Honoring PhD Degree Holders (February 2025)

Marie-Elisabeth Faymonville graduated with a doctorate in Medicine from the University of Liège and is a specialist in anaesthesia and intensive care. She also completed her doctorate in Clinical Science and holds an upper secondary education teacher training degree. On top of that, she is an Emeritus lecturer from ULiège. She began her career as a research fellow at the F.N.R.S. and, in 1992, she developed a new anaesthesia technique: hypnosedation. Various clinical studies and research work focused on investigating the neuroanatomical mechanisms of different states of consciousness, including hypnosis, have enabled her to promote hypnosis as an interesting tool in Medicine.

As head of the Algology - Palliative Care Department at Liège University Hospital from 2004 to 2018, she developed innovative approaches based on self-hypnosis/self-monitoring training for oncology and chronic pain patients. She has won 14 national and international scientific awards for teaching and sharing this technique and her discoveries around the world

Ambassador Philippe Kridelka has been Belgium’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations since 2020. His diplomatic career, which began at the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1987, has seen him hold posts in the embassies of Tehran, Warsaw, Singapore and the Sultanate of Brunei, as well as in Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. Philippe Kridelka has also worked for the Belgian Representation to the European Union, and as a diplomatic adviser to the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister. He was also head of the Private Office of the Director-General and director of the UNESCO Liaison Office in New York. From 2013 to 2016, he was Secretary-General of the Household of His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium.

Jean-Philippe Tock joined the Liège Space Center after graduating from the University of Liège with both a degree in electromechanical engineering, specialising in aeronautics, and an Engineering Certificate in industrial management. In 1999, he joined CERN’s Technology Department, where he contributed to the development of major projects relating to the interconnections of the superconducting magnets of the Large Hadron Collider. Since 2021, he has headed up the Accelerator Coordination and Engineering group within CERN’s Engineering Department. More recently, he was behind the signing of a framework collaboration agreement between CERN and ULiège, which should enable the two institutions to work on subjects of common interest.