The Université de Liège (ULiège) has announced that Professor Nicolas Vandewalle, from the Department of Physics in the Faculty of Sciences and director of the GRASP laboratory (Group of Research and Applications in Statistical Physics), has been awarded the prestigious Francqui Research Professor mandate for the period 2025–2028.
Granted by the Francqui Foundation, the mandate provides leading academics with the opportunity to focus almost exclusively on their research by reducing their teaching duties. The support includes €40,000 annually to compensate teaching responsibilities and an additional €5,000 yearly research allowance.
Professor Vandewalle plans to dedicate this time to advancing studies in active matter, a cutting-edge field in physics exploring systems with non-reciprocal interactions, such as predator-prey dynamics. Using custom-built robots capable of encoding these interactions, Vandewalle’s research seeks to develop new models that could redefine 21st-century physics.
“This is a very exciting opportunity,” he explained, noting that his expertise has already attracted significant international collaboration requests. “The Francqui Research Professor title comes at the perfect time.”
Source: Université de Liège
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