2026-2027 Academic Year Ceremony Translated by DeepL

This Tuesday, September 22, marked the start of a new academic year at ULiège, centered on the theme “Lucidity, Courage, Creativity.”

In the presence of faculty and staff, students, as well as political, diplomatic, academic, religious, and secular figures, as well as representatives from civil society, that Rector Anne-Sophie Nyssen—re-elected to a second term last April—officially opened the 2026–2027 academic year.

In her opening address, the Rector highlighted the quality of the work carried out by all members of her rectorial team over the past four years. She paid special attention to the three outgoing members—Pascal Poncin, Sybille Mertens, and Philippe Hubert—whom she warmly thanked for their valuable contributions and for the collaborative projects carried out during this term. The new team builds on this legacy, with the arrival of Sylvie Gobert as Vice Rector for Transitions and Student Affairs. 

The ceremony then featured the traditional video retrospective of the year, followed by remarks from various representatives of the university community. 

Speeches by Representatives of the Academic Community

Speech by Anne-Sophie Nyssen, Rector of ULiège

The event continued with Anne-Sophie Nyssen’s opening address and the announcement that three distinguished figures will be awarded honorary doctorates in the coming months (see below).

In times of uncertainty, we need universities even more. We don’t have soldiers, but we have minds—professors, researchers, and students. (...) I believe that a useful university is one that thinks. We have the power—and indeed the duty—to be rational, to construct and disseminate truths that, while admittedly provisional, are far superior to the opinions found on Truth Social and TikTok. This is particularly true of our public universities. It is a demanding mission, one that requires us to balance scientific freedom and rigor with pluralism and ethics.
Excerpt from Anne-Sophie Nyssen's speech

Written version of Anne-Sophie Nyssen's SPEECH

Speech by Philippe Dubois, Rector of the University of Mons

Invited to take the podium this year, Professor Philippe Dubois, Rector of the University of Mons, who is nearing the end of his second term, delivered a speech defending the value of public universities—not for their own sake, but for society’s ability to understand the world in which it lives.

Written version of Philippe Dubois's speech

Photos from the event

Clarity, Courage, Creativity

Three words at the heart of this new academic year. Three concepts that will be explored throughout the year and embodied by three remarkable individuals who, in the coming months, will receive honorary degrees from .

Kornelia Polyak, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School; Pierre Haski, journalist and President of Reporters Without Borders; and Jane C. Ginsburg, Professor at Columbia Law School, will be visiting ULiège as part of the "Grandes conférences universitaires de l'ULiège".

Registration is now open for Kornelia Polyak ’s lecture, “ Breast Cancer: The Role of Heterogeneity and Immunity.”

It will take place on November 25, 2026, in the Academic Hall.

🇬🇧 Lecture in English (with simultaneous translation into French)

INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION

One year begins, another ends...