate aim is to provide comprehensive information to Bruxelles Environnement, the body responsible for monitoring EMF levels.

ULB Supervisor: Philippe De Doncker - OPERA Wireless

Brains for Brussels

The aim of the Brains for Brussels programme is to encourage high-level researchers, currently working abroad or in the private sector, to carry out pioneering research relevant to the Brussels-Capital Region, where the results will be exploited. Here is a non-exhaustive list of current projects involving ULB:

Cathena - Development of an innovative theragnostic nanoplatform for cancer diagnosLAMC
and therapy

The purpose of the Cathena project is to develop an innovative, modular nanoplatform for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. It aims to create new bio/nanomedicine compounds with potential diagnostic and therapeutic properties, based on calix[4]arene-functionalised gold or silver nanoparticles.

ULB Supervisor: Maurice Retout - Engineering of Molecular NanoSystems

Co-Creation

The Co-Create programme is based on participatory research and societal innovation. It supports research and experimental development (R&D) projects carried out in co-creation with agents of change, with a view to meeting the challenges of societal transitions for the sustainable development of the Brussels-Capital Region. Here is a non-exhaustive list of current projects involving ULB:

Archisols - Soil archives (for urban resilience)

Brussels has undergone a profound transformation in recent decades, from an industrial city to a centre for the service sector. This transformation has left an indelible mark on the urban fabric, with the appearance of numerous industrial wastelands and a gradual loss of residents' sense of belonging to their city. At the same time, soil pollution, the legacy of past industrial activity, represents a real challenge for urban redevelopment, and particularly for the development of urban agriculture.

The ArchiSols project has emerged against this backdrop, coordinated by Urban.brussels and carried out in partnership with the State Archives in Belgium. The project aims to gain a better understanding of soil conditions using often little-known historic data from the archives or the collective memory. This approach reveals crucial information about soil pollution and past land use, opening up new perspectives for future land management. The project also encourages active citizen involvement by inviting residents to take part in collecting and analysing information. This participatory approach creates social cohesion, reinforces the feeling of belonging to the city, and promotes more democratic decision-making. In short, improving our knowledge of the soil by exploiting historical data and encouraging citizen participation will enable us to optimise soil use, limit soil sealing and promote urban agriculture.

ULB Supervisor: Thierry Leloutre - Louise Lab

FEDER

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is one of the European Structural Funds. The aim of this funding is to improve economic and social cohesion in the European Union by correcting imbalances between its regions. Here is a non-exhaustive list of projects in the ERDF 2021-2027 programme in the Brussels-Capital Region, in which ULB is involved:

BrusselAir

This project, led by ULB and VUB through their FARI AI for the Common Good Institute, aims to position Brussels as a capital of AI, data and robotics for the common good. The project will focus on the "Smart City/Region" theme of the ERDF, by facilitating the exchange of data in the Brussels-Capital Region. Its aim is to prepare public services, universities and, in some initiatives, local SMEs for IA, data and robotics. The products and processes developed with the ERDF's support will be able to address other themes like services to citizens, social sciences, business, health, mobility or construction.

ULB Supervisors: Gianluca Bontempi, Tom Lenaerts - Machine Learning Group (MLG) & Hugues Bersini - IRIDIA

Development of a digital tool to support shared medical decision-making and its application to RSV vaccination of older adults

The Primary Care Research Unit (URSP) and the European Plotkin Institute of Vaccinology (EPIV) at ULB are joining forces to improve communication between general practitioners (GPs) and their patients on the subject of vaccination by jointly developing a free digital tool for shared decision-making to help GPs manage their patients in the context of vaccination.

The tool being developed will enable GPs to select the patients who would most benefit from vaccination, based on medical and socio-demographic criteria. It will also provide a user-friendly medium for optimal communication with patients, while guaranteeing personal data security and rights. The aim is to increase empowerment and satisfaction among patients, thus improving their quality of life. In addition, this tool aims to achieve sufficient vaccination coverage among older adults to protect against serious forms of RSV infection, and to help healthcare systems by reducing hospital admissions, morbidity and mortality, and medical costs. Partner: Cocom.

ULB Supervisors: Anne Op De Beeck - European Plotkin Institute of Vaccinology (EPIV) & Céline Mahieu - Primary Care Research Unit (URSP)

ONCO.CARE - Personalised, integrated survivorship programme in oncology

The ONCO.CARE project aims to develop an integrated and personalised survivorship programme for adult patients at the end of their oncology treatments in the Brussels-Capital Region. In concrete terms, in order to support the development of a coherent approach, the programme is patient-focused and will serve three fundamental pillars: clinical care, patient well-being and research. ONCO.CARE aims to support various survivorship research projects by taking a cooperative and co-creative approach with players in the Brussels cancer ecosystem, based on their needs and priorities, including vulnerable groups (patients and their families, healthcare professionals and local players). The aim is to build a personalised programme that includes specific themes relating to adverse effects and patients' unmet needs after the acute phase of their cancer treatment. Partners: VUB, UZBrussels, Sciensano, Jules Bordet Institute, Patient Expert Center.

ULB Supervisor: Pôle Santé (ULB Health Cluster)

Prospective Research

The Prospective Research programme supports academic research projects designed to help the Brussels Region build a solid forward-looking vision of the major social issues it will have to tackle. The projects in this programme explore the urban complexity of Brussels and aim to use the results of the research to benefit society. Here is a non-exhaustive list of current projects involving ULB:

Autobloc - Quantitative and qualitative study of obstacles to change in mobility practices in the Brussels-Capital Region

The choice of the car as the main mode of transport has heavily influenced land-use planning and social practices. This process is so profound that it considerably complicates any change of direction in mobility policy, particularly in urban areas. Although this transformation of mobility is a collective emergency, from a social, environmental and even economic point of view, and the policies meant to challenge the dominance of the car are far from overthrowing its hegemony, the measures taken are coming up against numerous obstacles and opposition from many parties. This project highlights the need for a systemic approach that includes territorial development (development and location of activities and infrastructure), the basis of objective constraints on household mobility, subjective relationships to the car in their socio-geographical diversity, and the politicisation of the automobile question. The central aim of the project is therefore to identify precisely the objective obstacles (constraints on travel arrangements), the subjective obstacles (different personal and social relationships to the car), and the social and political conflicts generated by the redevelopment of the city to challenge the all-pervasiveness of motor vehicle use. Partner: CASPER - Centre for Research in Anthropology, Sociology and Psychology (UCLouvain - Saint-Louis Brussels)).

ULB Supervisor: Gilles Van Hamme - GAG - Applied Geography and Geomarketing (within IGEAT)

COGITO - Coping with climate debt through just transition: Exploration and Analysis of Scenarios for Brussels

One of our greatest debts to future societies is due to ongoing global climate change and environmental degradation, with environmental burdens disproportionately affecting disadvantaged communities. The framework of "just transitions" focuses on limiting the impacts of climate change and reducing environmental harms while also bridging social inequality. However, the existing literature on the challenges of sustainability in cities is fragmented and lacks a future-oriented analysis. The COGITO research project concentrates on two crucial transitions for the Brussels-Capital Region (BCR): the urban transition toward carbon neutrality and the transition to a climate-resilient city through urban greening. The main research question is the following: "What are the possible developments in environmental, climate and energy justice in the context (a) of the urban transition toward carbon neutrality and (b) of climate resilience through urban greening in the BCR by 2050?" The research aims to understand the systemic and dynamic interactions between environmental, climate and energy justice, decarbonisation and urban greening for climate resilience in Brussels, to build and analyse exploratory scenarios for just urban transitions, and to make political recommendations to ensure a just transition. Partner: VUB - Brussels Centre for Urban Studies.

ULB Supervisor: Maria Mancilla Garcia - SONYA- SOcio-eNvironmental dYnAmics Research Group

DIVPOL - Diversity in the police: the test of democracy

A project that involves the police force in a resolutely participatory approach, DIVPOL "Diversity in the police: the test of democracy" proposes to focus on people of migrant descent within the police, or their significant absence from it. Taking a qualitative socio-anthropological and criminological approach, it has a threefold objective: (1) to identify, list and document the initiatives taken to promote ethnic diversity in the police force; (2) to examine the implementation of these various initiatives centred around ethnic diversity in the Brussels police authorities, by observing how they are put into practice in concrete terms, both in the way recruitment is carried out and in the effects they have on police action; (3) to reflect on the models of ethnic diversity as they exist in the police force and to identify their strengths, limitations and difficulties of implementation. This will be an opportunity to test how the police force operates in the face of the challenges of diversity, and to highlight the crucial contemporary issues it faces in the Belgian context. Partner: VUB - Crime and Society (CRiS).

ULB Supervisor: Maïté Maskens - LAMC - Laboratory of Anthropology of Contemporary Worlds

DS.TT.BRU - Social debt and the spread of remote working: impact on the quality of private and professional life, housing, mobility and public finances in the Brussels-Capital Region

One consequence of the public health crisis caused by COVID-19 is that it led to a large proportion of the population of Belgium and Brussels experiencing full-time remote working, in some cases for the first time. Since then, social life has gradually returned to normal, but many managers and employees would like to carry on working remotely, at least some of the time. This spread of remote working means that previous analyses need to be reviewed and deepened, focusing on more varied job profiles. Widespread recourse to this new organisation of work means that current and future societal impact analyses need to be reviewed and updated.

This prospective, multi-disciplinary research is being conducted by specialists in the psychosocial impact of work organisation, geographers with expertise in analysing urban dynamics, and economists with a thorough knowledge of business organisation issues and applied economics. The results will be particularly useful for the Brussels authorities responsible for employment, mobility, housing, land-use planning and social policy, as well as for the world of work in the broadest sense and all the people of Brussels.

ULB Supervisor: Jean-Michel Decroly - IGEAT - Institute for Environmental Management and Land-use Planning
Coordinators: PsyTC - Research Centre for Work and Consumer Psychology (ULB) and DULBEA - Department of Applied Economics (ULB)

LOGOS/RES-E3 - Social housing as a resource: energy, economy, social environment

This research project, in collaboration with Université UCLouvain-Saint Louis, is interested in the current situation and the future of public housing buildings constructed in the Brussels-Capital Region from the end of the 19th century to the first oil crisis in 1973. In the Brussels area, as in the rest of Europe, this building stock also represents a vast renovation project. A category currently undergoing major transformation, it embodies a significant form of "environmental and economic debt" and can also be identified as a factor in social breakdown, which has resulted in a "social debt".

The aim of the project is to explain the issues at stake in the actions taken over the last twenty years in the field of public social housing in the Brussels-Capital Region, to highlight their coherence and appreciate their strengths, but also to identify the constraints, and even the vulnerabilities and shortcomings, which are causes of recurring blockages. Conducted using a range of disciplinary and methodological tools capable of considering its multiple facets – the architectural project, building physics, construction economics, and analysis of social practices. From a scientific point of view, the theme of the renovation of social housing stock provides a meaningful case study due to the many issues it raises: social, environmental, economic and more generally political.

It is from this in-depth analysis, and from putting established practices to the test, that the essential trajectories will emerge to meet the future challenges of the next two generations, by 2050 and 2070.

Supervisor: Marek Hudon - CEESE

Plastic-city - Prospecting the plastic environmental debt in the Brussels Region – present status and future projections

The general aim of this project, coordinated by VUB, is to estimate the current and future contribution of the Brussels-Capital Region as a source of microplastics in waterways, and to determine the environmental impacts associated with this contamination. With Plastic-city, the objective is first to build knowledge of the current situation of a problem that is known to be global, but is clearly under-studied on the scale of whole cities, and never studied in the case of the city of Brussels. From there, we aim to predict how this problem might evolve (for better or for worse) for different types of future that we can imagine as scientists, but also in the short and long term, to provide relevant visions for representatives of the Brussels-Capital Region (administrations, businesses, associations, etc.).

ULB Supervisor: Pierre Van Antwerpen - Analytical Platform of the Faculty of Pharmacy (APFP) and RD3-Pharmacognosy, Bioanalysis and Drug Discovery

Triton - What futures for the marsh? Ecological cybernetics, sentinel territories and ecosophical niches in the Brussels wastelands

Brussels' urban wastelands, most of which result from the Region's de-industrialisation, are at the centre of major tensions between environmental concerns, the housing crisis, urban densification, and financial and real estate activities. Those brownfield sites are therefore spaces that raise questions about the future of urban planning as conceived in the second half of the 20th century, just as much as they are areas where desirable urban futures are or could be reformulated. The "Triton" project aims to investigate the conditions under which these futures are possible, through the lens of three sites located on brownfield land of regional interest: the Marais Wiels, the Friche Josaphat and the Schaerbeek-Formation site. These territories are considered essential for reflecting together on a systemic double impasse in a context of land financialisation and densification: the social crisis of affordable housing and the ecological crisis of non-human habitats.

ULB Supervisor: Chloé Deligne - LIEU - Interdisciplinary Laboratory in Urban Studies

Research Platforms

The Research Platforms programme supports disruptive, collaborative and multidisciplinary research projects between the research units of distinct institutions representative of the industrial sector and the non-profit and/or institutional sector in Brussels, in order to anticipate major developments and/or socio-technical needs in strategic areas for the Brussels Region. Here is a non-exhaustive list of current projects involving ULB:

DetectDem - A novel test strategy to follow up patients at risk of developing cognitive impairment or dementia

Alzheimer's disease is difficult to detect in its early stages. Yet the ability to identify patients at risk of developing Alzheimer's dementia would be very helpful in the assessment of new therapeutic strategies, as there is no cure at present. The DetectDem project, supported by ULB and VUB, aims to develop new electrophysiological biomarkers using state-of-the-art cryogenic magnetoencephalographic (MEG) data. This should enable long-term monitoring of patients in the earliest possible stages of Alzheimer's disease. Such long-term follow-up is crucial for retrospectively defining the subtle electrophysiological imprint of early Alzheimer's disease, for correctly diagnosing Alzheimer's disease and for developing new therapeutic strategies that need to be introduced at the earliest stage of the disease. Partners: VUB - AIMS, VUB - NEUR, Digita.

ULB Supervisor: Xavier De Tiège - Laboratory of Functional Mapping of the Brain (LCFC) and ULB Neuroscience Institute (UNI)

FADING SUN - Fast AI-driven Dry EEG System for the Identification of Nonconvonvulsive Seizures in Unconscious patients

This project, led by ULB and VUB, aims to design a new approach for the diagnosis and prediction of nonconvulsive (i.e. without obvious clinical manifestations) seizures and status epilepticus in acutely ill unconscious patients. Both are infrequent yet well-described emergencies, which are nonetheless difficult to detect. This project aims to remedy the limitations of current diagnostics by laying the hardware and software foundations for a rapid, easy-to-use diagnostic system that could provide accurate diagnostic information 24/7 at the bedside, without the need for experienced staff, thereby reducing costs. Partners: ULB - Bio- Electro- And Mechanical Systems (BEAMS), VUB - AI Lab, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, CHU Brugmann, Brussels Medical Device Center (BDMC).

ULB Supervisor: Nicolas Gaspard - Laboratory of Experimental Neurology

MImPG - Metropolitan Internet meets Post Growth

This project aims to explore the opportunities for post-growth metropolitan Internet access to reduce the environmental impact of digital technologies. Inspired by Kate Raworth's Doughnut economics, it seeks to strike a balance between socio-economic needs and ecological limits. To reduce the energy demands and environmental footprint of Internet infrastructure, the project focuses on the evolution of data traffic and the associated rebound effects. The research hypothesis is that data traffic must be treated as a limited resource, allocated fairly. The project introduces the concept of the frugal Internet, whereby the expansion of infrastructure is reduced and the existing equipment is used for longer. The main challenges include societal acceptance, network neutrality, equitable access, security, and the reliability of ageing equipment. The project is divided into two parts: a societal and governance study in Brussels, and a technical study on the trade-off between privacy and long-term security in 5G services. The results will provide Belgian Internet service providers with an assessment of post-growth concepts for future connectivity, their societal acceptance, technical challenges, and expected environmental impacts. Partner: UCLouvain.

ULB Supervisor: Jan Tobias Mühlberg - Embedded Systems Design & Security

SDM - Sufficiency & Data Minimization

In the digital age, data is compared to gold, but this "datafication" increases costs in terms of computing power and hardware, while posing problems of security and confidentiality. To overcome this obstacle to sustainable development, this project explores data sufficiency, with the aim of minimising the volumes of data processed. It focuses on three innovative techniques: Trusted Computing technology, zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) and data signals for machine learning. The project will develop a secure execution platform and a framework for the use of ZKPs, and will improve data sufficiency in AI models. Two use cases will be examined: identity management and e-governance, along with data analysis for business pattern recognition. The project will collaborate with three mentor businesses to apply the technologies developed, aiming to provide sustainable and privacy-friendly online services in the Brussels-Capital Region.

ULB Supervisor: Jan Tobias Mühlberg - Embedded Systems Design & Security

VortexDiaLC - Vortex enhanced liquid chromatography for HbA1c monitoring based diabetes management

The aim of the VortexDiaLC project, coordinated by VUB in partnership with UZBrussel, is to develop a novel separation instrument that is capable of producing a full and high-resolution separation of all haemoglobin variants in one single run. The instrument is based on a new technology to induce vortices in a microfluidic channel, uses plasma technology for functional coating of the channel (the part in which ChemSIN is involved) and will develop a super-sensitive miniaturised detection module. These technologies brought together will result in a demonstrator, the precursor of a new diagnostic device that can be used in the first line of diabetes care.

ULB Supervisor: François Reniers - Chemistry of Surfaces, Interfaces and Nanomaterials (ChemSIN)

 

Other research programmes in which ULB is participating:
 

• SustAIn.brussels - SustAIn.brussels is a Digital Innovation Hub set up with the support of the European Commission, Innoviris and hub.brussels. It serves as a single point of access to sustainable and digital innovation in Brussels with a focus on AI and other emerging technologies. Its coordination is done by Sirris, Agoria, BeCentral, VUB and ULB.
  
• Proof of Concept - This programme supports short-term projects aimed at proving an innovation concept stemming from a research project.
• Spin-off - This programme supports the creation of new businesses in the Brussels-Capital Region, with the aim of making economic use of the results of scientific research.
• Joint R&D Project - This programme encourages collaboration between academia and industry. It allows businesses to adopt the latest innovations and provides researchers with practical cases to which they can apply their discoveries. The theme of the call for projects changes every year.
• ...
   

              
 

Looking for more information about these funding programmes? Contact Flore Keymeulen, your ULB-KTO contact point for Brussels fundings.

Flore.Keymeulen@ulb.be