We know him primarily as the US correspondent for VRT NWS but Björn Soenens has built an impressive track record. His professional career began with a degree in English and French from the Provincial College for Translators and Interpreters (PHVT) in Ghent, which is now Applied Linguistics at Ghent University.
Many students get to know each other through their passion for music: in the student choir or orchestra. But as soon as you graduate, this musical journey stops. Or doesn't it?
With the aid of AI, Ghent-based company AlfaSent is able to recognise emotions in texts. It’s a prime example of language technology, an area that is rapidly gaining ground. Founder and UGent alumna Ellen De Geyndt: “I’ve always been interested in both language and technology but I wasn’t aware that I could combine the two.”
Now that he has retired, he has written a letter to his 18-year-old self. So what message does he have for young Geert as he is about to embark on a master’s degree in Educational Sciences at Ghent University?
No traditional opening for the Olympic Games in Paris, but a spectacular fleet of 95 boats on the Seine with 10,500 athletes on board. It was a historic moment and a technical feat. The research group of Evert Lataire, Ghent University professor of Ships and Marine Technology, trained the captains for this unique boat parade.
Holidays! You're already looking forward to all the delicious things you'll eat while travelling, but wait ... Can you just eat anything? "There are some foods that you need to be a bit careful with.” Professor Sarah Gabriel tells us how to avoid taking an extra passenger back home
Good news for sports fanatics, the summer of sports is not over yet! Our Belgian athletes will soon be competing at the Paralympic Games. Alumna Inge Bru, specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Ghent University Hospital, accompanies them in Paris.
If the Belgian track cyclists win a medal at the upcoming Olympic Games, it will not only be the result of top performances but also of top research. In the Flemish Cycling Centre Eddy Merckx, a stone's throw from the Watersportbaan, a group of researchers from the IDLab of UGent-imec supports our track cyclists with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).
Creating new pieces of bone, muscle, skin or fat with a 3D printer to heal injuries. Sounds futuristic? The first steps are already being taken today! We spoke with plastic surgeon and professor Phillip Blondeel about his research into tissue engineering.
Marine biologist and Professor Emeritus Patrick Sorgeloos (Faculty of Bioscience Engineering) was instrumental in shaping modern aquaculture in recent decades. If his career has taught him one thing, it is that aquaculture has a crucial role to play in continuing to ensure food security. “By 2050 more than half of our food must come from the sea. And it’s possible.”
Music connects us, moves us and, as recent research suggests, it can affect our brains in ways similar to psychoactive drugs. But how exactly does that work? And can music really be seen as a drug? Musicologist Edith Van Dyck investigated.
Sunshine and holidays equal a tanned skin for many. But we need to adjust our ideas about tanning, according to dermatologists Lieve Brochez and Isabelle Hoorens. Our behavior towards the sun and UV will cause more and more cases of skin cancer in the coming years.
