2016 - rasab.beNational Committee for Logic, History and Philosophy of Sciences 46 National...

ANNUAL REPORTS2016

KoninKlijKe Vlaamse academie Van België Voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten

académie royale des sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-arts de Belgique

Belgian national scientiFic committeesrasaB vzw/asbl

TheRoyalAcademiesforScienceandtheArtsofBelgium-RASABvzw/asbl

BELGIANNATIONALSCIENTIFICCOMMITTEES

ANNUALREPORTS2016

www.rasab.be

NATIONALSCIENTIFICCOMMITTEESANNUALREPORTS2016

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TABLEOFCONTENTS

Introduction 3

NationalCommitteeforAntarcticResearch 4

NationalCommitteeforAstronomy 7

NationalCommitteeBELQUA(QuaternaryResearch) 12

NationalCommitteeforBiochemistryandMolecularBiology 15

NationalCommitteeforBiologicalSciences 17

NationalCommitteeforBiomedicalEngineering 19

NationalCommitteeforBiophysics 23

NationalCommitteeforChemistry 24

NationalCommitteeforCrystallography 27

NationalCommitteeforGeodesyandGeophysics 30

NationalCommitteeforGeography 33

NationalCommitteeforGeologicalSciences 41

NationalCommitteeforLogic,HistoryandPhilosophyofSciences 46

NationalCommitteeforMathematics 60

NationalCommitteeforMechanics 62

NationalCommitteeforMicrobiology 66

NationalCommitteeforPhysics 68

NationalCommitteeforPhysiologyandPharmacology 69

NationalCommitteeforPsychologicalSciences 71

NationalCommitteeforRadio-Electricity 72

NationalCommitteeforSoilSciences 73

InternationalUnions 75


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INTRODUCTION

TheNational Scientific Committees’missions are thepromotionand coordinationof various

scientific disciplines in Belgium, mainly seen in an international context. The creation of a

nationalcommitteeissubjecttotheexistenceofaninternationalscientificunionaffiliatedto

ICSUora scientificbodyof ICSU (scientificcommittees, special committees,etc.) concerning

thesamescientificdiscipline.

The National Scientific Committees work under the patronage of the Académie royale des

Sciences,desLettresetdesBeaux-ArtsdeBelgique1andtheKoninklijkeVlaamseAcademievan

BelgiëvoorWetenschappenenKunsten2,gatheredinRASAB.

ThecommitteesaresubjecttoregulationsadoptedbytheBelgianAcademiesofSciencesand

Arts.

The list of themembers of the Belgian Scientific Committees can be found on the RASAB’s

website:www.rasab.be.

1www.academieroyale.be2www.kvab.be


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NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORANTARCTICRESEARCH

1.Introduction,mission,goals

The BNCAR is the official representing body of Belgium within SCAR (Scientific Committee on

Antarctic Research). This implies that BNCARmembers participate, when appointed, to the bi-

annualmeetings of SCAR as national delegate(s) ormember(s) of one of the 3 SCAR Standing

Scientific Groups (Geosciences, Life Sciences and Physical Sciences) or of other SCAR Standing

Committees (e.g. AntarcticGeographic Information). They also contribute to the inter-sessional

activitiesof theseScientificStandingGroups.BNCARcontributestoestablishtheBelgianannual

reporttoSCARandrespondstoparticularinformationrequestsfromSCAR.Italsogivesadviceor

responds on matters raised within international bodies such as the ATCM (Antarctic Treaty

Consultative Meeting) and its CEP (Committee for Environmental Protection), CCAMLR

(Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Resources), CCAS (Convention for the

Conservation of Antarctic Seals), EPB (European Polar Board). Finally, BNCAR has asmission to

promote(Belgian)PolarScienceataninternationallevel.

2.MeetingsoftheCommittee

[a]Meetingof29April2016(PalaceoftheAcademies)

During the Symposium that was jointly organized with BNCGG (see below), we held a lunch

meetingofBNCAR.Thisshortmeetingwasmainlyanupdateofthe lastmeetingof2015where

onlytheappointmentsforattendanceoftheupcomingSCARmeetingwerediscussed.Giventhe

participationofseveralscientistsattheconference,wealsoreviewedtheassociatememberlist,

andproposalsweremade(suchaspotentialAPCESmembership).

[b]Meetingof28November2016(PalaceoftheAcademies)

Membership:Theboardhasundergonesomechanges.Anewsecretarywasappointedand the

positionofvice-chairwasfilledin.Inordertobeabletojointheboard,Dr.A.VandePuttewas

made fullmember.We also appointed twoAPECS (Association of Early Career Polar Scientists)

delegates as associatemember. APECS is deeply involved in SCAR on all levels and having are

presentationofthatcommunitywillhelpinkeepingBNCARasanactiveadvisorybody.Reports:A

fullreportontheSCARbiannualmeetingheldinMalaysiainAugust2016wasgivenbymembers

of BNCAR that attended themeeting andwere representing different bodies, i.e., F. Pattyn, A.

VandePutteandN.Bergeot.


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Commissions: A BelgianAntarctic place name commissionwas established. The need for this a

risesfromthetheincreasedBelgianactivitiesintheregion.

3.GeneralAssemblyoftheScientificUnion

SCAROSCanddelegatemeeting,KualaLumpur,Malaysia,20-30August2016.TheOpenScience

ConferencewasattendedbyseveralBNCARmembers,F.Pattyn(delegate),A.Wilmotte,A.Van

dePutte,andN.Bergeot.F.Pattynalsoattendedthedelegatesmeeting.

Vande Putte was observer in this meeting. New associate memberships came from Colombia,

Austria,ThailandandTurkey,whileCzechRepublicandPortugalexpressedthedesiretobecome

fullmember.Asfortheelectionsoftheboard,S.ChownwaselectednewSCARpresidentforthe

nextfouryears.

SeveralresearchprogrammescurrentlyrunningunderSCARwerevrypositivelyreviewedandall

programmes were conducted for the next term. A wiki bomb was organized at the beginning

of2016 inorder topromoteAntarcticwomen scientists.Anewstrategicplanwasendorsed for

thenextcomingyears(2017-22).ThemainpointsofthisSCARmissionare:

§ Toamplify its leadership inAntarcticresearchbyfurtherstrengtheningandexpandinghigh-

qualitycollaborativeandvisionaryAntarcticresearch;

§ To offer independent scientific advice to Antarctic Treaty ConsultativeMeetings and other

bodiesdealingwithAntarcticandSouthernOceanmatters;

§ ToenhanceandgrowresearchcapacityinSCARmembercountries;

§ ToenhancepublicawarenessandunderstandingofAntarctic issuesthroughcommunication

ofAntarcticresearchresultsinatimelyandaccessiblemanner;

§ TofacilitateunrestrictedandfreeaccesstoAntarcticresearchdata.

BNCARwillmakesuretoadheretothisnewstrategicupdate.

4.Otheractivities

Together with BNCGG (Belgian National Committee on Geodesy and Geophysics), BNCAR

organizedanAntarcticSymposiumon29April2016at thePalaceof theAcademies.This is the

first joint effort between both committees andwas extremely valued. It showed the synergies

between both committees,where severalmembers serve both. The subject of the symposium

was"Unlockingacontinent:scientificresearchattheBelgianPrincessElisabethStation,Antarctica

2008-2016" and presentations covered the wide range of scientific endeavours and results

obtainedatandaroundthePrincessElisabethStationinAntarcticasinceitsopeningin2008-09.


6

ThesymposiumwasopenedbytheFederalSecretaryofStateforSciencePolicy,Ms.ElkeSleurs

and attended by about 100 people. The symposium started with a keynote by prof. Martin

Siegert, a distinguished Antarctic researcher from the Imperial College London. In total, 45

presentations were given, of which more than half were poster presentations. The massive

attendanceandthewiderangeofpresentationswitnessedoftheimportanceoforganizingsuch

events.Thesymposiumwasco-sponsoredbyBELSPO.

F.PattynrepresentedSCARatCOP-21inPariswithabriefingfollowedbyapressconferenceon

Antarctictippingpointsinawarmerworld.

5.Futureperspectives

Thenext SCARBiologymeetingwill behostedbyBelgium in July 2017.A.VandePutte andB.

Danis (members/associate members of BNCAR) are the co-chairs of the local organizing

committeeofthisinternationalandhighlyvaluedsymposium.

Thenext SCAROpenScienceConferencewill beheld inDavos (Switzerland) in2018.Given the

proximityoftheevent,BNCARhasurgedmemberstomakeattendanceaslargeaspossible.

OrganizationofaBelgianPolarSymposium(co-organizedBNCAR)in2018


7

NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORASTRONOMY


TheformalbasicgoalofthecommitteeistocoordinatetheparticipationofBelgianastronomers

in the activities of the InternationalAstronomicalUnion (IAU), and in the triennial IAUGeneral

Assemblyinparticular.ThecommitteealsoservesaroleinthedisseminationwithintheBelgian

community of developments within other international organisations to which our country

participates,suchasESA,ESO,andthejournalAstronomyandAstrophysics.Finally,themeetings

alsoofferopportunities to react togetheronmattersaffectingvariousastronomicalactivities in

Belgiumamongwhichaccesstonewresearchfacilitiesandpublicoutreach.


The Committee gathered three times in 2016: on 11 January, 27 June, and 30 November. In

addition, it alsohada jointmeetingwith theBNEC (NationalESOCommittee)on11March.All

these meetings took place at the Palace of the Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of

BelgiuminBrussels.RecurrenttopicsofdiscussionduringthesemeetingswereESOmatters,ESA

matters, the Astronomy& Astrophysics Board, and the ARIES telescopes under construction in

India,whichareaddressedinthesectionsbelow.


NoGeneralAssemblyin2016.

4.Otheractivities

[a]AstronomyandAstrophysics(A&A)

MattersrelatedtoA&AwerereportedbyR.VanderLinden,ourBelgiandelegateinthe

A&ABoard. The lastboardmeetingwasheld inPragueat theendofApril. From the

maintopicsthatwereaddresseditcomesoutthat:

§ TheimpactfactorofA&Acameabove.

§ The new agreement with ESO was validated by all participating countries.

Belgiumwasthesecondlastcountrytosign.

§ Twonewmembers joinedA&A:Norwayand, for2yearswithout fee,Ukraine.

EDPreceivedanextensionof itscontract,whichwillgivetimetolaunchanew


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callfortendertofindanewpublisher.

§ ThenextA&ABoardmeetingwilltakeplaceon21April2017.

[b]ESOmatters

ESO matters were reported to the BNCA by J. Surdej (Chairman of the Belgian National ESO

Committee, BNEC), S. Van Eck (secretary of BNEC), C.Waelkens (Scientificmember of the ESO

council), S. Pireaux (Belspo, ESO council member), and R. Alvarez (ROB Planetarium, Belgian

representativeattheESOoutreachcommittee).MeetingsoftheBNECwereheldon11March,21

June and 21 November 2016, while ESO council meetings took place on from 7 to 8 June, on

7October (extraordinary meeting), 3 November (extraordinary meeting), and from 7 to 8

December,2016.

§ Duringa jointBNCA/BNECmeetingheldon11March,anupdateof the listof ruleshas

been discussed. At its meeting in November the BNEC office was finally renewed. M.

GroenewegenwaselectedPresident,whileH.SanawaschosenasSecretary.C.Waelkens

wasrenewedinhisroleofBelgianrepresentativeatESOcouncil.

§ TheLaSillaParanalObservatoryinChilewillnotclose.The3.6mtelescopeandtheNew

Technology Telescope (NTT) will be upgraded and adapted to the search and study of

exoplanetsandoftransitphenomena(e.g.supernovae).ThemaininstrumentattheNTT

will be a low resolution spectrograph. In the future, the consortium that will build an

instrument will also operate it (lower costs for ESO). In return, it will be granted

guaranteedobservingtime.

§ The Paranal site has been chosen as the southern site for the Cherenkov Telescope

Array(CTA).CTAwillbeconsideredinthesamewayasthenationalinstrumentswhichare

currently operational on the ESO sites. ESO will receive 10% of the observing time;

management costs incurred by ESO will be fully covered by the CTA consortium.

ImplementationofCTAwillstartonce60%oftheconstructioncostsareguaranteed.

§ EuropeanExtremelyLargeTelescope:ItisbecominglessandlesslikelythatBrazilwilljoin

ESO.Sofar,80%oftheconstructioncontractshavealreadybeenawarded.Thespending

profile is such that it is expected that money will have to be borrowed during some

phasesoftheproject.

§ On1stofJuly,ESOlaunchedacallforanewDirectorGeneral(5yearsmandate,starting

in2017). Meanwhile, the ESO Council has appointed Xavier Barcons, 57, as the next

DirectorGeneralofESO.Hewilltakeuphispositionon1September2017,whenTimde

Zeeuw, the currentDirectorGeneral, completes hismandate. Press release and impact

statistics are similar to previous years. The building and preparation of the Supernova


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Planetariumisgoingwell.Itsinaugurationshouldhappenattheendof2017.

[c]ESAmatters

ESAmatterswere reported to theBNCAbyW.Verschueren (Belgian representative at the ESA

ScienceProgrammeCommittee,BELSPO).

§ ThreemissionsareinphaseApreparation:

o Ariel(AtmosphericRemote-SensingInfraredExoplanetLarge-survey)inwhichULg

andKULareinvolved;

o Thor (Turbulence Heating ObserveR) to which the Royal Belgian Institute for

SpaceAeronomyiscontributing;

o Xipe(X-rayImagingPolarimetryExplorer).

§ LISA Path finder mission: launched and first results are successful. ESA plans now to

proceedwiththepreparationofthelargegravitationalwaveobservatorymission.Belgian

involvementisbeingpreparedandledbyKUL.

§ Thelast"M5"call(deadline5October)formedium-sizemissionsresultedin25proposals

(for36 LoIs initially received). There is a considerable Belgian participation in a great

numberoftheseproposals.

§ The ESA Ministerial Council took place on 1st and 2nd December and decided on the

budgettodedicatetotheScienceProgrammefrom2017to2021.Thebudgetessentially

remainsat508MEURperyearwithout inflationcompensation.Acumulativetotalof16

MEURisaddedtothebudgetoverthefiveyears.Thisincreaserepresentsmuchlessthan

theinflationcompensation,andthereforetheScienceProgrammelosesbuyingpowerin

the next 5 years. The reason for not increasingmore substantially the budget is that a

transferwasdecidedof97MEUR,outofthetotalLevelofResources(ScienceProgramme

plus Basic Activities), to the EXOMARS Programme in order to cover shortages. A new

"EuropeanExplorationEnvelopeProgramme"wassubscribedby1444MEUR(2017-2019),

it comprisesall the ISSactivities,exploration technologydevelopmentactivitiesand the

EXOMARS programme. Finally, it was decided not to fund the AIM mission (Asteroid

ImpactMission).

§ ESAreleaseda"Callfornewscienceideas"and26proposalswerereceived.Weareaware

ofthreeBelgianparticipations:ROB(anin-situmissiontoVenus),CSL(amissiontostudy

theSun), and ULg (an interferometric mission aimed at characterizing habitable rocky

planetatmospheresandsearchforbio-signatures).Oneortwoproposalswillbeselected

for a study phase funded by ESA. The purpose is to facilitate the involvement of new

communitiesintheESAScienceProgramme.Thestudyphaseshouldenabletheteamto


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laterwriteacompetitiveproposalwhencallsformissionsarereleased.

[d]ARIEStelescopes

J.SurdejregularlyreportedontheconstructionoftheARIEStelescopes.

§ Statusofthe3.6mDOTand4mILMTfacilitiesattheendof2016:themirrorofthe3.6m

needs to be re-coated. This will very likely happen at the end of February 2017.ARIES

astronomers should thenstart the scienceverificationprogramwith that telescopeand

writemanuals reportingon theperformancesof thedifferent instrumentsaccessibleat

the Cassegrain focus of the 3.6m DOT. The ILMT building is now ready and the

construction of the telescopewill begin inMarch 2017, with the help of AMOS, ARIES

engineersandtechniciansandULgastronomers.

§ ARIEShostedameetingonJune7betweenDrsM.Gopinathan,B.Kumar,andJ.Surdej.J.

Surdej was informed that the Indian astronomers have already set up their TAC (no

Belgian member). BNCA therefore sent a mail to several representative institutes to

definetheBelgianARIESTimeAllocationCommittee(TAC).Itresultsinacommitteethat

willbeformedby:

o ULB:A.Jorissen,S.VanEck(substitute);

o ROB:P.deCat,P.Lampens(substitute);

o UGent:S.DeRijcke,M.Baes(substitute);

o ULg:J.Surdej,M.DeBecker(substitute);

o UAntwerp:K.Kolenberg.

§ The firstBINAworkshop tookplace in India from15 to18November. Itwasa success.

Amongtheparticipants,10wereBelgian,80wereIndianscientists(halffromARIES),and

10foreigners.

§ During2016severalconcernswereraisedabouttheavailabilityoftheinstrumentationat

the3.6mDOTtelescope.ItwasdecidedatourlastmeetingtosendajointBNCAletterto

sharetheseconcernswiththeheadofARIES.

[d]A&AFNRScontactgroupmeeting

R. Alvarez organized at the Planetarium of the ROB the FNRS A&A contact group meeting on

October 11, 2016. 57 participants attended the meeting, 11 talks and 3 posters have been

presented.


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[e]Miscellaneousmatters

COSPAR:ForsavingreasonsRASABhasdecidedtonotrenewitsfinancialcontributiontoCOSPAR.

D.FonteynandP.SimonfromBIRAproposedtorevivethenationalcommitteeforspaceresearch

(CNRS/NCRO),asitwasinactiveforseveralyears.TwomembersoftheBNCA,C.WaelkensandV.

Dehant,arenowmembersofthecommitteewhosefirstactionwillbetounderstanditsposition

relatively to the future Inter-federalSpaceAgencyofBelgium(ISAB).Therefore,during the first

(public)meetingof theCNRS/NCROheldon7 June, E. Bekapresented a rapid overviewof the

goalsandaimsofISAB.


Progress was achieved during 2016 towards the creation of the Interfederal Space Agency of

Belgium(ISAB). The first legal texts were approved by the federal Council of Ministers in

November. ISAB should become operational during 2017 and will take over (and extend) the

responsibilitiesofthecurrentSpaceDepartmentofBELSPOwhichwillceasetoexist.


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NATIONALCOMMITTEEBELQUA(QUATERNARYRESEARCH)

1.Introduction,missions,goals

BELQUA is the Belgian contact for INQUA, the InternationalUnion forQuaternary Science. The

purposeofBELQUAistosupportandincreasethevisibilityofBelgianresearchonvariousaspects

of theQuaternaryperiod,either conducted inBelgiumorbyBelgian scientistsabroad.BELQUA

alsoaimstoencourageyoungresearchersandtopromotescientificcommunication.Itcoversall

researchfieldsrelatedtoQuaternaryscience.


(a)Meetingof4/03/2016,inBrussels

BELQUAmeetinginMarch2016wasopentoallattendeesoftheBELQUAworkshop(seebelow).

G.VerstraetengaveapresentationofBELQUA,itsactivities(e.g.,fieldtripandworkshop)andits

embedmentinINQUA.Mainachievementsandconclusions:

§ An unanimous vote in favour of Veerle Vanacker (UCL) to become a member of the

BELQUANC;

§ A discussion and brainstorming session was organised to further encourage more

scientiststoattendtheworkshopandtheyearlyfieldtrip(seebelow);

§ PreparationtopublishabookprovidinganoverviewofQuaternaryscienceinBelgium

(b)Meetingof28/11/2016,inBrussels

Mainconclusions:

§ Evaluationofthefieldtripand2016workshop;

§ Discussion concerning the forthcoming BELQUA activities. It was decided to organise a

BELQUAworkshop following the concept of theprevious years (see also below). Itwas

alsodecidedtoorganiseaone-daytrainingeventin2017foryoungscientistsworkingon

the Quaternary or MSc students following courses relevant to Quaternary science in

general. The idea was raised to focus the first training day on dating techniques. The

session would start with a number of general lectures by keynote speakers aimed at

giving a state-of-the-art of somedating techniques.During the afternoonmore specific

lectureswithsomecasestudieswouldfollow.Thisonedaytrainingeventwillreplacethe

fieldexcursionin2017.


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TherewasnoGeneralAssemblyofINQUAin2016.Thenextgeneralassemblywillbeorganisedin

Dublin(Ireland)in2019.InformationfromINQUA(e.g.theNewsletter,andthetableofcontents

ofitsjournalQuaternaryInternational)aredistributedviatheBELQUAe-maillist.

4.Otheractivities

[a]BELQUAannualworkshop

TheBELQUA2016workshopwasaone-dayeventinBrusselsandcoincidedwiththeBELQUANC

meeting.Theworkshop isanopportunity tomeetcolleaguesworking inQuaternarySciences in

Belgiumandabroad.ItisalsoanopportunityforstudentstopresenttheirPhDresearchandpost-

doc projects. Vanessa Heyvaert (RBINS) and Gert Verstraeten (KU Leuven) organized and

convened theworkshop. Prof. KimCohen (UUtrecht)was invited as a keynote speaker on the

topicof“PalaeogeographyandSedimentBudgetsoftheLowCountries:2.7ka,27ka,270ka”.In

additiontothekeynotelecture,abstractsweresubmittedfor9oralpresentations,coveringavery

widerangeoftopicsanddisciplines.Theworkshopwasattendedby30-35scientists.

[b]AnnualBELQUAfieldtrip

Thefieldtripwasco-organisedwithBLUG/UBLGandGeologicaBelgicaonthe10thofSeptember

2016.TheexcursionincludedavisittotheKikbeekQuarryandtheNationaalPark‘HogeKempen’.

Duringthefieldtripsomeexposeddepositswerediscussed includingsilversand,Kikbeek lignite,

pedogeneticquartzite,cryoturbationsandpolygonalsoils,andUsseloandBollingsoils,aswellas

some surrounding geosites. The field trip was attended by c. 12 scientists of which 3 were

affiliatedtoBELQUA.

(c)Participationininternationalmeetingsandconference

BELQUAmemberstookpartandconvenedsessionsinseveralinternationalmeetings

§ Co-convenersofsymposium‘Quaternarycontinentalclimatearchives:trackingspatial

andtemporalchangesthroughrobustmulti-proxyrecords’(N.Fagel,M.F.Loutre,S.

Verheyden),‘Stochasticandscalingfluctuationsinmarine,freshwaterandatmospheric

sciences:physical,chemicalandbiogeochemicalstudies’(N.Fagel),Ice-sheetandclimate

interactions(PhilippeHuybrechts)and‘Limnogeology-readingthegeologicalrecordof

lakes’(MarcDeBatist)attheEGUGeneralassembly,Vienna,April2016.

§ M.F.Loutreismemberofthescientificcommitteeof‘CentralandEasternEurope

PaleoscienceSymposium:FromLocaltoGlobal’,Cluj-Napoca,Romania,May2016.


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§ M.F.Loutrewasco-convenerofPAGESTownHallmeetingduringtheCLIVAROpen

ScienceMeeting,Qingdao,China,September2016.


[a]BELQUAannualworkshop

TheBELQUA2017workshopwillbeorganisedbyNathalieFagelandElieVerleyenonthe10thof

March. The workshop will be open to all scientists interested in Quaternary research and will

provideyoungscientists,includingadvancedMScstudents,PhDs,andpost-docs,theopportunity

topresenttheirwork.

[b]BELQUAannualFieldtrip

Aone-daytrainingeventwillbeorganisedinthefallof2017regardingdatingtechniques.TheNC

willdecideontheexactdateandprogramduringtheBELQUANCmeetinginMarch.


15

NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORBIOCHEMISTRYANDMOLECULARBIOLOGY


The goal of the National Committee is to promote research in the field of Biochemistry and

Molecular Biology, by organizing meetings and inviting outstanding internationally renowned

scientists. Because of the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of the biological sciences, often

symposiaareorganizedtogetherwithothersocietiesandotherNationalCommittees.

Because of the common goals, the members of the National Committee on Biochemistry and

Molecular Biology are also member of the board of the Belgian Society of Biochemistry and

MolecularBiologyandassuchareactivelyinvolvedinthepreparationandorganizationofallthe

activitiesofthisSocietyandoftheNationalCommittee.

2.Meetingsofthecommittee

TheNationalCommitteeorganizesitsmeetingstogetherwiththeboardoftheBelgianSocietyfor

BiochemistryandMolecularBiology.In2016theboardmetonthe23rdofJanuaryinthePalais

desAcademiesinBrussels.Inthismeetingtheoverallorganization,financialstatus,membership

listofthesocietyarereviewedaswellasdiscussionoftheorganizationofmeetingsinthecoming

year.Furtherorganizationandexchangeofinformationandideaswasdonebyemail.



4.Otheractivities

TheSociety/NationalCommitteehasorganizedin2016thefollowingtwoscientificmeetings:

[a]213thmeetingoftheSociety.

The213thBSBMBmeeting tookplaceonMonday June20,2016at ErasmeCampusAnderlecht

(ULB) (local organizer Jason Perret). The theme of themeeting was New insights inmolecular

mechanisms of neurodegeneration. Originally thismeetingwas planned in the fall of 2015 but

becauseofthelockdownsituationinBrusselsduringthattime,themeetinghadtobepostponed.

The Society’s 65th general assembly was held at this meeting during the lunch break, and

confirmedthecompositionofthecurrentboard.Also,YvesEngelborghsremainstreasurerbuthe

indicated that the society needs to find someonewho can takeover his task, after serving the


16

societyforsomanyyears.JanGettemans(secretary)presentedanoverviewofthenewwebsite

www.biochemistry.com,hostedbyone.com.

[b]Otheractivities

Mostmembers of theNational Committee participated inmany international scientific events,

either as participant or as an invited speaker. However it would be impossible to provide an

extensivelistofalltheseactivities.

All members of the National Committee participated in many international scientific events,

either as participant or as an invited speaker. However, it would be impossible to provide an

extensive listof all theseactivities. ‘TheNationalCommittee forMicrobiologyand theNational

Committee for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology co-organized a meeting on the 28th of

October2016inthePalaceoftheAcademiesinBrussels.Onseveraloccasions,inMarchandApril

2016,representativesoftheBSBMB(CarineMichiels,JasonPeret,JanGettemans)heldameeting

with representatives of the Belgian society forMicrobiology to arrange all the practical details

(invitedspeakers,posterssession,attendancefee,abstractboor,sponsors,posterawards).This

meetingwas further supportedbyFNRS, FWOandBelspo. Therewasa general consensus that

themeetingwasagreatsuccess.


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NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORBIOLOGICALSCIENCES


The national Committee of Biological Sciences is representing the Royal Academies (RASAB)

towards the InternationalUnion of Biological Sciences (IUBS) and brings representatives of the

Belgianbiologicalresearchandresearchgroupstogether.TheCommitteeorganizescontactfora

and develops in collaboration with other organisations research projects towards the larger

public.


Non-specified.


NoGeneralAssembmyin2016.

4.OtherActivities

Itwasplanned toorganiseanactivitybringingcitizens to sciencebydevelopingaprojectonair

quality through studying the distribution of some easy recognisable lichen species. The project

portfolio(alreadyexistinginDutch)hasbeentranslatedtoFrench.Howeveritturnedoutthatthe

administrative load and follow up needed in manpower was not available to develop the

programmeasitshouldbe.Theprogrammehasbeenputonhold.

Thisyearanumberofdirectdiscussionstookplacebetweenthepresidentandmembersornon-

membersoftheCommittee.ThetopicofthesediscussionsarethefutureoftheCommittee.The

mainconclusionsfromthediscussionsare:

§ The actual composition of the committee does not reflect the evolution of biological

sciencesofthelastdecades.E.g.genomicsarenotrepresentedatall.

§ In order to get an active committee it is advised that the actual members should step

down, making place for younger partners, better representing what is going on in the

biologicalresearchworld.

§ ThequestionhasbeenposedastotheactualsignificanceofaNationalcommitteeandits

activities,giventheevolutionofscientificcollaborationsduringthelastdecadeswiththe


18

developmentoftheanywherepresenceofinternetandeasycontactpossibilitiesthrough

different media.It has been suggested to have an activity in 2017, dealing with the

implication and contribution of research institutes not linked to a university and their

possiblecontributiontouniversitystudent’scurricula.


§ InformthewordofbiologicalacademiaontheexistenceofaNationalcommitteeandits

possiblerole.

§ DiscussthefutureoftheCommitteetocometooranactiveCommitteeortostopthe

Committee’sactivity.

§ Investthesupportforasymposium(lasttrimester2017)onthepossibleroleofscientific

institutes’(notuniversitybound)inthecurriculumdevelopmentofbiologystudents.


19

NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORBIOMEDICALENGINEERING

1.Introduction,missions,goals

Biomedical Engineering is the multidisciplinary field concerning Engineering research,

developmentsandapplicationsin(bio)medicine.

The BelgianNational Committee on Biomedical Engineering aims to bring together the Belgian

academics, students, researchers and professionals, active in the broad field of biomedical

Engineering.

TheaimsoftheNationalCommitteeare:

§ Stimulatingscientificandeducationalinteractions

§ Linkingwithinternationalorganizationsandsocieties

§ RepresentationoftheBelgianacademicpointofview

§ Settingupaforumforinterestedstudentsandprofessionals.


Dates:TheCommitteemeton:March3rd,August22nd,November7th,November25th.

Mainconclusions:

§ ContinuingeffortsforayearlyContactForum.

§ Involvingyoungscientistsandprofessionals,alumniofourmasterprograms.

§ Streamliningcommunications(updatedinformativewebsite).

§ Contactswithindustry:mostlyviatheassociationUNAMEC.

§ ContinuingliaisoneffortswithEuropean,worldwideassociations.

§ Needforcontinuingeffortsinpromotingresearchanddevelopmentandanawarenessof

thecommunity.




20

4.Otheractivities

[a]BelgianDayonBiomedicalEngineering(March4th,2016)

Contact Forum with 5 invited speakers, a poster session presenting new research results and

prizes for 3 posters by young researchers; This year's theme: “Nanotechnology” had to be

postponedtoMarch4th2016duetotheterror-menacelevel4inBrussels.

Goals:

§ BringBelgianresearchers incontactwith internationallyrecognizedspeakers(thisyear's

theme:BridgingthegapbetweenEngineeringandMedicine)andallowthemtopresent

theirworkinashortpresentationandposter(BelgianDay).

§ EvaluatethefutureactivitiesofEAMBES.

Attendance:

§ 270personsattendedthe“ContactForum”:14thNationalDayonBiomedicalEngineering.

[b]BelgianDayonBiomedicalEngineering(November25th,2016)

Contact Forum with 5 invited speakers, a poster session presenting new research results and

prizesfor3postersbyyoungresearchers;Thisyear'stheme:“AdvancesinMedicalImaging”

Goals:

§ BringBelgianresearchers incontactwith internationallyrecognizedspeakers(thisyear's

theme:BridgingthegapbetweenEngineeringandMedicine)andallowthemtopresent

theirworkinashortpresentationandposter(BelgianDay)

Attendance:

§ 195personsattendedthe“ContactForum”:15thNationalDayonBiomedicalEngineering

on November 25th 2016, of which 128 students, 45 Phd students, 6 post-docs, 16

professors,others:professionalsinthefield.

[b]CollaborationwithUNAMEC

ThankstothecollaborationwithUNAMEC,anevaluationifthecompletebiomedicalengineering

sectorialpresence:ineducation,inresearch,andintheprofessionalcontexthasbeenrealizedin

2013.MajorcontributionsweremadetotheUNAMECreportconcerningmedicaldevices(infinal

stage):MedicaltechnologyinBelgiumandMedTechFlanderswasfoundedinjuly2015.


21

[c]Liaisonwithworldwidesocieties/activities

§ Contacts between the National Committee, the World Federation IFMBE, the Union

(IUPESM)andICSUviaMarcNyssen.

§ Contacts between the National Committee and EAMBES (European Level umbrella

organisation)viaJosVanderSloten.

§ ContactsbetweentheNationalCommitteeandESEM(theEuropeanScientificSociety)via

PascalVerdonck.

§ Contacts between the National Committee and UNAMEC (the professional umbrella

association),withindustrymembersofbiomedicalsectorviaPascalVerdonck.

§ Contact between the National Committee and IEEE-EMBS (the IEEE Engineering in

MedicineandBiologySociety)anditsBeneluxchapterviaSabineVanHuffel.

[D]YoungstersBoard

A “Youngsters Board” was set up successfully in 2010 and was fully operational in 2011 and

renewedin2015andagainin2016.

[E]EAMBES/IFMBE

AEuropeanmeetingwiththeEAMBES/IFMBEmemberswasheldattheEuropeanParliament31st

May2016.

5.Clarificationofabbreviations

§ IFMBE:InternationalFederationforBiomedicalEngineering:the“WorldFederation”

§ IUPESM “International Union for Physics and Engineering Sciences in Medicine”, the

UNIONofwhichtheIFMBEis1ofthe2components.

§ EAMBES: European umbrella association, regrouping societies and teaching/research

departments

§ ESEM:EuropeanSocietyforBiomedicalEngineering

§ EAMBES:EuropeanAllianceforMedicalandBiologicalEngineeringandScience

§ ICSU:Internationalcouncilofscientificunions(linkswithnationalAcademies)

§ IEEE:InstituteofElectricalandElectronicEngineers

§ EMBS:EngineeringinMedicineandBiologySociety


22

NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORBIOPHYSICS


The goal of the National Committee is to promote research in the field of Biophysics, by

organizingmeetingsandinvitingoutstandinginternationallyrenownedscientists.Becauseofthe

increasingly interdisciplinary nature of the biological sciences, often symposia are organized

together with other societies and National Committees. Because of the common goals, the

membersoftheNationalCommitteeonBiophysicsarealsomemberoftheboardoftheBelgian

Biophysical Society and as such are involved in the preparation and organisation of all the

activitiesofthisSociety.

2.MeetingsoftheCommitteeandtheBelgianSociety

§ 20th of December 2016: finalization of the 2017’s Belgian Biophysical Society program(meetings,workshops,…).

§ 2ndofSeptember2016:presentationandapprovalofthecommittee’sactivitiesandofthefinancialbalancebytheGeneralAssembly.



4.Otheractivities

§ SeminarSerieson“ProteinPurification”,10-12May2016,UniversityofLiège

§ SeminarSerieson“ProteinFoldingandProteinStability”,29&30August2016,UniversityofLiège

§ Thirteen one-day symposium on “Protein Folding and Stability”, 2 September 2016,UniversityofLiège

§ Mini-Symposium on “Microcalorimetry of Biological Macromolecules”, 22 November2016,UniversityofLiège


23

NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORCHEMISTRY

InMemoriam

ThePastPresidentoftheNationalCommitteeChemistryBelgium,PaulDeBièvrepassedawayon

April14th,2016attheageof83.Hewasrecognizedinternationallyforhisexpertiseinmetrology

andanalyticalchemistry.HewasextremelymotivatedbytheNationalCommitteeroleinBelgium

andtheimageofBelgianChemistryintheworld.HewasafigureasaseniormemberoftheIUPAC

and as familyman, a proud father and grandfather.Wewill rememberhimas a colleague and

friendandcertainlymentionhisnamequiteofteninthefuture.

1. Introduction,mission,goals

Asreportedin2015and2014,ourgoalsremainunchangedandinlinewithourstrategy

guidelines:reconcicliatethePublicandChemistryby

§ Federate the messages of chemistry (Universities, Technical Colleges, Essenscia, CEFIC,

SRC,KVCV,JSC,Teachers,etc.).

§ Inform the public, improve and develop the image of chemistry in Belgium in all the

aspects.BethebridgeheadofIUPACinBelgium(inputandoutput).

§ Makethepromotionofchemistryandsciencestotheyounggenerationsattheearlyage,

highschools.Encouragethemtostudysciencesandtechnologies.

It is obvious that these issues and concerns are shared by many ones (all) in the network of

organization inBelgium.

Soourwish is tobe specific, andbringanefficient contribution to the commoneffort andour

actionsmustbecomplementarytoothersconsideringour limitedbudgets.TheComitéNational

deChimie/NationaalComitéScheikundeteamisparticularlywellconnectedwiththe“chemical”

networkinBelgium,canimpactandspreadourideasandprojects.


a. Regularmeetings:February25,2016;October26,2016b. ProjectMeetingsFeb2nd,2016(withTheOlympiadsandJeunessesScientifiques);March

2nd,2016(Leuven)


24

3.GeneralAssemblyoftheScientificUnion3


3.Othersactivities

[a]InBelgium

Inordertoillustratemanyaspectsofchemistryinthedevelopmentof“highTech”applications,

andSciencesandmoreparticularlyChemistry isanessentialtool inourmodernlife,a“oneday

event”dedicatedtotheyouthwasorganizedonSaturdayApril16th.

In order to stimulate their interest for Science and Technology, The" National Committee

Chemistry, the Science Olympiads, the" Scientists Youth of Belgium"invited the Science

Olympiads /Belgium (age 17/18) young finalists (250) to a one-day event: “Science and

Technology, the Future,My Future”. Since the Auditorium at the Academywas reserved, the

EventtookplaceonSaturday16thApril2016,attheSolvayCampus,withthecourtesyofSolvay

SA,310ruedeRansbeekNeder-over-Heembeek,1120Brusselsfrom10amto4pm.

It isanopportunitytothankSolvayS.A.fortheirsupport,organization,exhibition,cateringand

theirfinancialsupportat100%(about15000€).

§ 210students(highSchools)selectedinthefinalistsoftheOlympiads(Physics,Chemistry,

Biology) fromthethreeregionsattendedand listenedwithenthusiasmthespeakersof

theday.

§ tostimulatethestudents,theprogramme(inFrandNDL)wasfocusedontechnologies

where all the sciences and technologies can contribute. Two lectures by “senior”

scientistsandtwopresentationsbyPhD’sstudentsfromULBandVUB.

o ClaudeMichelandMichelDubois:“SolareImpulse”

o SeppeTerryn(VUB)Self-HealingRobotsnolongerScienceFiction

o ProfPhilippeClaes:Meteoritesin,DinosOut

o SophieBauduin:SoundingAirPollutionfromSpace

This “ScienceDay”wasunanimouslyappreciatedby theparticipants. Thequality, and subjects

coveredbythelecturerswereverystimulating.

3Seefullreportonpage98.


25

[b]International

§ COCI (Committee for Chemistry and Industry/ IUPAC). Participation at the meeting

(Montreal/April2016)-PaulBaekelmansasTitularMember-withtwomainitemstobe

reported:

o Growinginterestforthehealthandsafetytrainingprogramme(seebelow)o PreparationofaRegionalworkshopinBeijing

§ COCI (Committee for Chemistry and Industry/IUPAC). Participation at the meeting

(Beijing/September 2016) - Paul Baekelmans as Titular Member - with items to be

reported

o Seminar organized by SINOPEC. The IUPAC Regional workshop with the theme“Chemical Industry of Sustainable Development” featured 12 technicalpresentationsondevelopmentofgreenchemicaltechnology,biomassenergyandchemicals,andResponsibleCare.

o IUPAC is starting a new interdivisional committee on Green Chemistry andSustainabledevelopment.

ThisseminaremphasizesarealmoveintheChineseIndustrytowards“clean”products

andenvironmentalconcerns.

§ Attendance at IUPAC Division VII meeting, Chemistry and Human Health, in

CopenhagenfromSeptember3rdtill6th,2016–byRitaCornelisasVice-Presidentofthe

Division.

§ All through the year participation with Tom Perun, President, and Mike Schwenk,

secretary, inallmattersconcerning themanagementofDivisionVII -RitaCornelisasa

member of the Interdivisional Committee on Terminology, Nomenclature and symbols

reviewingpaperssubmittedforpublicationintheIUPACJournalPAC(PureandApplied

Chemistry).

§ In 2016, the “Safety Training Programme” dedicated to the training of developing

countriestechniciansintheChemicalIndustryinlaboratoriesandproductionplantswas

introducedtoSolvay.Theprogrammewillbeimplementedin2017(May)


26

NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORCRYSTALLOGRAPHY


Crystallography is the study of the atomic andmolecular structure of diverse substances using

microscopy and diffraction techniques in order to understand the relationship between atomic

structureandpropertiesofthesematerials.

The objectives of the National Committee of Crystallography are to promote cooperation in

crystallography,tocontributetoallaspectsofcrystallographicresearch,tocatalyzetherelations

of crystallography to other sciences, to promote crystallography for the general public, and to

representBelgiancrystallographersininternationalassociations.

Thecommitteehasitsownwebsite4,whichareadministeredbyJohanWouters,andorganizesa

annual crystal growing competition for pupils at secondary schools and biannual Belgian

CrystallographySymposiumBCS.


[a] The first meeting took place on 16 March 2016 in Brussels (Academy Palace). During this

meeting the program of the Ninth Belgian Crystallography Symposium BCS-9 organized by the

NationalCommitteeofCrystallographyintheAcademyPalaceinBrusselson26October2016was

discussed(listofspeakers,postersession,exhibitionandflashpresentations).Thecommitteehas

decidedtomaintainthenewinitiative'Inviteacrystallographer'duringthenextschoolyearand

togivevouchersforthiseventasprizefortheBelgianCrystalGrowingCompetition.Anoverview

oftheinscriptionsandpreparationsoftheBelgianCrystalGrowingCompetitionwasgivenandthe

dateoftheprizeawardingceremonyintheAcademyPalacewasfixedat18May2016.Proposed

speakerswere Frank DeWinne and Philippe Claeys. Finally, the Belgian representation for the

CouncilMeetingoftheEuropeanCrystallographicAssociation(ECA)andnominationsfortheIUCr

ExecutiveCommitteeandCommissionshavebeendiscussed.

SomemembersoftheCommitteewerepresentatthejudging(Namur,23April2016)andprize

awardingceremony(Brussels,18May2016)oftheCrystalGrowingCompetition.

4sites.google.com/site/xallobeandwww.iycr2014.be


27

[b]ThesecondmeetingintheAcademyPalaceinBrusselson25October2016wasopenedwith

thereportsoftheECACouncilMeetinginBaselbytheBelgianrepresentatives(Y.FilinchukandF.

Hatert). The final preparations for the Belgian Crystallography SymposiumBCS-9 in 26October

2016andthepreliminarytimingofthe2017editionoftheBelgianCrystalGrowingCompetition

weremade.

The status of the initiatives 'Invite a crystallographer' was discussed further. Finally, the

Committee has discussed and approved in the presence of T. Leyssens (UCL, invited for this

agenda item) the possibility to install a sub-committee on crystal growth in order to become

memberoftheInternationalOrganizationforCrystalGrowth.


The next General Assemblies will be held during the IUCr Meetings in Hyderabad (2017) and

Prague(2020).

4.Otheractivities

[a] The National Committee of Crystallography has organized in 2016 with support of both

academies and sponsor Acros Organics a successful sixteenth edition of the Crystal Growing

Competition for pupils of the secondary schools (see web site

http://www.chem.kuleuven.be/bcc/). For this edition sodium thiosulphate has been chosen as

crystallizing compound. The judging of the submitted crystals took place on 23 April 2016 in

Namur. During the proclamation on 18May 2016 in the Academy Palace in Brussels also the

geodesgrownforthenewitemofthecompetitionhavebeenexposedandevaluated.

[b] Yaroslav Filinchuk and Frederic Hatert have represented the Committee at the Council

Meetings of the European Crystallographic Association ECA in Basel (28 August - 1 September

2016).

[c] Frederic Hatert is co-chair of the Special Interest Group on Mineral and Inorganic

Crystallography. Yaroslav Filinchuk is secretary of the Special InterestGrouponCrystallography

under Extreme Conditions.Frederic Hatert and Joke Hadermann are active members of

respectively the IUCr Commission Inorganic andMineral Structures and the IUCr Commissions

Aperiodic crystals and Electron Crystallography. L. Van Meervelt has participated as General

Secretary and Treasurer to the meetings of the IUCr Finance Committee in Leuven and IUCr

ExecutiveCommitteeinDenver.


28

[d]AscouncillorD.Maeshasparticipated to themeetingsof the InternationalOrganization for

Crystal Growth. As a continuation of the IYCr 2014 activity 'Invite a crystallographer' several

(honorary)membershavedeliveredlecturesinsecondaryschools.


§ Organisation of the seventeenth Belgian Crystal Growing Competition in 2017 (seechem.kuleuven.be/bcc).

§ participationbyBelgianschoolsattheInternationalCrystalGrowingCompetition.

§ Organisationofthe10thBelgianCrystallographySymposiumBCS-10inBrussels(October2018).

§ BelgianmembershipofInternationalOrganizationforCrystalGrowth.


29

NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORGEODESYANDGEOPHYSICS


The BNCGG serves as a link between IUGG and the Belgian scientists working in the fields of

Geodesy and Geophysics. This activity reaches a climax every four years at the IUGG general

assembly.TheBNCGGisthenchargedtoproposetotheAcademythenationaldelegatestoIUGG

andtoitseightAssociations:

§ InternationalAssociationofCryosphericSciences(IACS);

§ InternationalAssociationofGeodesy(IAG);

§ InternationalAssociationofGeomagnetismandAeronomy(IAGA);

§ InternationalAssociationofMeteorologyandAtmosphericSciences(IAMAS);

§ InternationalAssociationofHydrologicalSciences(IAHS);

§ InternationalAssociationofthePhysicalSciencesoftheOcean(IAPSO);

§ InternationalAssociationofSeismologyandPhysicsoftheEarthInterior(IASPEI);

§ InternationalAssociationofVolcanologyandChemistryoftheEarthInterior(IAVCEI).

In the meantime, the BNCGG organizes regularly conferences by known Belgian or foreign

scientists.

The BNCGG tries also to encourage the participation of young scientists to the IUGG General

Assembliesbyattributinggrants.

Belgium was among the 9 countries that established the International Union of Geodesy and

Geophysics(IUGG)onJuly28,1919inBrussels.TheBelgianNationalCommitteeforGeodesyand

Geophysics(BNCGG)wascreatedshortlyafterin1921.Therunningexpenseswerecovereduntil

1950bytheNationalCartographicInstituteandlateronbyRoyalAcademyofBelgium,nowsplit

into the "Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voorWetenschappen en Kunsten" and the

"AcadémieroyaledesSciences,desLettresetdesBeaux-ArtsdeBelgique".

Inparallelwith theBNCGG,exists since1955an"Associationsansbuts lucratifsdedroitbelge"

called "Comité National Belge de Géodésie et de Géophysique, Bruxelles". It is charged to

administratethefinancesoftheCommittee.


ThetraditionalannualBNCGGGeneralAssemblyhasbeenheldonJanuary21intheNicoletroom


30

of the Royal Observatory of Belgium. The introductory conferencewas given by Dr. Véronique

Dehant,RoyalObservatoryofBelgium.

“Study of the rotation of the Earth and application to Mars”, by Véronique Dehant, Royal

ObservatoryofBelgium-January21,2016

Our fundamental understanding of the interior of the Earth comes from geophysics, geodesy,

geochemistry,andgeomagnetism.Measurementsinthesefieldshaverevealedthebasicinternal

layeringoftheEarth,itsthermalstructure,itsgrosscompositionalstratification.Inparticular,the

rotation and orientation of the Earth (precession and nutation) are used to obtain essential

informationonthedeepEarthinterior.Theyaresubjecttoirregularitiesinducedbyglobalmass

redistributionswith time and external forcing such as the gravitational pull of the Sun and the

Moon.Theterm‘precession’describesthelong-termtrendoftheorientationoftheaxisofspin,

while ‘nutation’ is the name given to shorter-term periodic variations. The rotation axis of the

Earth ismoving in spaceat the levelof1.5km/yeardue toprecession (as seen fromspace ina

plane tangent to the pole) and has periodic variations at the level of 600 meters. With the

advanceofobservationprecision,thecausesofEarthorientationchangesareprogressivelybeing

identifiedbygeodesistsandgeophysicists.Thepresentobservationsallowscientiststomeasure

theseatthesub-centimeterlevelenablingthemtoidentifyfurtherphysicsoftheEarth’sinterior

tobetakenintoaccountintheEarthorientationmodelssuchasthecouplingmechanismsatthe

boundary between the liquid core and the viscoelastic mantle, as well as many other factors

(sometimesnotyetdefinitelyidentified).TheexistenceofaliquidcoreinsidetheEarthandallthe

coupling mechanisms at the core-mantle boundary play indeed an important role in nutation

amplitudes.Aneverydayexampleof the11influenceof thephysical stateof the interioron the

rotationisthatraw(liquid)andcooked(solid)eggsrotatedifferently.

Thisbringsustothe ideaofusingobservationofrotationandorientationofMarsforobtaining

information on its core, and in particular on its dimension, composition, and physical state. In

2016 and 2018, there will be two missions, the NASA InSIGHT mission and the ESA ExoMars

mission involving landersat thesurfaceofMars thatcontainadirect-to-Earthradiosystemand

thiswillallowus toperformedradioscience.These futureobservationswillallowus toperform

measurementsofMarsdeformation,rotationandorientationwithanunprecedentedaccuracy.




31


[a]ThenextBNCGGGeneralAssemblyisplannedonThursdayJanuary19,2017.

[b]AtaTBDdateprobablyinthebeginningofMayanumberofgroupedconferencesisplanned

onthethemeofclimatechangeinthepolarregions.

[c]AtaTBDdateintheautumnof2017aninternationalworkshopisplannedontheclimateof

tropicalregions.

[d]ThenextEuropeanGeophysicalUnion(EGU)conferencewillbeheldfrom23to28April2017

inVienna,Austria.

[e]NextScientificAssembliesoftheIUGGAssociationsare

o IACS,13-17February2017Wellington,NewZealand

o IAG/IASPEI,30July-4August2017,Kobe,Japan

o IAGA/IAMAS/IAPSO,27August-1September2017CapeTown,SouthAfrica

o IAHS,dateondiscussion,PortElizabeth,SouthAfrica

o IAVCEI,14-18August2017,Portland,USA

[f]ThenextAmericanGeophysicalUnion (AGU)meeting isplanned from11 to15December in

NewOrleans,USA.

[g]ThenextIUGGGeneralAssemblywillbeheldinMontreal,Canadain2019.


32

NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORGEOGRAPHY


The National Committee for Geography represents Belgian scientists working in the field of

GeographyintheworkofIGU(InternationalGeographicalUnion).ThisCommitteeisaforumfor

exchangingviewsonthelandscapeofGeographyinBelgium.


TheNational Committee forGeographymet four times in 2016: 19March, 3 September, 1260

November. Thethemesdiscussedwereatthemeetings:

[a]PromotionofGeography

ThepromotionofgeographyhasevolvedintooneofthetasksoftheCommittee.Therefore,the

CommitteeshallincludethetaskofdrawingupanemailaddresslistofBelgianscientiststobetter

distributeinformationinthisway.

AdedicatedwebsitewhichpromotesBelgianscientificgeographyalsoseemessential.

Severalcausesareidentifiedforthelownumberofstudentsingeography,eveniftheevolution

fromuniversitytouniversitymaydiffer.There isalsoaplethoraofnewprogramsthatcompete

withthegeography.

The Committee notes that a pressure prevails in some universities and researchers van FWO /

FNRS to unite physical geography with geology and human geography social sciences, which

undermines theholisticnatureofgeography.Thisvision is forcedongeographyand iscertainly

notthepositionofthegeographers.

TheCommitteewill takemeasures tomake theotherplayers in the secondaryeducationmore

closelyintherecruitmentforundergraduateprograms.

Thereare tools in the choiceof studywhere thegeographyapparentlynotwell-positioned / is

defined.Here,theCommitteewillinterveneinthreeareaswherenecessary:students,education

andsociety.Theseinitiativesareeligible:theorganizationofaGeo-week;thecreationoftraining

modules for teachers in secondary education, geo-dating, movies on Youtube, a geotamtam

(mailinglist),lessonsinsecondaryeducationandaleafletontheposter.


33

Thecontentoftheinitiativeswillbepreparedaquestionnaireforformerstudentstoknowtheir

exactgeographyworkingareasandtoexplain the lowunemployment rate. Inaddition,existing

datawillbecollected,forexampleonthebasisoftheresultsofevaluationcommittees.

Anothersuccessfulinitiativemaybebeneficialforthepromotionofgeography,theInternational

Map Year. The site could be acquired by the site of the Committee. Finally, there is the site

GeographyBelgiumfundedbyGhentUniversity.

[b]ParticipationtotheFestivalInternationaledeGéographie(Saint-Dié)

ThefestivalisorganizedinSaint-Die(France)on29,September30andOctober1,2016withthe

themeBelgium.

There was a large delegation of Belgian geographers who participated in the exhibitions and

debates. There are also exchanges between geographically secondary education in France and

French-speakingBelgium.

OneoftheroundtableswasdevotedtothefutureofBelgium.Thisincludedfourpeopleincluding

two Belgian and two French. BELGEO 2017/1 on the contributions of Belgium would issue a

special number associated with the FIG. There were more than 30 communications proposals

related to Belgium. The brochure 'A concise geography of Belgium "was distributed to the

speakers.

[c]BeGeo

Theinitiativewasasuccess.Infuturetheywillhavetoprovidebettercommunicationandinvolve

theCNGinthepreparationoftheeventalongwiththeIGNandAgoria.

[d]Geo-Olympiade

OnDecember12ameetingwasheldwiththeFrenchNationalCommittee,FégéproandtheVLA

totheactivities - includingdiscussGeo-Olympiades - inanticipationof thenext IGUcongress in

Paris.

[e]DoctoralschoolofGeography

TheCommitteewouldliketostartthedoctoralschoolofgeographyinFrench-speakingBelgium.

Tothisend,theChairmanoftheCommitteecontactthechairmenofthejuryofanyfrancophone

universitytoevaluatethepossibilities.


34

[d]BelgianGeographyDays

GeographyTheBelgianDaysareorganizedinLiègeandtakeplaceon17and18November2017.



4.Otheractivities

[a]SubcommitteeNationalAtlas

RegardingthethirdatlasofBelgium,thesituationunchanged.Thesixthsectiondedicatedtothe

cityisstillnotissuedascoordinatorstheirtextsandcardshavestillnotpassedtotheeditor.

OnthedigitalatlasofBelgium, it issupplemented inthecourseof2016,recent figures/maps.

321ticketsarenowonline,spreadoverthefivemainthemesoftheThirdAtlas.Theatlasandits

possibilitieswerepresentedatthe'FestivalinternationaldelaGéographie'atSaintDiéinFrance

onSeptember29,2016

[b]SubcommitteeforCartography-SIG

o InternationalMapYear: Theperiodbetween the International Cartographic Conference

(ICC2015),heldinRioinAugust2015andtheendofDecember2016wasdeclaredbythe

InternationalCartographicAssociation'InternationalMapYear(IMY).Theactivitiesofthe

subcommitteeinthesecondhalfof2015and2016werethereforelargelylinkedtoit.As

alreadymentionedawebsiteontheInternationalMapYearwasestablishedinlastyear's

report, which a announcement and additional information on all activities of the

subcommitteewasrecorded,andthisinthetwonationallanguagesandinEnglish.Also,

activities of other organizations that are announced on the sitewere placed under the

headingofIMY.

SinceJanuary2017theweblinktotheIMYsiteisnolongeractive.Theinformationonthe

site about the IMY however, was transferred to a sub-page of the new website being

underconstructionbytheNationalCommittee(http://ncgeografie.be/imy/)andcanstill

beconsulted.

o BeGeo Day: On March 3, 2016 was the first time the event BeGeo place, with a

geocongres fair, organized by the Belgian geo-sector. The event took place at The Egg

(Brussels).BeGeoisameetingplaceforgovernment,businessandresearchcommunityto

transfer knowledge and share experiences with geo-experts, users of geo-information,


35

andprovidersofservicesandproducts.DuringthiseventKristienOomskeptonbehalfof

thesubcommitteeCartographyandGISpresentationinwhichtheInternationalMapYear

andtheplannedinitiativeswereexplained.

o NationaleMapathon 2016: On Saturday, April 16th organized by the Subcommittee on

Cartography and GIS, in collaboration with the Departments of Geography 7 Belgian

universities (VUB, ULB, KULeuven, UCL, Ghent University, Ulg and Unamur)

OpenStreetMap andBelgium, a nationalMapathon. This eventwas part of theMissing

Maps initiative,which aims to provide cartographic basics for crisis-prone areaswith a

viewtoamoreefficientorganizationofhumanitarianmissions.Morethan200volunteers

participatedinoneofsevenlocationsto identifyareas inKivuandSwaziland.Perhapsit

was the largest operation of this type ever - all involved were very pleased with the

turnout.Thecallfordo-it-yourselfhumanitarianattractednotonlystudents,researchers

andprofessorsfromtheparticipatinguniversities,butalsomanyotherenthusiastsofall

ages. Technical knowledge in the field of cartography and computer usewas therefore

notrequiredtoparticipate.

During the event was created a short video conference on the afternoon when Pete

MastersofMSFUKclarifiedthatthenewcardsKivuwouldbedeployedimmediatelyon

the ground, within the framework of organizing a vaccination campaign to combat a

measles epidemic had just broken out in the region. Thanks to the work of the many

volunteerswhoparticipatedintheMapathononepossessionaftertheeventona

datasetofmorethan23244buildingsintheregion,whilevirtuallynothingwaspreviously

mapped.Intheafternoon,another25,000buildingsweremappedinSwaziland.Thisisto

help the Global Health Group at the University of California with the support of local

governmentintheeradicationofmalariainthecountry.

Thankstoawell-organizedpromotionalcampaignpriortotheevent,theMapathonwas

broad recognition behalf of the media, in addition to mentioning the event in some

regionaleditionsofnewspapersandaninterviewwithF.CantersinBonusonRadio1on

Saturday, justbeforethestartoftheevent,anentry inthe12hnewsonStudioBrussel,

andextensivereportsintheJournalofoneandtheVTMNews.

o BarbaraPetchenikexhibition"Myplace intoday'sworld":Aspartofthe2015editionof

theBarbaraPetchenik children's drawing contest,which tookplace at the International

CartographicConference inRio,with the theme"Myplace in today'sworld" theendof

2015 were 30 drawings selected by the jury, including the six Belgian laureates,

incorporatedintoamobileexhibition,whichopenedattheuniversityduringtheBelgian


36

GeographersDay2015.fromlatenovember2015tolateJanuary2016wereadmiringthe

drawingsOefenpleinCampusoftheuniversity.InMayandJune2016,thedrawingswere

exhibitedattheMercatorMuseuminSint-Niklaas.

o BarbaraPetchenikdrawingcompetition2017edition:Thesubcommitteeiscurrentlybusy

with the preparations for the Belgian participation in the new edition of the Barbara

Petchenik international drawing competition for children, which takes place at the

InternationalCartographicConferenceinWashingtoninJuly2017.Forthiseditionwere,

afteranappealbytheSubcommitteeschoolsandacademiesmarktheendof2016,senta

totalof 154drawings. The jury selectedhere fivedrawingsbyagegroup,whichwill be

postedonthenewwebsiteoftheSubcommittee(seebelow).Thegeneralpublicwillbe

here in spring 2017 through voting by category to choose a winning design. These

drawingswill,togetherwithadrawingbyagegroupselectedbythejurytoparticipatein

theinternationalcompetitioninWashingtoninJuly2017.

o Activitiesplanned:

• Given the success of the first edition, affects the subcommittee Cartography and

GIScurrentlyalreadypreparationsfortheorganizationofanewnationalMarathon

event,whichwill take place on Saturday,March 25, 2017. Through collaboration

withMSFisdevelopedapromotionalcampaignatthistimeaneventplacethanin

thespotlight.

• During spring 2017, the subcommittee will take on the coordination from the

entries for the International Cartographic Exhibition,whichwill take place at the

second-annualICAconference,thisyearheldinWashington(2-7July).

• Recently, also started the development of a new website for the subcommittee

Cartography and GIS, which organized all the events will be announced by the

subcommittee,whichalsowill includeareportofpastevents.Thiswillbefurther

developed in the comingmonths, so that the website can be placed as soon as

possible online. The build-in web pages will be part of the new website of the

NationalCommittee,whichisalsounderconstruction.Thepageswillbeavailablein

Dutch, French and English, so that the website can also be used to report an

overview of the activities of the subcommittee to the International Cartographic

Association.

[c]SubcommitteeforGeomorphology-BAG

BAGistheBelgianchapteroftheIAG(InternationalAssociationofGeomorphologists).

ReportontheBAGAdministrativeSession,10June2016.


37

a. BAGistheBelgianchapteroftheIAG

MorganDeDapper(UGent)isTreasureroftheIAG(2013-2017),AlainDemoulin(ULg)ispresident

(2013to2017;tobereplacedbythevicepresidentin2017atthetimeoftheIAGconferencein

NewDelhi).JanNyssen(UGent)isvice-president2013-2017(inprinciple,hewillbecomethenew

presidentin2017).Hence,in2017wehavetoappointanewvice-president(fromWallonia,asJan

NyssenisfromUGent).OlivierDewitte(RMCA)isBAGsecretaryandtreasurer.

b. BAGactivitiesin2015-2016

o Last year's BAG excursion was co-organised by B. Notebaert (KU Leuven) and G.

Houbrecht (ULg), who proposed an interesting review of fluvial geomorphology

problemsintheAmblèvecatchment,withpointpresentationsbyJ.Poesen(workofH.

DeBrue),F.Petit,B.Notebaert,J.VanCampenhout,andG.Houbrechts.

o InAugust2015,theBarnaulregionalconferenceoftheIAGwasattendedbysomeofus,

and notably our vice-president and our secretary, M. De Dapper, O. Dewitte and H.

HanneHendrickx.AdditionalinformationcanbefoundintheIAGNewsletterpublished

inGeomorphologyandGéomorphologie.

o I'm also really happy to recall something that probably most of you already know,

namely that in lastApril,during theannualEGUGeneralassembly,ourcolleague Jean

Poesen,fromtheKULeuven,wasawardedoneofthehighestUnionMedals(ifnotthe

highest) of the Eur. Geophys. Union, the Alexander von Humboldt Medal 2016 for

exceptionally significant work in developing regions in providing superb scientific

expertise inmanaging pressures on land originating fromproducing food and fuel for

growingpopulations.

c. Springerbookon"LandscapesandlandformsinBelgiumandLuxemburg"Iremindyouthat,

inSeptember2014, IwascontactedbyP.Migon,memberof the IAGexecutivecommittee

and scientific coordinator for Springer of their new book series about "World

geomorphological landscapes", with a proposal for editing a book devoted to the

"LandscapesandlandformsofBelgiumandLuxemburg".Asthiswasawonderfulopportunity

tobringamodernreferenceworkonthegeomorphologyofBelgiumtoaverylargenational

and international audience, I accepted this taskwithpleasureas soonas Iwas sureof the

participation of our community. Currently,most of the 26 chapters of the book, involving

about 40 main authors plus many other coauthors are approaching completion. The

completebookmanuscriptshouldbesenttoP.MigonandSpringer induetime, i.e.before

mid-December,andwecanhopepublicationofthebook(inelectronicandprintedforms)in

2017.Iwouldliketoexpressheremywarmestthankstoallofyouwhoparticipatedtothis

project,I'mnotsurethattherearemanyothercountrieswheresuchalargeteamofauthors


38

could haveworked so friendly and efficiently towards this goal. I alsowant to stress how

happyI'mthatmanychapterswereoccasionstojointwritingbetweengeomorphologistsand

geologists(F.Boulvain,N.Vandenberghe,J.Yans,V.Hallet,K.Beerten,etc).

d. Activitiestocomesoon

o 18th JointGeomorphologicalMeeting,Chambéry, June27 - July1, 2016. “SOURCETO

SINKFROMEROSIONTOSEDIMENTARYARCHIVES”:ourcolleagueVeerleVanackerwill

give the Belgian invited talk about "Anthropogenic Disturbances to Geomorphic

Processes. New insights from cultural landscapes in the Western Mediterranean". In

addition, 2 of the 7 oral communications will be given by 2 young Belgian

geomorphologists:LiesbetJacobs(RMCAandVUB)andJeanVanCampenhoutULg.The

Belgiancontributiontothisjointmeetingisthussatisfying.

o August23,2016: invitationtoapossibleextraexcursionunderBAGAuspices.Vastsite

of archeological research at Kerkhove, along the middle Scheldt not far south of

Oudenaarde–PrecisionsbyOlivier.NodirectBAGinvolvement,butIsuggestwegather

the names of people interested in this field visit and transmit this BAG list to the

responsibles.

o November 6-11, 2017: 9th International Conference on Geomorphology, New Delhi,

India. This event also determines the time for renewing the BAG board. We will

especially try to agree in the meantime on a new vice-president from the French-

speakingsideofourcommunitytobsubmittedtoyourvotesduringourfieldtripdayof

nextyear.

e. Amaury Frankl and his team of co-organisers are thanked for having organized this year's

BAG-excursionon“GeomorphologyandfloodingintheAabasin(N.France)”andguidingus

aroundinthisregionforthefirstinternationalBAGfieldtrip.Indeed,notonlyarewetoday

outside Belgium, in northern France, but the excursion has also been coorganized by

geomorphologistsof theUniversitiesofGhent and Lille1 andpeopleof the SyndicatMixte

pour l’Aménagement et laGestiondes Eauxde l’Aa. They showus thediversity of studies

thatcanbecarriedoutaboutthemanagementofasmallcatchment,dealingwithrunoffand

erosion control andmonitoring, gully evolution, or still floodmitigation. So, I proposewe

thankthemallwarmlyforthisniceday.

f. The next excursion of the BAG. You know the usual alternation between Flanders and

Walloniatowhichwestickfortheorganizationofourannualfieldtripday.Thiswouldimply

that,nextyear,theexcursionwillbeorganizedbyateamoftheFrench-speakingcommunity.

Nothinghasbeendecidedsofarbuttwosuggestionsarecurrentlyevaluated,bothproposed

bytheUniversityofLiege.Thefirstoneisconcernedwithnewdataandnewapproachesto


39

the understanding of theMiddle Pleistocene incision of the Ardennian drainage network,

with the relative disadvantage that we would go again in the Amblève valley where we

already were last year, the second is interested in the geomorphological monitoring

associatedtoriverhydro-morphologicalrestorationprojects,whichmightbecoordinatedby

AlexandrePeeters.Moredetailsaboutthedefinitivechoicewillfollowinduetime.Asforthe

date, as the traditionalmid-June date seems to be an ideal time for this JaarverslagNCG-

2016excursion, I suggest thatyoualready tick inyourdiaries June9as themostprobable

dateforthe2017BAGfieldtrip.Ofcourse,thiswillalsobeconfirmedlater.

g. Administrativenews.Wehavebeen informedbyS.Temmermanthathehaschosennotto

renew the BAG membership of his Department of the University of Antwerp from 2016

onwards.Thereremainthus8institutionsamongwhichtheannualBAGcontributiontothe

IAGwillbedistributed.


40

NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORGEOLOGICALSCIENCES


The National Committee of Geological Sciences forms part of the "Classe des Sciences de

l'AcadémieroyaledeBelgique"andthe"KlassederWetenschappenvandeKoninklijkeAcademie

vanBelgië".Themissionofthecommitteeistopromotegeologyandtoco-ordinateatanational

and international level, the activities of the geological departments that are present in the

different Belgian academic and scientific institutions. Members of the committee also act as

representativesofBelgiumintheInternationalCouncilofScientificUnions(ICSU).Atpresent,the

national committee co-ordinates the activity of a number of commissions and working groups

suchas theNationalCommissiononStratigraphy (sub-divided in specific sub commissions) and

the Working group on Structural Geology. The National Committee of Geological Sciences of

BelgiumhascloserelationshipswiththeInternationalUnionofGeologicalSciences(IUGS),which

is also a member of ICSU. The IUGS is a non-governmental organization that promotes and

encouragesthestudyofgeologicalproblems,especiallythoseofworldwidesignificance.


In 2016 the National Committee of Geological Sciences met in two sessions: onMay 12th and

December8th.DuringthefirstmeetingtheNationalCommitteehasappointedthedelegateofthe

National Committee of Geological Science to the coming general assembly of the International

UnionofGeologicalSciencewhichwillbeheldinCapeTown,SouthAfrica,from28thAugusttill

2nd September2016. Thediscussionon the internal roles and their applicationwas continued.

ThesignificanceofGeologyintheBelgiansecondaryeducationwasdiscussed.

During thesecondmeeting the reportof theNationalCommitteeofStratigrapgywasdiscussed

(see further point 5). The two proposals for IGCP projects with Belgian participation were

presented.ThestructureofthenewlyestablishedIUGSfulHeritagecommissionswasdiscussed.

Under this commission two subcommissions wil be errected: the subcommission ‘Sites and

Collections’andthesubcommisson‘Heritagestones’.TheBelgiancandidatesforparticipation in

eachofthesesubcommissionswereproposed.ThereportoftheBelgiandelegatetotheGeneral

AssemblyoftheInternationalUnionofGeologicalScienceswastreated(seefurtherpoint4)and

thediscussionontheinternalrolesandtheirimplementationwascontinued.


41


In 2016 the 35th International Geological Conference, organized by the IUGS,was held in Cape

Town South Africa from 28th August till 2nd September 2016. This conference is the 4 yearly

international scientific and business meeting of all committees affiliated to IUGS. The fourth

ordinarysessionoftheIUGS-IGCwasheldon31thAugustand1stSeptember2016.Thereportof

themeetingwaswrittenbythenationalrepresentativeNoëlVandenberghe.

ThereportoftheIUGSofficersforthe2012-2016period.

ThefirstpartoftheCouncilmeetingwasdevotedtothereportsbythepresident,vice-presidents,

secretary-generalandthetreasurer.

IUGS faced a major administrative challenge by changing the secretariat and the finances to

China. Regarding membership, objective factors can explain the diminishing decline in

contributingaffiliatedmembersandconsequentlyinthefinancialcapacityofIUGS.Howeveritis

also recognized that IUGSwasnot successful in clarifying theadvantagesof IUGSMembership.

Attempts to remediate this situation, have been the involvement of young earth scientists to

bring IUGS to the social media such as Facebook, to develop apps, the modernizing of the

electronicIUGSbulletin,newbrochuresandthepublishingofannualreportsofallsubdivisionsof

theuniononthewebsite.

A flyerwith the listof27Geostandardsalreadypreparedand inpreparationundersponsorship

from IUGS has been distributed (Geostandards Inventory). Setting standards is one of IUGS’s

highesttasks.AlsotheIUGSjournalEpisodeshasbeenupgradedandfurthereffortsaredoneto

installanon-linesubmissionandeditorialsystem.Themaindriverduringthepast4yearsofthe

executivecouncilhasbeentheguidingfromtheeraoftherecognitionofSystemEarthtotheera

of Future Earth studies focusing on energy and resources, understanding ecosystems, waste

management,hazardsandclimaticchangesandgeo-governance.

Changes in the organizational structuring of the IUGS have been reviewed while all other

traditional subdivisions of the union (ICS, INHIGEO, TECTASK, CGI, COGE, GEM) had no major

changesandcanbefoundatthewebsite.IUGScreatedaNewActivitiesStrategicImplementation

Committee(NASIC)thatstartedwiththeResourcingFutureGenerations(RFG)programbasedon

the legacyofthepast InternationalyearofPlanetEarth(IYPE); IUGSparticipatedactively inthe

ThirdUNWorldConferencein2015leadingtotheSendaiFrameworkforDisasterRiskReduction

and a new IUGS Task Group on Risk and Hazard has been set up. The Geoscience and the

Environmental Management Commission ended at the IGC Cape Town but the next Executive

Councilwilldealwiththefurtherfollow-upfocusonthehighsocialrelevanceofhumanactivityon


42

theplanet.TheTaskGrouponGlobalGeoscienceProfessionalismhaswelcomedtheassociation

of the International Associations for Geoethics and for PromotingGeoethics. TheOneGeology

program of the European Geological Surveys has been endorsed. Two new affiliatedmembers

joined IUGS: Earth ScienceMatters (ESM) and theGeological Associationof Canada (CAG). The

HeritageStoneTaskGroupandtheTaskGrouponGeoheritagehavebeenmerged intoasingle

newcommission.

TheResourcingFutureGenerations (RFG)programstartedat the initiativeof theNewActivities

Strategic Implementation Committee (NASIC) illustrates the challenge to bring evident societal

impactsofgeosciencestointernationalorganizations.Talksweregivenatmanyconferences.ICSU

has financially supported a workshop on RFG in Namibia and IUGS was invited to talk at the

economicmeetinginDavos.Atpresentalargerinvolvementofgeoscientistissoughtbyanopen

callforproposalsthatcanbeprovidedbyseedingmoney.Atpresentasoundfinancialgroundis

soughtbylobbyingwithAcademiesandotherpotentialsponsors.Afirstinter-IGCconferencewill

bedevotedonRFGEnergy-Minerals-Waterin2018inVancouver,Canadaundertheauspicesof

IUGSandsupportedbythedifferentCanadianearthscience,mineralogy,mining,metallurgyand

petroleumorientedorganizations(www.rfg2018.org).

Another example of the challenge to maintaining the visibility of geosciences in inter-

governmental organizations is the down rating of geosciences at UNESCO. After initially a

UNESCO draft was unacceptably downgrading the role of IUGS, finally UNESCO presented a

structurewith statutes andbylaws for thenew InternationalGeopark andGeoscienceProgram

(IGGP). Also the Risk and Hazard group of UNESCO is now inserted in the new Geoscience

DepartmentatUNESCO.ThismeansthatIUGSisnowanequalpartnerwithUNESCOintheIGCP

science program and provides the scientific board and the reviewers of the proposals coming

fromthegeologicalcommunity.ThetaskofprovidinghighrankexpertiseforIGCP,GeoParksand

WorldHeritagefitstheroleofIUGSinsettingstandards.

Like IUGS and IGCP are now joint initiatives, other joint initiatives are the International

LithosphereProgramwithIUGGandtheIsotopesandGeochronologygroupwithIUPAC.IUGShas

alsoaMemorandumofUnderstandingwiththeInternationalConsortiumonLandslidesandwith

the UNESCO Centre on Geochemistry in Linjang, China. It was suggested by the chairman that

IUGSshouldappointliaisonofficersinothergeo-relatedunionsliketheIUGGtoavoidtheissueof

thelimitedterminofficeofIUGSofficers.

Finally, the difficult relationship with ICSU was discussed. IUGS is part of the GeoUnion. The

publishedscienceplaniswrittenwithout inputofgeoscienceaspectsat largeandunfortunately

no reactionwas given to the improved input delivered by geosciences. Also the Future Earth


43

initiativeremainsvague.ApparentlyICSUisnowdroppingtheUandcallsitselftheInternational

CouncilofScience(ICS).

Votingmatters

Thesecondpartofthemeetingwasmainlydevotedtotheproceduresforvotingforthedifferent

newofficersandfortheselectionofthehostcityofthe37thIGCin2024.The2020hostcityfor

the36th IGCwasalreadydecidedand isNewDelhi in India. In2024 the37th IGCwillbeheld in

Busan,SouthKorea.BusanwasselectedbyalandslidemajorityoverBerlin,SaintPetersburgand

Istanbul.

The newly elected chairperson IUGS President (2016-2020)is Prof. Dr. Qiuming CHENG,

Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering, Department of Geography, York

University. Toronto,Ontario,Canada. ThenewlyelectedSecretaryGeneral (2016-2020) isProf.

Dr.StanleyC.nFINNEY,DepartmentofGeologicalSciences,CaliforniaStateUniversity,LongBeach

CA90840,USA.HewasthepreviousChairmanoftheinternationalCommissionforStratigraphy.

Otherofficerselectedcanbefoundatthewebsite.

4.NationalCommissionforStratigraphy(NCS)

SincethepreviousNCGSmeetingofMay2016oneNCSmeetingwasheldon29/6/2016.

ApresentationwasgivenbyY.Vanbrabantof theSGB-GSBon ‘StratiSankey:a tool toease the

stratigraphicreading’whichwasproposedasastrategicactionoftheBelgianGeologicalSurvey.

All sub-commissions of NCS have their own activities leading to discussion and proposal texts

postedonthencswebsite.(ncs.naturalsciences.be).Thewebsiteiscurrentlyatcruisingspeedfor

the lithostratigraphy. Efforts are still needed to insert the state of the chronostratigraphy. In

addition to the traditional subcommissions, two sub entries are added: RegWal andAlteration.

RegWalcontainsalistofallstratigraphicunitsusedduringthemappingRégionWallonneandnot

reportedintheGeologicaBelgica2001volume.Alterationisnewlyaddedtoformalizeextensive

lithologicalbodiesrepresentingthealterationofolderunits.Atpresentproposal/discussiontexts

are posted in the subcommissionsCarboniferous (Hempinne Fm), Cretaceous (VertGalant Fm),

Paleogene-Neogene (several discussion texts and a proposal for the complete Ieper Group),

Quaternary(ArenbergFm),Alteration(Clay-with-flintFm).Thelistofactualdiscussions/proposals

isnowsystematicallyreportedintheMiscellanea.Allrepresentativesofuniversitiesandinstitutes

atNCShavebeenaskedtobringtheexistenceofthewebsitetotheattentionoftheirstudents

andtoencourageitsuseintheircoursesandpractices.


44

ReflectionisneededonthechangingoftheNCSboard.Theimportantcoreandsamplematerial

forstratigraphicresearchisnowcompletelytransferredtoPeronnes-lez-Binche.Thenextmeeting

isscheduledfor11/1/2017.


[a]NationalCommissionforStratigraphy

Next year thediscussionon the formulationof internal rules of theNCGS and a timelineof its

implementationwillbecontinued.


45

NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR LOGIC, HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF

SCIENCES


AccordingtothemissionoftheNationalCommittees,asstipulatedintheRoyalDecreeof2April

1979, the National Committee aims to promote and coordinate research activities on Logic,

History and Philosophy of Science in Belgium, primarily with regard to the international

representationofBelgianscholarshipintheInternationalCouncilofScientificUnions.

The National Committee is the Belgian member of the International Union of History and

PhilosophyofScience(IUHPS),bothof itsDivisionforHistoryofScienceandTechnology(DHST)

anditsDivisionofLogic,MethodologyandPhilosophyofScience(DLMPS).

Inpractice,themaingoalsoftheNationalCommitteeinclude:

1. TorepresentBelgianscholarshipontheinternationallevelbybeingpresentasamember

orspokespersonwith internationalorganisations (IUHPS,EuropeanSocietyofHistoryof

Science).

2. To coordinate Belgian scholarship by setting up collaborations and joint projects with

otherinstitutions(NationalCentrefortheHistoryofScience[KBR],Gewina[BelgianDutch

Society for theHistoryofUniversitiesandScience],BSLPS [BelgianSociety forLogicand

PhilosophyofScience]).

3. Topromotetheintegrationofhistoricalandphilosophicalstudiesofscience.

Inaddition to thesegoals, theNationalCommitteealsoacts topromotegeneral interest in the

historyof(Belgian)science,andtodisseminatetheresultsofcontemporaryscholarshiptoawider

audience.


TheCommitteemeton22April2016andon22December2016.

Mainpointsontheagendaofthefirstmeetingincluded:variousadministrativeissueswhichcame

up in the course of preparing for the (successful) application for a subvention for 2016 from

BELSPO;preparationofourtwomaineventsinNovember2016.Mainpointsontheagendaofthe


46

second meeting included: preparing the Committee’s activities for 2017; evaluation of our

activitiesintheFallof2016.

The main conclusions of 2016 were threefold: (1) The precise administrative relations and

overheadmodalities between BESTOR and RASABwould benefit from further explicit dialogue

andagreement;(2)BESTORisasuccessstory,innosmallpartthankstoGeertVanpaemel,Lyvia

Diser andAlixBadot; (3) theCommittee still has a salutary role toplay inproviding services to

nationaland internationalPhDstudents insciencestudies (broadlydefined) throughworkshops

andyoungresearcher’sdays.Attendanceandlivelinessof2016’sworkshoponthehistoriography

ofscienceandYoungResearcher’sDays5offeredampletestimonytothis.


GeertVanpaemelwaspresentattheannualconferenceoftheEuropeanSocietyfortheHistoryof

Science(Prague,22-24September2016;cf.http://www.7eshs2016.cz/).

4.Otheractivities

[a]Bestor:

Bestor5isanonlinedatabaseonBelgianscienceandtechnologydevelopedbothforconsultation

bythegeneralpublicandasaresearchinstrumentforthespecialistscholar.Itaimstoprovidea

forumforhistoricalresearchon(recent)Belgianscience,toupdatehistoriographicalsourceswith

newerpublications,andtopromotetheinterestinthe(historyof)Belgianscience.

BestorcontainsrecordsonBelgianscientists,scientific institutionsandscientificsocietiesof the

lastthreecenturies,bothinFrenchandinDutch.Thedifferentitemsareinterconnectedthrough

links, which enable the visitor to follow up on the network of relations between people and

institutions. Inmanycases,historical information issupportedbydirect linkstoonlineavailable

sources.Therecordsalsoprovidereferencestosecondarysourcesandrecentpublications.

The information presented in Bestor is supplied and assessed by a small teamof collaborators

(NationalCentreforHistoryofScience,membersofNationalCommittee,individualcollaborators,

etc.),underthedirectionoftheNationalCommitteeofLogic,HistoryandPhilosophyofScience.

Administrative support and housing facilities are provided by RASAB. The Bestor database is

physically locatedontheserverof theFacultyofArtsofKULeuven,wheremattersoftechnical

maintenancearetakencareof.

5www.bestor.be


47

Bestor issupportedbyanannualsubsidyofBelspo,whichhasbeengenerouslyaccordedtothe

Committeesince2008.

Staffandmanagement

Duringmostof2016Bestoremployedonescientificcollaborator.AsmanageroftheprojectLyvia

Diser(1FTE)divideshertimebetweenwritingnewrecords,coordinatingcollaborators,updating

andmaintainingthewebsitecontent,developingpublicrelationsandpromotingtheproject.On

April1,2016Diser’sfixed-termcontract(01/04/‘15-31/03/‘16)wasconvertedintoanindefinite-

term contract, in line with the Belgian legislation on the renewal of fixed-term contracts. To

maintain contactwith the academicalworld,which is essential for Bestor, Diserwas voluntary

research fellow at the University of Ghent. She alsomakes use of the Ugent resources at its

MuseumforHistoryofScienceanditsacademiclibraries.

Asenvisagedin2015andthankstocarefulbudgetmanaging,anextracollaborator(0,5FTE,one

year fixed-term contract) was recruited in October 2016 to translate records andmanage the

Frenchsideofthewebsite.AlixBadotisnotastrangertotheBestorproject.Shewasemployed

from its start in2009up to2012.Badot isalsoworkingonaPhD-dissertationon thehistoryof

scienceandenvironmentat theUniversityofNamur. Itwasagreedthatshewilldrawfromher

expertiseonthistopicaswellashermanycontactsintheFrench-speakingscholarlycommunity

intheBestorprojects.

The National Centre for the History of Science (KBR) contributed to Bestor by translating the

quarterlynewsletteranditslinkedrecords,untilOctoberwhenBadottookover.Apartfromthis,

membersoftheNationalCommitteehavewritten,readandcorrectedrecords.

Last year a User Portal was added to the website. It invites Bestor readers to assist in the

expansionofthedatabase.TheBestornewsletteralsooccasionallyreachesouttothepublic.Asa

result of these efforts, in 2016 18 new records were produced by readers, mostly amateur

historians,undersupervisionoftheBestorteam,whileexistingrecordswereextendedwithdata,

sourcesandimages(oftenfrompersonalarchives).

Supervisor of the project is Professor Geert Vanpaemel (KU Leuven), secretary/member of the

NationalCommittee.


48

Figure1:Overviewcreatorsofnewrecords2016

Outcome2016

During 2016, several existing records have been revised or extended. Furthermore, 181 new

recordshavebeenproduced,66inFrenchand115inDutch.AsofJanuary2017,Bestorcontains

1070 French and 1113 Dutch records. For the first time there are more Dutch than French

records. There is no equality in quantity between French and Dutch records at all times, it

neverthelessremainsBestor’sambitiontohavetwoequivalentsetsofrecordsinbothlanguages.

Thegraphsbelowshowhowthequickriseinrecordsbetween2010and2014sloweddownfrom

2014onward.Thisisexplainedbyapriorityshiftin2014fromlargescaletranslationeffortstothe

moretime-consumingcreationofnewrecords(inDutch).In2016Bestordecidedtomakethese

newDutch recordsavailable in French,while continuing toproducenew records inDutch. This

explains the larger increase of records in 2016: 40 % of the total amount (66 records) are

translations into French, ofwhich44were carriedoutbyBadot sinceOctober. The increaseof

readercollaborationisasecondexplanation.

Figure2:Evolutioninnumberofrecords

NationalCommittee

Individualreaders

Collaboratornewrecords

Collaboratortranslations

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Frenchrecords Dutchrecords

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016


49

Asinpreviousyears,mostoftherecordsarebiographical:607Frenchand651Dutchscientists’

biographies(versus598and610in2015).However,biographiesproducedin2016representless

than 30% of the total amount of records produced in 2016.6 In 2015 and 2014 50 % of new

recordswerebiographies.

Furthermore,thereare131(F)and87(D)recordsonscientificsocieties,80(D)and42(F)records

onprizesandawardsinscience,15(F)and39(D)onscientificjournals.Therearerecordsonmost

oftheFederalresearchinstitutionsandtheirstaff,suchastheRoyalObservatory(98records,D

andF),theBotanicalGarden42records(D),theMeteorologicalInstitute(17records,DandF),the

RoyalMuseum for Art andHistory (23 records, D and F) and the Royal Academy. In 2016 the

numberof‘Sciencestories’7rosefrom21to28(DandF).

Figure3:Chronologicaloverviewofbiographicalrecords(bydateofbirth)

Figure4:Biographicalrecords(bydateofbirth)aspercentagesoftotal

6Moreover,aboutthreethirdofthosebiographieswerecontributionsofreadersandmembersoftheNationalCommittee.7‘Sciencestories’areattractiveandrichlyillustratedshortstoriesonkeyeventsinthehistoryofBelgianscience.Becauseoftheirmany

links,thesepagesfunctionasasteppingstonetowardsotherrecordsinBestor.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1500

-170

0 17

01-172

5 17

26-175

0 17

51-177

5 17

76-180

0 18

01-182

5 18

26-185

0 1851-1875

1876-1900

1901

-192

5 19

26-195

0 19

51-197

5 French

Dutch

1501-1600

1601-1700

1701-1800

1801-1900

1901-1975


50

Thisyear’snewrecordswerecreatedintheframeworkoftwothematicalinventoryprojects,as

recordedinthe2015’sreport.Onefocusedonsciencemonumentsinthepublicspace,theother

onimportantsites,buildingsandplacesinBelgianhistoryofscience.

The project on ‘lieux de mémoire’ related to science and scientists in the public space was

launched at the end of 2015. The goal was to offer a portal where visitors can explore the

scientific background of public statues, busts and commemoration monuments in their own

surroundings. For this reason a new categorywas created on Bestor where readers can easily

browsemonumentsbycityorprovince.Atthebeginningoftheproject,thenewsletterlaunched

anappeal to readers to tip-off statues in theirneighbourhood. In thiswaya listof recordswas

composed,whichcontinuestogrowstill.Theprojectwasroundedoff inNovember2016.Asof

now46 sciencemonuments related to science and scientists, aswell as one Science story, are

accessible online on the Dutch part of the database. Although almost all of these Belgian

monumentsoriginated inthevastpatrioticcampaign launchedbytheGovernmentshortlyafter

theBelgianRevolution,theyhaveneverbeforebeencompiledinoneplace,forreaderstobrowse

and compare. Some results were already presented to the public through the newsletter. The

presentationoftheprojectasawholewillfollowafterthetranslationstoFrencharecompleted.

The second project, Plaatsen van Wetenschap/Sites et Sciences, took a start in November. It

documents places that are orwere of interest in the history of Belgian sciences. The list of 45

records contains university buildings, campuses, laboratories, national, regional or communal

research institutions, observatories, museums, gardens and less traditional places, that are

meaningful in the history of Belgian scientific activity or discovery. Some results were already

presented in thenewsletter, for exampleon theNeolithic cavesof Spiennesor theexploration

shipBelgica.Sofar16recordsand2ScienceStoriesareaccessibleonline.

Asinpreviousyears,aquarterlyBestornewsletterwaspublished.Newslettersgenerallypresent

topicsrelatedtothehistoryofBelgiansciencesortoday’sBelgianscienceworld.Thesetopicsare

linkedasmuchaspossibletoongoinginventorywork.ThisyearhoweverBestorconsciouslychose

toinvestmoretimeinthecreationofrecordsontrendingtopicsforthenewsletter(FandD).This

resulted in numerous new records, for example on theworld famous particle physicist Robert

Brout, whose birth was commemorated in the April bulletin, or on scientist-refugees and

immigrants onBelgian soil.On twooccasionsextra inventory projectswere set up: TheNobel

prizeelectioninDecember2016calledforthecreationof15newrecordsinDutchandFrenchon

theQuinquennialandDecennialSciencePrizesoftheGovernment–‘BelgianNobelprizesavantla

lettre’.AndtheJanuary2017topicontheUniversities’goldenjubileeyear2017wasprecededby


51

thecreationofoneSciencestoryand8biographiesofprofessorsoftheearlysciencefacultiesin

DutchandFrench.

N°1(jan-febr-ma)

Publicationdate:

18|01|2016

⋅ 100jaarrelativiteitstheorie|Lecentenairedelathéoriedelarelativité

⋅ Vluchtenisvanalletijden|Lesréfugiés:unphénomèneintemporel

⋅ LezingenreeksUCL2016rondsymbolenensymbolisme|SériedeconférencesUCL2016autourdessymbolesetdusymbolisme

N°2(apr-may-june)

Publicationdate:

11|04|2016

⋅ RobertBroutoverleedvijfjaargeleden|RobertBroutdécédéilyacinqans

⋅ AlbertToilliez,demanvanSpiennes|AlbertToilliez,l'hommedeSpiennes

⋅ Tipsentoolsrondwetenschapsgeschiedenis|Trucsetastucesautourdel'histoiredessciences

N°.3(july-aug-sept)

Publicationdate:

04|07|2016

⋅ Deschoonheidvanpriemgetallen|Labeautédesnombres-premiers(ontheoccasionof150thbirthdayCharles-JeandeLaValléePoussin)

⋅ MetQueteletopcitytrip|AvecQueteletencitytrip

⋅ Aankondigingen|AnnoncesN°.4(oct-nov-dec)

Publicationdate:

12|10|2016

⋅ NobelaandeNoordzee|UnNobelauPlatpays

⋅ Laboinhetpakijs|Unlaboratoiresurlabanquise

⋅ Aankondigingen|AnnoncesFigure5:Newslettertopicsthroughout2016

The Bestor homepage is a dynamic environment where the reader gets a regular update on

significant dates and events in the history of Belgian science or the Belgian science today.

Alternatingfocustextsshed lightontopicssuchastheNobelPrizeceremonies inDecember,or

NationalWomen’sdayinMarch.Theagendaannouncesupcomingeventsconcerningthehistory

of science, such as conferences, exhibitions or call for papers. The homepage displays on the

newestpublicationsonhistoryofscience.


52

From January to October, the only translationsmade were the newsletters and their linked

records(DtoF),bytheNationalCentre.InOctoberalargescaletranslationproject(DtoF)was

started.Prioritywasgiventotheprojectsof thepreviousyears. In201666Dutchrecordswere

translatedinFrench.

InMaywehavestartedup thephasedprocedureofupdating theBestorsoftware, tocreatea

more professional, user friendly and safe web environment. The ICT-team at Faculty of Arts

KULeuvenwillexecutetheproject.Inalongfirstphase(May-December2016)theupgradewas

successfully tested in a safe environment, back-upsweremade and an application for a server

subscriptionwassubmitted.Thesecondphaseconsistedoftheupgradeofthewebsite’ssoftware

Mediawiki version 1.15.1, which is no longer supported by Mediawiki, to version 1.28.0. This

versionismorestable,saferandmoreuser-friendly.Atthesametimeamigrationofthewebsite

toanexternalserver(ICTSserver)wasexecutedandsecurityprotocolforencryptingthewebsite

was installed, so as to make it more resistant to cyber crime and in line with search engines

current requirements of internet safety (https-address). One more phase is to follow (see

Projectedactivitiesin2017-8).

Dueto lackof time ithasnotbeenpossible to followupon theprojectArtandscienceaswas

planned.

Promotionandvisibility

Asinpreviousyears,thequarterlyBestoremailNewslettercontinuedtoappear.Eleveneditions

in French and in Dutch have come out since its take-off in July 2014. The Dutch newsletter is

edited by Diser. The translation has been taken care of by the National Centre for History of

ScienceuntilOctober,whenBadottookover.Theletterdrawstheattentiontocuriousstoriesor

significantdatesinthehistoryofBelgianscienceandpresentshistoricalbackgroundinformation

toBelgiansciencetoday.ItalsopresentsupdatesonBestorprojectsandbringsimportantrecent

publicationsandinterestingeventsrelatedtohistoryofscienceintofocus.Linksinvitereadersto

continuereadingandbrowsingontheBestorwebsite.

The number of views of the hyperlinked records increases significantly in the days and weeks

followingtheappearanceofthenewsletters.Thisyearthe22featuredhyperlinksreceivedatotal

of 774 clicks. This brings the clicking rate on 9 %, meaning that each hyperlink on average is

clickedby9%ofthereaders.Current(andprevious)newsletterscanalsobereadonthewebsite.

Thisyear thiswebspotgrewout tobeoneof themostviewedpagesonBestorDutch (10.612

views)andFrench(8.216views).


53

The newsletter is sent out to contacts by email. The list of subscribers contains most science

historysocietiesaswellasindividualscholars,amateurs,teachersandstudents.Subscriptioncan

bedonethroughthewebsite.Apartfromthesteadyflowofspontaneoussubscriptionsandonline

viewers,specialeffortshavebeenmadetoreachouttonewgroupsofsubscribers.Promotionfor

the newsletter was done through the Bestor publicity leaflet, on the website and through

publications, newsletters of congenial organisations, mailing lists of other organisations,

conferences, etc. Furthermore, Badot has made a start to reach out to the French speaking

community, startingwith scholars and students in her own contact networks. Thanks to these

efforts,asofFebruary2016,themailinglistcontains390subscribers(DandF).

Justasinpreviousyears,theBestorpublicityleafletwasdistributedatscholarlyconferencesand

seminars. Bestor was present at important events related to history of science, science

communicationandscientificheritage:JournéeModerNum-Penserlestempsmodernesavecles

Digital Humanities (Mai 13), De wereld van de zuidelijke geleerden tijdens het Koninkrijk der

Nederlanden (1815-1830) (November 18, 2016), Science in the past, science in the present.

Reflections on a historiography of science for the 21st century (November 24), Fifth Young

Researchers Days in Logic, Philosophy and History of Science (November 25-26) and Sismicité

historique,histoiredupaysageetrésilienceenvironnementale(December21).

Advertising for Bestorwas also done through the selectivepublishing of articles based on the

Bestordatabase. IntheNationaalBiografischWoordenboek (2016),astandardworkforBelgian

historians– scholars andamateurs - Diserpublished twoarticleswith reference toBestor for

further reading (“Massart, Jean”, 714-722 and “Libert, Marie-Anne”, 668-674). On the blog

Cultuurgeschiedenis.be, Diser’s article “Hoe vluchtelingen de Belgische wetenschap verrijkten”

withBestoradvertisingwassharedand(re)tweeted.TheSciencestory“DeNooduniversiteitvan

Amersfoort 1915”was picked up by theDutch societyDigitaalWetenschapshistorisch Centrum

(Knaw) and shared and (re)tweeted amongst its reader audience - Dutch history societies and

scholars.

Bestor has significantly gained invisibility. The visitors’ statistics tool now lists over 3.3million

visits for theFrenchsiteandover2million for theDutch site. Apart fromthehomepage, the

pagemostoftenviewedremainstheCategoryofScientists:73.527(F)and31.290(D).Therestof

thetopfive,thatusedtobequitestableforyears,nowundergoeschangeseverythreemonths.

Eachof the tenmostviewedpages (DandF) is consultedonadailybasis.With some notable

exceptions (e.g. Quetelet, Lemaître), all biographies in the top ten are twentieth century born

scientists,probablybecauseofthefactthattherearenoothereasilyavailablesourcesonthem.

However,whereasinpreviousyearsbiographieswerepopular,wenowseereaders’interestshift


54

towards records on societies and on national or federal institutions. The RoyalMeteorological

InstitutionandtheBelgianInstituteforSpaceAeronomywerehighrankedthroughouttheyear.

Shooting star of this yearwas a record that lists digitally consultable records on the history of

sciencesinBelgium(F).ItenteredthetoptenonlyinOctober,butisnowthethirdmostpopular

page.Ingeneral,astronomy,meteorologyandhorticulturewerepopulartopics.Themostpopular

Sciencestoryis“Vluchtenisvanalletijden”ontheDutchsite,withaspeedyclimbton°13onthe

ranklist(8.457views)sinceitscreationinJanuary,and“L’universitéD’Amersfoort”ontheFrench

site (3.384views).Bothstoriesdealwithaspectsofwar, inparticular theGreatWar. Ingeneral

thesciencestoriesontheGreatWardowell.OntheFrenchsite1.037pageshadmorethan100

views, and 858 pages have even receivedmore than 1.000 views (respectively 1.068 and 546

pagesfortheDutchsite).BestorpagesarewellrepresentedinGooglequeries.

[b]Workshop“ScienceinthePast,ScienceinthePresent:Reflectionsonahistoriographyof

scienceforthe21stcentury”(KVAB,24/11/2016)

OneofthemostexcitingtrendstocomeoutofthefieldofScienceandTechnologyStudies,has

been thearticulationofa completelynewunderstandingof science. Insteadofusinganarrow,

technicalemphasisonthetheoreticalorganizationofknowledge,confinedwithininstitutionalor

disciplinary boundaries, scholars, reflecting the concerns of science policy makers, now frame

science within a much broader view of e.g. ‘knowledge production’ or the ‘national science

system’. Within the science system, many stakeholders, including teachers and journalists,

contribute topublic formsofknowledgethatareconstantlybeing (re)configured,appropriated,

negotiatedand circulated. It isunderstood that science isbeing co-producedwith socialpower

systems,and that it isalways tangledupwitheconomic,political, industrialand legalpractices.

Theseapproacheschallengethetraditionalnarrativeofthehistoryofscienceasahistoryofideas,

andcreatenewopportunitiesformakinghistoryofsciencerelevanttocontemporarydebates.

In this workshop, the focus has been laid on themultifaceted challenges faced yesterday and

today in the writing process of the history of science. Obviously, the scope of historiography

includes awider range of stakeholders thatmake up for an effective science system. Enriched

with various intellectual and academic traditions (Belgium, France, Netherlands, Germany), the

workshophasprovidedenlightingroutesoftelling/writingthehistoryofscience.Notableguests

includeDominiquePestre(EHESS)andBartKarstens(Leiden).

Attendance:23(including7speakers)


55

[c] Fifth Young Researchers Days in History, Philosophy, and Logic of Science (KVAB, 25 &

26/11/2016)

Already in its fifth installment, theNational Committee’s “YoungResearchersDays” provide an

idealopportunity foryoungresearchers (PhDstudents,youngpostdocs)working inthefieldsof

Logic,PhilosophyofScienceandHistoryofScienceinBelgianUniversities,topresenttheirwork

toalargercommunityofemergingandestablishedscholarsinthesefields.

Papers were accepted in English, Dutch, and French. However, the lingua franca of YRD5 is

English,andapplicantswereencouragedtopresentpapersinthislanguage.Paperpresentations

wereabout20minutesinlength,followedby10minutesfordiscussion.

Attendance:35(including3keynotespeakersand21youngresearchers)


[a]Bestor

In2017-18translationsandinventoryprojectsremainimportantinordertoallowthecreationof

newrecords.However,nowwewillmakeaspecialeffort to focusalsoonthedisclosureof the

availableinformationtoreaders.

o Projectforthecreationofnewrecords

New records as part of 3 thematical inventory projects will be made. The first, Plaatsen van

Wetenschap/SitesetSciences,haditstake-offinNovember2016.Theprojectdocumentssites

andplaces that areof interest for thehistoryofBelgian scientific activityordiscovery, suchas

universitybuildings,campuses,laboratories,national,regionalorcommunalresearchinstitutions,

observatories,museums,gardensandotherlesstraditionalplaces.Inthejubileeyear2017(1817-

2017) special attention will be paid to the start-up of the Belgian scientific infrastructure,

includinguniversitysciencefaculties.TheaimoftheprojectistointroducethehistoryofBelgian

science into the local communities. Bestor can thus serve as a guide and stimulus for local

teachers, journalistsorsimplytourists tovisitplacesof interestconcerningBelgianscience.The

outputoftheprojectwillconsistof45newrecords,createdbyDiser.

Thesecondprojectwilldealwiththecontemporarytopicofscience,environmentandexpertise.

Thisprojectwillbeacollaborationproject:itwillaimatencouragingscholarsandotherexperts

to participate in further extending and perfecting Bestor, bywriting new records on their own

field of expertise. The chosen topic is very much alive in present-day scholarly (historical)


56

research.InparticularinattheuniversitiesofNamurandLiège,severalscholarsaredealingwith

these subjects. Badot, who has studied questions of science and environment as a PhD-

researcher,willcoordinatethevolunteersandscoutforinterestingnewcandidatesandstories.

Colonialsciencewillbethetopicofthethirdinventoryproject.Bestorwillseekcollaborationwith

theRoyalMuseumforCentralAfrica(Tervuren),thatwillreopenforthepublicinJune2018–in

particularwithPatriciaSchuylenbergh,headofSectionHistoryandPolitics.Theoutputwillconsist

ofrecordsonknownandlessknownscientists,explorers,(agricultural)engineers,scholarsinthe

medicalfield,institutions,expeditionsandstrikingeventsetc.

Bestorrecordsarealwaysanonymousandsubjecttoadaptations.Inordetomakepublishinginto

theBestordatabaseattractiveforscholars,a linkwillbeaddedtotheBestorrecord,wherethe

original,inadaptable,signedtextofthescholarwillbeuploaded.Inthisway,scholarscanreferto

thesepublications.

o Projectstoincreaseuserfriendlinessanddisclosewebsitecontent

In2017-8Bestorwillworktowardsincreasingtheuserfriendlinessofitsdatabase.Thecreationof

portalsisthewaytomoveforwardinthis.Portalsarevisuallyattractive‘startpages’onaspecific

topic. They function as startingpoints andentry gates for this topic. TheBestor portalswill be

webspots,richinimages,whereall linkstorecordsonpersons,events,institutionsetc.,related

tooneparticulartopicwillbesummedup,thuscreatinganoverviewforthereader.Recordsof

special interest,newarticlesandrelatedSciencestorieswillbeputondisplaythere.Inthisway

theportalswillhelpreadersnavigatethroughBestorrecords.

Twoportalswillbecreated.ThefirstwillbeaboutScienceandWar.Allrecordsconcerningwar,

e.g.onscientists-refugees,scholarsthatwereactiveinbattle,warinstitutionsetc.willbelistedon

theportal.ThereaderwillalsobeabletobrowsethroughacompilationofSciencestoriesonthe

FirstWorldWar.Theportalwillbeupandrunninginthecourseof2017.StartingfromJuly2017,

Bestorwillstartpreparingthejubileeyear1918-2018withaseriesoftrendingstorieson‘science

intheaftermathoftheGreatWar’(restaurationofthelandscape,thenewlyacquiredex-German

coloniesetc.)Thenewstorieswillbepresentedthroughout2018.

The second portal will deal with the very topical subject ofBelgian scientists andDarwinism.

Amongstotherthings,thereaderwillhaveanoverviewofthe‘Who’swho’inBelgianevolutionist,

fixistor(neo-)lamarckianresearch,ofinstitutionsdealingwiththesequestions,ofzoologicaland

othercollections,oftracesofCharlesDarwinintheBelgianpublicspaceetc.Theportalwillbeup

andrunninginthecourseof2018.


57

Apart from portals, our focus will be on digitally improving website interface facilities. In

cooperationwiththeICTteamatKULeuven,wewillstrivetoincreasetheuserfriendlinessofthe

website.Ahighperformancesearchboxwithpredictionmode,“soundas”mode and frequent

patternrecognitionwillbecrucialinthis.Alsotagcloudswillhelpreadersbyconjuringaneasyand

visuallyattractiveoverviewonthenetworkoftherecordoftheirchoice(Tagcloudapp).Polyglot

extensionsforeasierhandlingofmultilingualismwithinonesite,alanguagechoiceportaletc.are

to be installed. At the same time Search Engine Optimisation will ensure a higher-ranking

placementintheresultspageofsearchenginessuchasGoogle,toincreasethevisibilityofBestor

on the net, while Google Web Analytics tool will improve our understanding of how readers

interactwiththeBestorsite,withthegoalof improvingreaderexperienceandreactingtotheir

preferences.

o Translations

In the past, the French and Dutch record lists were very unequal. Bestor convinced of the

importanceofofferingarticlestoreadersofbothlanguages.Thereforein2017-8itwillcontinue

ourtranslationefforts,asithasdoneinpreviousyears.InOctober2016Badotwashired,inthe

first place to execute the most urgent translations into French. The translation of one record

equalsaworkloadofaboutoneday/week.Prioritywillbegiventorecent inventoryprojects,so

thattheycanbeintroducedtothenewsletterreadership:

1) Vrouwelijkewetenschappers/Femmesscientifiques:Foremostattentionwillbegiven

to the translationof this project, since the Frenchdatabase containsonly 6 entries in

thiscategory.41recordsincluding1Sciencestory.Deadline:endofSeptember2017.

2) Publieke Wetenschapsmonumenten/Monuments et Sciences: 40 records. Deadline:

endofJune2017.

3) Newsletters2017: includingtheBestor records that theyrefer to if there isnoFrench

version.

4) Extra:ScienceStories:Iftimeallows,effortswillbemadetoprovideallScienceStories

inbothlanguages.

o Promotionanddissemination

In the following years Bestor will continue its newsletter. Extending the mailing list of the

newsletterwillbeaprimarygoal.In2017ourfocuswillbetoincreasereadershipintheFrench

speakingcommunity,withaspecialattentiontoFrenchteachers(ofscienceandhistory)whoso

farhavenotbeenaddressed.


58

Bestor will remain active on websites, magazines, newsletters of related organisations,

institutionsetc. Itwillalsobepresentat importanteventsrelatedtohistoryofscience,science

communicationandscientificheritage,aswellasscientificconferences.TheBestorcollaborators

will invite science societies to suscribe to the newsletter or to add a link to Bestor on their

website, e.g. to their own Bestor record. Promotion of Bestor will also be done through the

presentationofresearchpapersbasedontheBestordatabase.

In 2017-18 Bestor will also increase its visibility on socialmedia. There will be a try-out of a

Bestor Facebookpage, thatwill beupdatedwith regularpostswith links to thewebsite. These

posts will deal with information on ongoing projects, curious facts, new records or

announcements of newsletters or important events. The Facebook pagewill also interactwith

other socially active history/science organizations (sharing posts, liking). The aim is to create a

socialnetworkofpeopleandorganisations.Attheendoftheyear,anevaluationoftheeffortsvs.

benefitswillmakeclearifthiscommitmentistobecontinued.

[b] Workshop “Faculties of Science at 200: A Transnational Perspective on Belgium and the

Netherlands”

ThisworkshopseekstopoolscholarlyresourcesinBelgiumandtheNetherlandssoastoprovide

better insight in the circumstances and effects of the erection of academic faculties of science

(1817) in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. A collaboration with GEWINA and possible

French partners is currently being explored, perhaps to coincide with Belgium as a host for

Gewina’sannualautumnmeeting.

[c]WorkshoponthehistoriographyofthehistoryofBelgianmedicine

OntheimmediateoccasionofthepublicationofthesurveyofthehistoryofBelgianmedicinein

the19thand20thcenturiesbyKaatWils&JorisVandendriessche.

[d]WorkshoponthehistoriographyofscienceintheSouthernNetherlands

On the immediate occasion of the publication ofEmbattled territories, eds. Sven Dupré, Geert

Vanpaemeletal.

[e]Participationatthe25thInternationalCongressofHistoryofScience,andTechnology(ICHST)

(RiodeJaneiro,Brazil,23–29July2017).

BrigitteVanTiggelenandDenisDiagrewillbothattend.TheNationalCommitteehastwovotesin

theCouncilofDSMT.


59

NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORMATHEMATICS


The National Committee aims at stimulating and coordinating in Belgium research in

mathematics, both in pure mathematics and applied mathematics, including education in

mathematics.Infact,thedistinctioninpureandappliedmathematicsisnotalwayseasytomake.

Inpuremathematicswethinkofalgebra,geometryandanalysis,butalsotheseareasoverlapand

donotcoverthewholedomain.Onecanthinkoflogic,combinatorics,topology,settheory,etc.

Applied mathematics, consisting among others of numerical analysis, statistics, mathematics

related to physics, is currently expanding and covers areas such as econometry and finance,

informatics,biomathematics,etc.

One of the main goals of the committee is to form a bridge between the International

MathematicalUnion (IMU)and theBelgian scientistswhowork in theareaofMathematics.As

suchwechoosethedelegatesthatcouldrepresentBelgiumattheGeneralAssembliesoftheIMU

andproposetheirnamestobothAcademies.TogetherwiththeBelgianMathematicalSocietywe

takecareof informing theBelgianmathematical communitybymeansof theNewsletterof the

BelgianMathematicalSocietyandtheNationalCommitteeforMathematics.

We aim at having 16 members, respecting linguistic parity, taking care of a good gender

representation and having a well-balanced participation of the different universities and

importantmathematicaldomains.


TheNational Committee forMathematicsmet onMarch 24 andOctober 24, 2016, both

timesat thePalaceof theAcademies. InMarch, Joel Fine (ULB)delivereda talk,untitled

“ThegeometryoftheEinsteinequation”.

ThemeetinginOctoberwasparticularlydevotedtotherelationsbetweentheNCMandthe

ICMIBelgium.Weelectedasnewpresident for the ICMIBelgium:Paul Igodt, the former

president,MaggySchneider (fromtheUlg)having resigned.Paul Igodt isProfessorat the

KULandbecomesanassociatedmemberoftheNCM.

WeelectedanewmemberfortheNCM:Pierre-EmmanuelCapracefromtheUCL.

ThemembersoftheCommitteehavebeenregularlyinformed,bye-mail,aboutinitiatives

of the IMU or about the proposals of the IMU for which the opinion of the NCM was


60

requested.Allmembersandhonorarymembersof theNCMreceivedtheElectronic IMU-

NewsletterandtheIMU-Bulletin.


NoAssemblyoftheScientificUnionin2016.

4.Otheractivities

[a]TheNewsletterappearedfivetimesin2016andwasdistributedbothelectronicallyand

inapaperversion.

[b]ThenextmeetingofthegeneralassemblyoftheInternationalMathematicalUnionwill

happenin2018inRio.In2016,therewasameetingoftheEuropeanMathematicalUnion

inBerlin.ManyBelgianmathematiciansattendedthemeetingandsomegaveinvitedtalks.


61

NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORMECHANICS

1.Introduction,missiongoals

TheCommitteeaimsatpromotingtheMechanicalEngineeringthroughinter-universityStudents

and Staff exchanges, organization of a bi-annual National Congress of Theoretical and Applied

Mechanics, organization of a Doctoral School (GrasMech), development of relationships with

European and International Mechanical Engineering non-profit associations or initiatives

(ECCOMAS, EURASEM, IUTAM, IACM…) and awarding the (Belgian) “best thesis” inMechanical

Engineeringonanannualbasis.


Threeadministrativemeetingswereorganizedin2016on:5February,12Marchand22October.

[a]January26,2016.Maindiscussions:

ReplacementofI.DoghribyO.VerlindenastherepresentativewithFNRS.Establishingashortlist

of6candidatesfortheBestThesisAward.

[b]February25,2016.Maindiscussions:

BestThesisAward,2015isgrantedtoKatrienvanNiemen(KUL)andEmmanuelTrommewillbe

theBelgiancandidatefortheECCOMASbestthesisaward.

[c]October27,2016.Maindiscussions:

Duetorepeatednoshow, ithasbeendecidedthatE.Marchandisewasno longeramemberof

ourcommittee.CandidatesfortherenewaloftheCommittee(October2017):

o PierreLambert(ULB)forGérardDegrez(ULB)

o ThierryMassartULB)forChristinedeMol(ULB)

o GeertLombaert(KUL)forGeertDegrande(KUL)

o PatrickGuillaume(VUB)forDirkLefeber(VUB)

o TineTysmans(VUB)forDannyVanHemelrijck(VUB)

o Anne-MarieHabraken(ULg)forEmilieMarchandise(UCL)

o EricColon(ERM/KMS)forWalterBosschaert(ERM/KMS)

o VéroniqueFeldheim(UMons)forO.Verlinden(UMons)

o V.Legat(UCL)-tobeproposed


62

o W.Desmet(KUL)-tobeproposed

Allcandidatesunanimouslyaccepted.Formermemberswillbecome“Honorarymembers”,except

E.Marchandise.




§ Election for the “Best (Belgian) Thesis in Mechanical Engineering” for 2016 (January andFebruary2017).

§ Proposal of an ECCOMAS price winner Belgian candidate from the NCTAM for 2016(scheduledMarch2017).

§ Organisation and improvement of the doctoral school for Mechanical Engineers(GRASMECH).

§ OrganisationoftheNationalConferenceforTheoreticalandAppliedMechanics(Liège2017-2018).

§ Settingupofthenewcommittee(October2017).


63

NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORMICROBIOLOGY

1.Introduction,missiongoals

TheCommitteeforMicrobiologyrepresentsBelgianscientistsconductingresearchinthefieldof

biologicalsciencesintheworkoftheInternationalUnionofMicrobiologicalSocieties(IUMS).


The meetings of the NCM were joint meetings with the board of the Belgian Society for

Microbiology(BSM),ofwhichsomemembersarealsomemberofNCMandallmembersofNCM

are involved in the advisory board of BSM. The following joint meetings were organised to

preparetheyearlysymposiumofBSMunderauspicesoftheNaCoMiandtheRoyalAcademies:

15/1/2016and17/6/2016.

TheCommitteemetalsoon9/05/2016,27/09/2016

[a]NaCoMimeeting:9May2016

Agenda:

o Situation of the membership and compliance with the regulation of the National

Committees

o Evolution of themembership in the future – newmembers, confirmation/election of

Chair(Co-Chair)SecretaryandCo-Secretary.

o RelationshipofNaCoMiwiththeBoardoftheBelgianSocietyofMicrobiology

o PossibleactivitiesoftheNaCoMi

o AOB

[B]BSM/NCMBoardmeeting:27September2016

Agenda:

o Discussionofthe‘internalrules’document

o Proposalofneweffectivemembers:N.BoonandE.Peeters

o Proposalofhonorarymembers

o InternationalrepresentationoftheNaCoMiinIUMSmeeting


64

o ReportofthemeetingoftheBSMandthediscussiononthepracticalorganizationofthe

relationshipbetweenBSMandNaCoMi

o AOB




65

NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORPHYSICS


The Belgian National Committee on Pure and Applied Physics has been created by the Royal

Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB). It contributes to the promotion and

coordinationofBelgianactivitiesconcerningPureandAppliedPhysics.Attheinternationallevelit

ensuresBelgium’srepresentationinIUPAP,theInternationalUnionforPureandAppliedPhysics.

Itsactivitiescanbefollowedonitswebsite8.


Meetingswere held onMarch 2 and October 13. Themain interest points of thesemeetings

were:

§ PreparationoftheColloquium2017

§ UpdatingofthepublicationResearchinPhysicsinBelgium

§ Preparationof2017GeneralAssemblyofIUPAP



4.Otheractivities

[a]2017colloquiumoftheNCPAP

The NCPAP will organise its next bi-annual colloquium on April 22, 2017 in the Palace of the

Academieson“ThePhysicsofLivingSystems“.

Biophysics has seen a tremendous growth in the last decennia. It is the motor of spectacular

progressinBiologyandasourceofinnovationinthehigh-techeconomy.Theextensivenessofthe

subjectimposeshoweverthatthemorespecificphysicsaspectsofthedomainwillbestressedat

the expense of the equally essential chemical and biological contributions. The program will

thereforebestructuredalongtwolines:

8https://sites.google.com/site/physbel/


66

o Theapplicationoftheknow-howandthemodellisationtechniquesofPhysicstoBiophysics

(structural characterisation, manipulation and modification of biological systems, the

physicist’sperspectiveontheorganisingprinciplesoflivingmatter).

o TheapplicationofmodelsfromNatureinPhysicsandTechnology.

A Scientific Committee, composed of David Alsteens (UCLouvain), Marcel Ameloot (UHasselt),

SophieDeBuyl (VUB), JoëlDeConinck (UMons,chairman),AlbertGoldbeter (ULB),TomKrekels

(Umicore), Stephane Lucas (UNamur), Alexander Panfilov (UGent), and Pierre Defrance, Robert

Sporken and Roger Weynants (all from NCPAP), proposed a program around the following

speakersandtopics:

Prof.DanielMÜLLER,ETHZürich:“ImagingbiologicalstructureandfunctioningwithafocusonAtomicForceMicroscopy”.

Dr. François NÉDÉLEC, EMBL Heidelberg: “Probing the organisation principles of livingmatterthroughsimulations”.

Prof.Hans-JürgenBUTT,MPIPMainz:“Biomimetics:fromnaturetophysicalapplications”.

Prof.AntoniTOMSIA.BerkeleyLab:“Biomaterialsandbonereconstruction”.

Prof. Liesbet LAGAE, IMEC: “Bio-electronic tools for life science research,diagnosis andtreatment”.

Ir.YvesJONGEN,IBA:“Diagnosticandtreatmentbyparticlebeamapplications”.

Ascustomary,apostersessionbytheBelgianresearchgroupsworkinginthedomainwillbeheld

duringtheLunchbreak.ThebestpresentationwillbehonouredwiththeIBABestPosterAward.

[b]UpdateofResearchinPhysicsinBelgium:

The NCPAP initiated for the first time in 2005 the compilation of short reports on the main

physical research topics in Belgium, both theoretical and experimental. Fifteen of these were

writtenbyprominentBelgianresearchers,activelyinvolvedintheIUPAPCommissions,andwere

published in2006 inPhysicaliaMagazine andpostedon thewebsitesof theNCPAPandof the

BelgianPhysicalSociety9.

The NCPAP considered that a regular updating is in order and has, between 2011 and 2015,

revisedtheoriginalcontributions.Thesewerepublishedon-lineinBPhyMagazine,thesuccessor

ofPhysicaliaMagazine,andaretobefoundonourwebsite10.

9http://sites.google.com/site/belgianphysicalsociety/10https://sites.google.com/site/physbel/Physics-in-Belgium


67

[c]ThenextGeneralAssemblyofIUPAPwilltakeplaceinOctober2017inSaoPaolo(Brazil).The

NCPAPhasstartedtheprocessoffindingBelgiancandidatestobeproposedtotheGAaspossible

memberstooneofthe18 IUPAPScientificCommissionsfortheperiod2018-2020.TheBelgian

shareintheIUPAPfinancinginprincipleentitlesto4Commissionmembers.


68

NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORPHYSIOLOGYANDPHARMACOLOGY


Thegoalof theCommittee is toorganizenationaland internationalscientificmeetings inwhich

BelgianPhysiologistsandPharmacologists(andeventuallytheirguests)canpresentandbringup

fordiscussiontheresultsoftheirrecentresearchinthefieldsofPhysiologyandPharmacology.

Because of the common goals, the members of the National Committee for Physiology and

PharmacologyarealsomemberofPhysiologyandPharmacologyandassuchareinvolvedinthe

preparationandorganizationofalltheactivitiesofthisSociety.


6thNovember,heldinBrussels(PalaceoftheAcademies).


ThecommitteeorganizestwiceayearascientificsessionandonceayeartheGeneralAssembly.

TheGeneralAssemblytookplaceonOctober22thinBrussels.

4.OtherActivities

[a]TheNationalSpringmeetingoftheBelgianSocietyofPhysiologyandPharmacology,April22th

in Brussels (Palace of the Academies), aiming to bring together the physiologists and

pharmacologistsfromBelgianlaboratories.About50scientistsattendedthemeeting.Prof.David

Gall (ULBruxelles) hosted the meeting. Programme and abstracts are included in this

correspondence11.

[B]TheNationalAutumnmeetingoftheBelgianSocietyofPhysiologyandPharmacology,October

21th in Brussels (Palace of the Academies), aiming to bring together the physiologists and

pharmacologists from Belgian laboratories. About 55 scientists attended the meeting.

Prof.Nathalie Caron (University of Namur) hosted the meeting. Programme and abstracts are

includedinthiscorrespondence12.

11http://users.ugent.be/~jvdvoord/physiology&pharmacology12http://users.ugent.be/~jvdvoord/physiology&pharmacology


69


2017ScientificMeetings

o April21th Brussels(host:Prof.Dr.PhilippeGailly,UCLouvain)

o October20th Brussels(host:Prof.Dr.WimMartinet,UAntwerpen)

2018ScientificMeetings

Spring 2018: 3rd PhysPhar Benelux Congress – Third Benelux Congress of the National

SocietiesofPhysiology,PharmacologyofBelgium,TheNetherlandsandLuxembourg.


70

NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORPSYCHOLOGICALSCIENCES


Thegoalof theCommitteebeing toundertake,promoteandcoordinatepsychologicalscientific

research, focusing inparticular on long term, intercollegiateor interdisciplinaryprojects and to

servepsychologicalscientificinterestsinBelgiumfromanationalaswellasaninternationalpoint

ofview.


The Committee held two meetings in 2016: The first took place on April 23rd; the second on

November19th.


TheScientificUnionheldameeting in 2016, inYokohama, Japan. TheNationalCommitteewas

representedby Pr. RégineKolinsky (ULB) andby Pr.GinaRossi (VUB). Pr. Kolinsky composed a

report about the event itself and about the proceedings of the General Assembly of the

InternationalUnionofPsychologicalScience(IUPsyS),towhichshetookpartasavotingmember.

4.Otheractivities

[a]Thecommitteeorganizesbi-annualsymposia.Thenextsymposiumwilltakeplacein2017and

iscurrentlyintheplanningstages.

[b] The committee also assists, every year, the Belgian Association for Psychological Science in

selectingtherecipientofits“BestThesisAward”.The2016competitioniscurrentlyunderway.A

jury composed of committeemembers and presided by A. Vandierendonckwillmake the final

selectionduringthemonthofMarch.


Nonewinitiativesarecurrentlyplannedbeyondthecontinuedinvolvementofthecommitteein

itscurrentactivities,namely(1)communicatingwiththeIUPsySandwiththeBelgianAssociation

for Psychological Science (BAPS), (2) organizing the next symposium, and (3) handling the final

stageoftheBAPSBestThesisAward.


71

NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORRADIO-ELECTRICITY(URSI)


The activities of the Belgian URSI Committee pertain to radio-electricity. Themain goal of the

committee is to promote and to help coordinating for Belgium the scientific activities of its

members in this field. The committeemeets regularly at theAcademy and organizes yearly, in

collaboration with the Netherlands URSI committee, a ‘URSI Benelux Forum’ where young

doctorandi have the opportunity to present their research and to exchange their scientific and

technical experience.Members of the committee represent Belgium in different instances and

scientificcommissionsoftheinternationalURSIunion,ofwhichthesecretariatishostedinGhent

withPaulLagasseasSecretary-GeneralandPeterVanDaeleasAssistantSecretary-General.


The URSI Asia-Pacific Radio Science Conference (AP-RASC 2016) took place in Seoul, Korea, in

August 2016. Viviane Pierrard co-organized a Special Session entitled "Radio Science for Space

Weather"forCommissionHandco-authoredtwopaperspresentedthere.EmmanuelVanLilhad

aposterpaperpresentationforCommissionFandattendedtheBusinessMeetingofCommission

A.

ThenexttriennialURSIGeneralAssemblywilltakeplaceinMontrealinAugust2017.



4.Otheractivities

Due to difficulties in finding a room free of charge for themeeting, the BENELUXURSI Forum

couldnottakeplaceinDecember2016andhadtobepostponedto2017.


ThetenthBENELUXURSIForumwillbeorganizedbyXavierNeytonFebruary16inBrusselsatthe

RoyalMilitaryAcademy.


72

NATIONALCOMMITTEEFORSOILSCIENCES


TheNCSSwassetupin2002,followinglonglastingactivitiesoftheSoilScienceSocietyofBelgium

(startedin1924)andwiththepurposetobringsoilsciencetotheattentionofthebroaderpublic

with particular focus on the youngpeople. This originalmission of SSSB/NCSS ismore relevant

now than it hasevenbeen - soil and soil suitability comesdaily in themedia and in thepublic

debate: trade-offs between food production versus agro-fuels, the preservation of our pristine

soils, the conservation of our soil heritage, the rehabilitation of marginal lands and the

remediation of polluted soils. The NCSS is the representative organization for all soil scientists

active in Belgium and is the official Belgian representative into the International Union of Soil

Sciences(IUSS).

Special editions of our activities were launched in thewake the UNESCO International Year ofSoils,andinviewoftheInternationalDecadeoftheSoilundertheIUSS:

Continuationoftheprestigious“AfricainProfile”exhibition,throughtotheendofJanuary2016

DayoftheYoungSoilScientist:KeynotebythePresidentBrunoDelvaux.

InternationalcongressonsoilscienceatUCL,Louvain-La-Neuve

CongressexcursiontoBertemForestandtotheZonienForest

ThematicDay(ontheWorldSoilDayon5December):Soilprocessesandbiogeochemicalcyclingofelements.

Moreover,thesocietymadespecialeffortstoreachouttothegeneralpublic:

Establishment of a virtual tour through the “Africa in Profile” exhibition:http://ees.kuleuven.be/africa-in-profile/virtuele-tentoonstelling/virtual-tour.html

SoilonCanvasExhibitionattheCultureHouse“TheWarande”atTurnhoutalongwithitsthematicsymposiumonsoilheritage

JointexcursionwithBelgianAssociationofGeomorphologists(BAG)

Asfollow-upofthe“AfricainProfile”exhibitionbyKULeuven,ISRIC,EU-JRCandAfricaMuseum(5/12/2015 – 29/01/2016), a permanent soil hub will be established in the Africa MuseumMuseumofTervuren

WecontributedtoaroundtablediscussionintheEU-DGDevelopmentwithfocusonsoilcare


73


§ 16/03/2016:NCSSboardmeeting,RoyalAcademy,Brussels

§ 16/03/2016:GeneralAssemblyandDayoftheYoungSoilScientistsatRASAB,withsome45

participants

§ 10/06/2016:ContributiontotheexcursionoftheBelgianAssociationofGeomorphologistsin

thecatchmentof theAAriver:some50participants.Organization: JanNyssenandAmaury

Frankl(UGent)

§ From 5 – 8 July, 2016: Joint International Congress (YES) of the Soil Science Society of

BelgiumwiththeFrenchSoilScienceSociety(AFES),organizedbyUCL(BasVanwesemaeland

BrunoDelvaux):150participants

§ 8/07/2016: Annual excursion in the margin of the YES congress to Bertembos (Seppe

Deckers, Karen Vancampenhout and Bruno Delvaux) and to the Zonienforest (Roger

Langohr),150participants

§ 25/10/2016: Soil on Canvas exhibition in the Cultural Centre at Turnhout (Karen

Vancampenhout):135participants

§ 25/10/2016: Symposium in the margin of “Soil on Canvas” on “Soil awareness – Bodem

bewust”:25participants

§ 25/10/2016: Post-symposium excursion to visit the “Soil drawer – bodemschuif” in the

naturereserve“DeLiereman”,12participants

§ 06/12/2016: Soil processes and biogeochemical cycling of elements: J.T. Cornelis, ULiege,

Gembloux:45participants

§ 14/12/2016: Thematic Day on the numerical soilmap ofWallonia: Xavier Legrain, ULiege,

Gembloux:over100participants

Mainconclusions:theNCSSnormallyorganizes5activitiesperyear:1)DayoftheYoungScientists

inFebruary,2)afieldexcursioninMay/JuneorSeptemberand3)aThematicDayinNovember-

December&4)twoboards(oneinFebruary,togetherwiththeDayoftheYoungScientists,onein

December, together with the Thematic Day). This year, special and additional activities were

organizedintheaftermathoftheInternationalYearofthesoilandalsotomarktheInternational

decenniumoftheSoil.


TheplannedEurosoilmeetingoftheEuropeanConfederationofSoilSciencesinIstanbul(17-22th

ofJuly2016)wascancelledduetothecoupattemptinTurkey.ThenextEurosoilmeetingwillbe

organizedinGeneva,Switzerlandin2018.


74

Mainconclusions:K.VancampenhoutismemberoftheIUSSBoard.StefaanDondeyneandSeppe

Deckers are in the Board of the IUSS Working Group WRB on international soil classification,

which organized an international meeting and excursion on Soil Classification in South Africa.

SeppeDeckers isalsochairingtheAd-HocSelectionCommitteeofthebi-annual IUSS-GuySmith

Medal Award, the latest Medal Award (2016) was bestowed to Dr. Juan Comerma from

Venezuela.

4.Otheractivities

§ ParticipationtotheEGUatVienna,AustriainApril2016.

§ Seppe Deckers received the status of “Honorary Membership of the International Soil

Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC), Wageningen University, The Netherlands on

8/09/2016forhislife-longworkonsoilclassification,moreparticularlytheWorldReference

BaseforSoilResources(WRB).

§ 11/07/2016:InternationalSoilMonolithCampaign(SSSBandISRIC)onLuvisolsandStagnosol

atAnderlecht(KarenVancampenhout).

§ 23/08/2016:ad-hocexcursiontoanexcavationsiteintheriverbenchoftheSchelde,Westof

Gent(JariNickelsen).


NCSSwillorganize5coreactivitiesin2017:

§ 2boardmeetings(February15,2017&December5,2017)atRASAB;

§ AgeneralassemblyandDayoftheYoungSoilScientistonFebruary15,2017atRASAB;

§ An annual excursion on The Orneau: a fertile valley for soil research, organization Patrick

Engels,ULiege,on23/5/2017;

§ Thematic Day – December 5, 2017: Soil Mapping in Belgium: past, present and future,

organizationSeppeDeckers(KULeuven);

§ In addition, other activities will be under the NCSS umbrella: IUSS, Working GroupWRB:

InternationalSoilClassificationexcursiontoRiga,LetlandinJuly2017.


75

INTERNATIONALUNIONS

The existence of a national committee is subject to the existence or an International Scientific

Union or scientific body affiliated to International Council for Science — ICSU13 (scientific

committees,specialcommittees,etc.)concerningthesamescientificsubject.

§ InternationalAstronomicalUnion(IAU) www.iau.org

§ InternationalGeographicalUnion(IGU) www.igu-net.org

§ InternationalFederationforMedicalandBiological

Engineering(IFMBE) www.ifmbe.org

§ InternationalMathematicalUnion(IMU) www.mathunion.org

§ InternationalUnionforPhysicalandEngineeringSciences

inMedicine(IUPESM) www.iupesm.org

§ InternationalUnionforQuaternaryResearch(INQUA) www.inqua.org

§ InternationalUnionofBiochemistryandMolecular

Biology(IUBMB) www.iubmb.org

§ InternationalUnionofBiologicalSciences(IUBS) www.iubs.org

§ InternationalUnionofCrystallography(IUCr) www.iucr.org

§ InternationalUnionofGeodesyandGeophysics(IUGG) www.iugg.org

§ InternationalUnionofGeologicalSciences(IUGS) www.iugs.org

§ InternationalUnionofHistoryandPhilosophyofScience(IUHPS),

o DivisionofHistoryofScienceandTechnology(IUHPS-DHST)

o DivisionofLogic,MethodologyandPhilosophyof

Science(IUHPS-DLMPS) www.dlmps.org

§ InternationalUnionofMicrobiologicalSocieties(IUMS) www.iums.org

§ InternationalUnionofPharmacology(IUPHAR) www.iuphar.org

§ InternationalUnionofPhysiologicalSciences(IUPS) www.iups.org

§ InternationalUnionofPsychologicalScience(IUPsyS) www.iupsys.net

§ InternationalUnionofPureandAppliedBiophysics(IUPAB) www.iupab.org

§ InternationalUnionofPureandAppliedChemistry(IUPAC) www.iupac.org

§ InternationalUnionofPureandAppliedPhysics(IUPAP) www.iupap.org

§ InternationalUnionofRadioScience(URSI) www.ursi.org

§ InternationalUnionofSoilSciences(IUSS) www.iuss.org

§ InternationalUnionofTheoreticalandAppliedMechanics(IUTAM) www.iutam.net

13www.icsu.org

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