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.

The Applied PhD projects involving ULB have recently been concluded and there are presently no ongoing projects.

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.

The Co-Creation projects involving ULB have recently been concluded and there are presently no ongoing projects.

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.

The Prospective Research projects involving ULB have recently been concluded and new projects will be listed here shortly.

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:

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

 

Other research programmes/projects in which ULB is participating:
 

• FARI - Artificial intelligence for the common good - The aim of this interfaculty institute and Joint Research Group is to enable, promote and perform excellent cross-disciplinary research on Artificial Intelligence, Data and Robotics in Brussels, inspired by the humanistic values of freedom, equality and solidarity that lay at the foundations of both the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), internationally acclaimed and with a local impact. FARI encompasses 300 researchers and 10 laboratories.
  

• 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