Newsletter

Recognition for a bridge-builder between science, policy, and practice in youth care ©️ Frank Toussaint The King Baudouin Foundation has awarded the biennial Filson Steers Mariman Prize to VUB Professor Frank Van Holen for his exceptional contribution to foster care and youth welfare in Flanders. The prize honors his long-standing commitment to bringing science, policy, and practice closer together with the goal of improving the lives of vulnerable children, young people, and

Dina Oehlers, a Hotel Management student at Erasmushogeschool Brussel, won the Gold Award in Hospitality Management together with her partner Edgar at the international 2025 competition in Sweden, organised by the AEHT. This prestigious European event annually brings together hundreds of hospitality students from more than 40 countries. With their strong teamwork, strategic insight and sustainable vision, Dina and Edgar impressed the international jury

VUB philosopher honored as Atheist of the Year On November 15, philosopher and former VUB professor Jean Paul Van Bendegem will receive the title Atheist of the Year, a label he accepts with both a wink and a healthy dose of nuance. “I’m not a church-basher,” he says, “just someone who reflects on what it means to live without gods.” He speaks from his home in Ghent, surrounded by towering bookshelves and under the watchful eye of his elderly cat, Bonnie Prince Charlie. For V

A voice that refuses to be silenced Writer and slam poet Hind Eljadid has been awarded the 2025 Human Rights Award by the Liga voor Mensenrechten (League for Human Rights). The organization honors her for her uncompromising commitment to naming injustice and for her courage to speak out “regardless of the consequences.” The award stems from an incident in early 2024, when Eljadid was detained for six hours following an action during the official celebration of Belgium’s EU pr

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has a remarkable Brussels touch. One of the laureates, Omar Yaghi, has maintained close ties for many years with both the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). Professor emeritus Paul Geerlings (VUB, General Chemistry research group) explains that Yaghi is a member of the International Scientific Committee for Chemistry of the Solvay Institutes. “In that role, he helps set the direction of the renowned