Information for Researchers
News
12.03.2010 - Call for researchers ODYSSEUS programme 2010-2011
The Odysseus programme offers start-up funding to a number of outstanding researchers who have built up a research career outside Flanders, in order to develop a research group within a Flemish university, or to set up a research line and become progressively more involved in the Flemish research establishment. Two kinds of researchers are defined:
- Odysseus Group I: International, leading research: Researchers who were already affiliated with a foreign university and are internationally recognised as leaders in their field.
- Odysseus Group II: Researchers with the potential to develop a leading international status. Researchers who have at least 3 years post-doctoral experience abroad and whose work has convinced leading colleagues in the field that they have potential to develop a leading international position.
Candidates are requested to submit their candidacy to the VUB-R&D department via the official application form (available by the end of March at the FWO-website). The deadline for submissions at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel is 15 October 2010.
Note: The role of the local VUB (co-)promoter in preparing and following the submission is extremely important. For more information, please contact the R&D-department: Arlette De Bruyn, ardebruy@vub.ac.be (R&D-secretariat, Tel. 02/629.21.08, RD.secretariaat@vub.ac.be).
11.01.2010 - Belgium spared from the A/H1N1 flu
The A/H1N1 flu that claimed many victims in Mexico and the USA in the spring did not actually break out in our country. This appears from an initial evaluation of the registration network of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the ULB. Even though the virus did reach the European continent this summer, it now appears that the consequences have been very limited up to now.
11.01.2010 - Cell therapy for diabetes moves closer
Diabetes patients who receive transplanted insulin-producing pancreas cells from a donor do not require injections for at least one year. There are, however, insufficient donors available to help everyone. The differentiation of stem cells could change this in the future, however. A first step has already been made: Researcher Josué Kunjom Mfopou of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has developed an efficient system to derive pancreatic progenitor cells from human embryonic stem cells.
11.01.2010 - Vrije Universiteit Brussel investigates patient rights
Although patients are becoming more aware of the personal influence they can exert regarding their treatment, it is not clear whether they know their rights and obligations in the area of health. This is what the General Medical Practice research unit of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel will now investigate through a large-scale Internet survey.
Sounding out the experiences of the population via an Internet survey
The General Medical Practice research unit intends to find out the extent to which certain rights are considered important by the population, how well protected people feel by the existing legislation, and how often they have experienced problems related to particular rights. The research consists of a large-scale Internet survey that can be completed via the Dutch website www.patientenrecht.be and the French site www.droits-du-patient.be.
11.01.2010 - R&D at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel recognised as expertise centre for ‘research in the arts’
The academic restructuring entails that research must now be carried out for fine art programmes with a BaMa structure, in the same way as for all other programmes with this structure. What constitutes (excellent) artistic research, however, and, even more, how it can be qualified and evaluated, is a topic for discussion in both Flanders and in the wider international artistic-scientific context. The R&D department of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, which had already started an investigation into the development of measurement indicators for artistic research output, was recently given recognition and financing at the Flemish level in order to develop this type of research further within a broad Flemish context.
Development of a measurement and evaluation system for Higher Art Education in Flanders
This takes place within the context of the assignments that R&D carries out working together with ECOOM, the Expertise Centre that conducts research monitoring and the development of general research indicators within the Flemish Community. In other words, the coming years will see the development of a measurement and evaluation system within R&D that is directed towards the overall Higher Art Education landscape in Flanders, where it will be implemented. More information on this can be obtained from Walter Ysebaert from R&D (tel.: 02-629 11 06, walter.ysebaert@vub.ac.be).