Three ULiège professors among the new members of the Royal Academy of Belgium

Professors and scientists at the Université de Liège, Anne-Sophie Duwez (Faculty of Science), Françoise Remacle (Faculty of Science) and Aurore Richel (Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech) officially took up their positions as full members of the Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique at a ceremony held this Saturday, September 30, 2023 at the Palais des Académies in Brussels. 

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reated in 1772, the Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et de Beaux-Arts de Belgique brings together great contemporary minds in various fields. A meeting place for the exact sciences and the humanities, the Académie's role is to promote scientific and artistic works. The institution has over 400 full and foreign members and welcomes new members yearly in its four classes (Sciences, Lettres & Sciences morales & politiques, Arts and Technology & society). Many scientists from the University of Liège are among these members.

This year, three Université de Liège scientists have joined the Science class.

Anne-Sophie Duwez

Anne-Sophie Duwez is Professor of Chemistry at the Université de Liège's Unité de Recherches MolSys (Faculté des Sciences). Her research focuses on developing probes and technologies for interfacing individual small functional molecules with the AFM (atomic force microscope). One of his landmark achievements was the first example of selective breaking and the creation of a single bond in a synthetic system by a classical organic chemistry reaction in solution.

Françoise Remacle

Françoise Remacle is a FNRS Research Director and Professor of Theoretical Chemistry at the MolSys research unit (Faculty of Science). Her research in theoretical physical chemistry focuses on the fundamental properties of systems at atomic and molecular scales, mainly molecules and aggregates, but also on extended systems, molecular complexes and nanoparticle networks, where a dense set of electronic levels is a key feature. 

Aurore Richel

Aurore Richel is a Professor at the TERRA Research Unit (Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech). Her research focuses on producing new energy solutions (hydrogen and alternative fuels for road and air transport) and innovative materials (new plastics) with low environmental impact. Aurore Richel also has a keen interest in popularizing science. She created the Chem4Us website, which presents chemistry and its applications from a green and sustainable perspective.