Two researchers from ULiège win the Wernaers Fund for research and knowledge dissemination: François Verheggen receives a grant to continue his YouTube channel ‘Science Bestiale’, which deciphers the behaviour of animals and insects, and Pierre Ozer receives an award for his project ‘Hydrological extremes: for a culture of risk by and for all’, a forum on risk management.
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he WernaersInternational Fund for Research and Knowledge Dissemination was created by the Scientific Research Fund - FNRS. It supports initiatives to promote research and disseminate scientific knowledge. Each year, several prizes and grants are awarded to individuals who have developed or are planning to set up projects to popularise and disseminate science. This year, the University of Liège has two of its researchers among the winners.
Following the catastrophic floods of July 2021, Pierre Ozer, a geographer at the Faculty of Sciences, is developing a project that builds on his long-standing work on environmental risks, climate change and disasters. The main objective is to strengthen a genuine culture of risk in Belgium by explaining how floods are part of the climate crisis, highlighting the vulnerabilities of different areas and transforming the experience of disaster victims into a lever for collective reflection rather than simply statistics.
To achieve this, it has designed a transdisciplinary approach that combines art, science and democracy: documentary theatre, films, exhibitions, field trips, serious games, master classes, conferences, festivals (notably Rêve Général) and a major forum in Arlon dedicated to hydrological risks. By giving a central place to the voices of victims and involving local authorities, academia, the cultural sector and continuing education, this project has created spaces for dialogue where citizens, scientists and decision-makers have learned together to better understand, anticipate and manage climate-related disasters, while generating renewed interest in science and resilience issues.
In 2023, François Verheggen, an ethologist at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, created Science Bestiale, a popular science channel dedicated to animals and biology, available on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Under the slogan ‘Science and surprising animals’, he highlights verified scientific publications, which he popularises in dynamic videos addressing both major issues (climate change, biodiversity, invasive species) and concrete problems related to ‘undesirable’ animals. The YouTube channel already has 50,000 subscribers and 10 million viewers across all networks.
Thanks to this Wernaers grant (€15,000 over three years), he will be able to ensure the channel's sustainability, cover production costs and develop more ambitious video projects, such as reports with research teams (for example, in Senegal on burrows linked to epidemic risks) or filming in museums, notably at the Natural History Museum (iguanodons) and the Brussels Sewer Museum (rats), with the ultimate goal of making Science Bestiale financially independent.
More info: www.sciencebestiale.com
All three scientists are members of the GIGA Institute and are receiving this grant for their ambitious projects in paediatric neuroscience and oncology.
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