Videos

Sujith Reddy is working on perovskites, a promising new solar cell technology that captures more sunlight and costs less than conventional solar cells. Sounds great, right! But there's a catch: these perovskite solar cells ironically tend to break down when exposed to ... light. Sujith wants to uncover the mechanisms behind this degradation in order to improve perovskites and to use them on a larger scale.

Did you know that the earth is continuously monitored to detect clandestine nuclear weapons testing? Unfortunately, hospitals and other civilian installations throw a spanner in the works. These also emit radioactive xenon gas in very small & harmless quantities, but this turns out to be enough to disturb the detection. Christophe Gueibe explores how to help solve this problem so that we can better detect clandestine nuclear weapons tests.

The corona pandemic suddenly forced teachers to make a shift from offline to online teaching. Keeping students engaged is already challenging in the classroom, let alone in an online context. How can a teacher do well online? Maaike Grammens and her colleagues investigated this by screening over 3,000 scientific articles on online teaching.

Smartphones, laptops, electric cars, ... We simply cannot live without batteries. But did you know that in 5 years' time the demand for batteries is expected to be 15 times higher than today? But instead of producing 15 times more batteries, wouldn't it be better to meet the demand by making more powerful batteries? That is why Ahmed Shafique is working on a new generation of batteries: lithium-sulfur batteries.

Did you ever enjoy a nicely packed fruit salad with an easy-peel lid? It's a beautiful display of packaging technology: the packaging is strong enough to protect your food, yet at the same time very easy for you to open once you want to dive in. Bram Bamps (UHasselt) explains how he optimizes heat-sealing packaging to keep our food safe and to ensure long shelf life.

When you enjoy a day on the beach, you want to make sure to wear sunscreen to avoid sunburn. But did you know that quite a few sunscreens contain nanoparticles to help protect your skin from the sun? The use of nanoparticles is strictly regulated and only a limited amount can be used. Milica Velimirovic (VITO) is developing a new & fast analysis method to measure nanoparticles and their quantity in sunscreen. 

Imagine being sick and simply being able to ask your body what's going on and what it needs to get better. Well, the proteins in our body can tell us that. But it takes a long time for us to understand what they're saying. With his tool, QCquan.net, bioinformatician Joris Van Houtven is determined to speed up that process!

Do you want to know how to be successful on Tinder? Then take a look at this pitch by economist Brecht Neyt (University of Ghent). In his Ph.D., he unraveled whether your level of education plays a role in getting matches on the online dating app Tinder.📱💘

Diamonds are not only a girl's best friend (M. Monroe), but they're also an engineer's best friend (A. Mallik). Awadesh Mallik (Universiteit Hasselt - imec) explains why that is and how engineers grow diamonds in the lab. 👨🏽‍🔬 💎

As if developing a cancer drug is not difficult enough, you still have to successfully get that medicine to the tumor. Tim Bomberna (Ghent University) explains how computer simulations show us the way.

Heavy smartphone use results in poorer study performance, according to research by Simon Amez (Ghent University). To investigate this, Simon followed students for three years. Students with above-average smartphone use even score up to 1 point out of 20 less on their exams than their fellow students. 👨🏼‍🎓 📱

Pieter Verding wants to make your life easier. His goal: to make sure you no longer have to clean your windows or glasses. How? Well, by developing self-cleaning coatings 👇 🎥