Videos

Societal enterprises, working on alleviating societal issues such as poverty, exclusion, and pollution, face many challenges. "They are often unrecognized, unsupported, and undervalued", says Stefan Chichevaliev (VUB). He is investigating how the current business environment affects the day-to-day operation of social enterprises. His goal is to identify what is needed to help these enterprises meet these challenges, to the benefit of the most vulnerable.

Have you ever heard of Boyan Slat? At the age of 18, he founded The Ocean Cleanup, an environmental enterprise developing and scaling technologies to rid the oceans of plastic. Environmental entrepreneurs such as Slat and their eco-innovations are the cornerstone of the transition to a more sustainable world. But how can we help them make a bigger impact? That's what Georgios Outsios is determined to find out.

When you think of mistletoe, you probably think of the Christmas kissing tradition and ancient druids, while the word parasite may not come to mind. Yet mistletoe is a parasitic plant that grows on the branches of numerous tree species, from which it draws water and nutrients. This can lead to serious damage to this host tree. Still, we should not hastily remove mistletoe from these trees, says Luiza Teixeira-Costa. Watch her explain the positive side of this 'enemy with benefits'. 

Artificial feeding, such as parenteral nutrition -food that is injected directly into the bloodstream- is crucial for critically ill patients. It keeps them alive, but unfortunately, it can cause significant liver damage in the long run. To prevent liver injury, Milos Mihajlovic and his colleagues are developing an advanced human liver model in a dish to better understand how food injection leads to liver damage.

In the last decade, wildfires peaked at record numbers in different countries across the world. These fires destroy houses and burn down forests, but they also have other important 'unseen' effects. "Smoke from wildfires leads to high air pollution, which is associated with short and long-term risks, such as respiratory and cardiac diseases", as Leonidas Leiva explains. He's working on new materials to recognize, capture and neutralize these contaminants.

Did you know that we can build bridges out of concrete with a 3D printer? Yet, this promising technology still faces challenges before it can reach its full potential and be widely used in construction. VUB researcher Yanjuan Chen explains what these challenges are and how she's working to help overcome them.

Our ageing population is not only growing but is also becoming more diverse. Labour migrants who came to Belgium last century are part of today's ageing population. Most older adults prefer to live at home for as long as possible, but what is 'home' to older adults with a migration background? To explore this, PhD researcher Micheline Phlix conducted 45 interviews with older migrants.

Hydrogen can play a key role in making our energy supply more sustainable. One problem though: hydrogen is highly flammable. So how do we store hydrogen safely? Joren Vanlaere is working on a solution to detect possible leaks at lightning speed.

"Several people with visual impairments use screen readers, which means that if an app or a website is not built with accessibility in mind, some information may not be noticeable to them at all."
Through her research, Olga Gkotsopoulou (VUB) wants to raise awareness and help organizations make information about our personal data accessible to the widest audience possible. 

A personal data breach is not to be taken lightly: it can lead to depression, divorce, and even death. Seems far-fetched? Not really, as the data breach of a Canadian adultery website showed in 2015. Lina Jasmontaite (VUB) researches how companies (should) handle data breaches in Europe, since the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

Over the past five years, solid progress has been made in the fight against cancer, but unfortunately, that does not apply to pancreatic cancer. So what makes this cancer so hard to beat? Olaya Lara (VUB) explains this by comparing it to a football match. She also tells you what tactics she figures out to sideline xCT, the Lionel Messi in the pancreatic cancer team. 

The fight against breast cancer does not stop with overcoming cancer. 1 in 3 women continue to experience pain symptoms even during a harmless activity such as cycling. Physiotherapist Eva Roose (VUB) wants to help these breast cancer survivors reset their pain alarms.