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Namur,
a regional capital of capital importance.
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11 December 1986, Namur has been the capital of Wallonia
and of its 3.3 million inhabitants, in the heart of Europe
of Regions. The Walloon Government set up its ministerial
offices on the banks of the river and the Parliament has been
established just opposite, on that confluence of the Sambre
and Meuse rivers which has been attracting human settlements
since Prehistoric times. |
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Since
Prehistoric times, men have been eyeing the confluence site, the
Grognon, where the Walloon
Parliament today holds its sessions.
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There
has been a succession of building and renovation work, over
the past years, to make room for 3,500 officials working in
Namur without spoiling the centre or creating an administrative
ghetto for all that.The city has bet and won: Namur today
has changed its face without losing its smile. Captivated
by its charm, the regional authorities opted for the renovation
of old buildings whenever it was possible. |
Mansion
houses, a former convent, a medieval hospital or abandoned industrial
mills: so much evidence of the past that a rejuvenating treatment
has harnessed once again to the future.
While
all that was going on, the citizens of Namur have inherited new
squares, redesigned boulevards, remodelled city gates, newly laid
out walkways along the riverbanks. Before the very eyes of the
Walloons, Namur has become to look attractive. It has increased
its pedestrian area, welcomed businesses with quality as their
target, developed its cultural life, found the lights to highlight
its lines.
Yet
Namur is not a showcase merely to be admired as you go by. Drawing
strength from its quality environment, it also wants to take up
the challenges of housing, mobility and accessibility which will
avoid it being deserted like so many urban centres in Europe.
The
University of Namur (FUNDP)
The
Jesuits first established at Namur in 1610. In 1831 they set up
Notre-Dame de la Paix University, one of the largest Jesuit universities
in Europe today, member of the International Federation of Catholic
Universities.
It
is based on the Belgian model of University training which combines
instruction and research to ensure that University plays its full
role in society.
University
studies remain the area most favouring the transmission and creation
of knowledge. In Namur these studies are organized within six
faculties. Those of Law, Medicine and Arts provide basic training
for a period of two or three years and devote their efforts to
ensuring maximum chances of success in the subsequent years of
undergraduate study when the student transfers to another university.
In the three other faculties - Informatics, Science and Economic,
Social Sciences & Business Administration - a full programme
leading to a first degree is provided.
Each of the six faculties offers postgraduate or doctoral programmes
in specific areas that are closely linked to the up-to-date research
that is being carried out there.
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Conventional
or special means are made available to promote success : preparatory
summer courses, work in small groups, regular testing, appropriate
levels of language teaching, an educational service, teacher/student
contact sessions, etc. Two hundred academics and as many assistant
scientific staff are thus at the disposal of the four thousand
students at the university.Scientific research brings joy
and renown to a university. |
Those
who practise it have the impression of being closely involved
in the progress of the whole of humanity. Moreover, when they
come from their laboratories, their libraries or their archeological
excavations, researchers bring with them the enthusiasm that their
profession requires and thereby enrich their teaching. They also
know how uncertain knowledge can be and how questionable the methods
employed : this necessarily transforms their teaching, even at
the basic level.
In
the six faculties, research thus has priority status. It is present
in the most varied domains : information technology, physics and
chemistry of interfacial materials, economics and development,
financial management, biotechnology, ecotechnology, philosophical
and sociological analysis of scientific practices, etc. Fundamental
research, in particular, can also be oriented towards specific
applications especially when it is carried out in partnership
with private companies or public regional, federal or supranational
institutions.
The Unit of Organismic Biology
The
Research Unit of Organismic Biology (URBO)
develops fundamental and applied research related to freshwater
ecology, comparative physiology, biochemistry, and aquaculture
since the early 80’s.
The research unit currently has a staff of 4 academics, 20
research scientists and 6 technicians. |
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Within
this unit, the fish physiology and aquaculture team has gained
a wide expertise in the assessment of nutritional status of freshwater
fish reared under various conditions of feeding, both at the larval
and juvenile stages.
The research team has been and is currently involved in several
research projects in aquaculture, at the regional, national or
European levels (FAIR-96-1572, FAIR-98-9241, QoL-lucioperca),
as co-ordinator or research partner, with a special emphasis on
feeding and nutrition of percid fishes.
URBO
has at its disposal all research facilities and analytical equipment
to conduct nutrition experiments in recirculating systems and
biochemical analysis of fish and feeds.
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