L’Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie est une association mondiale d’universités francophones. Elle oeuvre depuis plus de 50 ans dans le domaine de l’enseignement supérieur et de la recherche pour soutenir les universités francophones dans leur mission d'appui au développement de leurs pays. Elle regroupe plus de 900 établissements universitaires sur les cinq continents, dans plus de cent pays. Elle est l’opérateur spécialisé de la Francophonie pour l’enseignement supérieur et la recherche. L’association a pour mission de soutenir les stratégies de développement de ses établissements membres, acteurs du développement, et de promouvoir la communauté scientifique francophone pour qu’elle devienne une référence internationale et apporte sa contribution aux enjeux mondiaux (changement climatique, pauvreté, agriculture, sécurité alimentaire, santé, droit,…). Pour conduire ses actions, l’AUF développe des partenariats avec différentes organisations (UNESCO, UE, ONG, entreprises du secteur privé…).
Luc Henry, EPFL – École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne
The 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded with one half to John O'Keefe and the other half jointly to May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser “for their discoveries of cells that constitute a…
Soon to be grown for ornamental use only.
Mark Nesbitt and Samuel Delwen
Luc Henry, EPFL – École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne
The past few decades have seen enormous progress being made in synthetic biology – the idea that simple biological parts can be tweaked to do our bidding. One of the main targets has been hacking the biological…
Give a man a ploughshare, and he’ll turn it into a sword.
Zenodot Verlagsgesellschaft mbH
For hundreds of thousands of years humans lived in hunter-gatherer societies, eating wild plants and animals. Inequality in these groups is thought to have been very low, with evidence suggesting food…
Flanders Fields was once the frontline of war – it now is a place of remembrance.
Mark Wainwright/Flickr
In Belgium as in Australia, there are no longer any surviving veterans of the Great War to witness the commemorations of its centenary. However, just as in Australia, there remains an immense interest…
In Luxembourg, European elections have traditionally been held on the same day as national elections. Until 2009 all party heavyweights stood in both elections to ensure a good result for their European…
In Belgium the question is not so much about membership as how much membership.
EPA/Olivier Hoslet
Both from the outside and the inside, Belgium is often perceived as a pioneer of the European Union. Locked between France and Germany, the open economy of the country benefits largely from common rules…
Can I be a puzzle-maker when I grow up?
Child with puzzle via Shutterstock
It’s no longer enough for children just to be able to read, count or multiply. With computers now doing many mundane repetitive tasks for us, many jobs in today’s world require analytical skills and the…
A protester makes her feelings clear about the pink batts scheme in 2010.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
The political fallout over the ill-fated Home Insulation Program continues, with former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard now having been summoned to appear before the Abbott government’s royal…
From tree to biofuel in few steps.
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Luc Henry, EPFL – École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne
Turning wood and agricultural waste into biofuels is one step closer to being a truly green process, according to a recently published study in the journal Science. James Dumesic of the University of Wisconsin-Madison…
One year on from the Connecticut shootings and the “gun-control paradox” still reigns in US politics. In the wake of the murder of the 20 children and six staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the response…
People should not be hungry with the food, resources, and technology at our disposal.
PA
How much would you pay for staying alive? How much would you pay for breathing pure air? That may seem a silly question since air is everywhere, accessible to all. Air is a global public good, part of…
Glowing plants are frivolous? Most people don’t think so.
jsalamandras
Luc Henry, EPFL – École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne
The hobbyists who conduct biology in their garage are not a threat to society, according to a recent report published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. They aren’t developing a new…
New homes go up at a housing estate at Cecil Hills in western Sydney.
AAP/Dean Lewins
Energy efficient houses are often thought to be a promising way to reduce our environmental footprint by using less energy and producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, surprisingly, if you consider…
Matthias Finger, EPFL – École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne
Royal Mail has been privatised. Even after Margaret Thatcher’s frenzy in the 1980s, it was one of the last UK public enterprises left; now, the coalition government has sold 52% of Royal Mail. Whereas…
This is a DNA-binding protein, so said the computer.
Zephyris
In a rare double, another Nobel Prize has gone to scientists who build models. The 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel for their work that enables…
A couple of these and a nice chianti.
Severin Tchibozo
Protein is a shrinking part of the diets of humans and animals. The deficiency is spreading rapidly across the world, but is particularly pronounced in Africa, even though many sources of protein can be…
C. Elegans alive (left) and dead (right).
Wellcome Trust
Luc Henry, EPFL – École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne
Never has “feeling blue” carried such a sense of finality. A new study has revealed the simple worm (Caenorhabditis elegans) meets its death in a flash of azure. And, according to researchers, the blue…
The molecule that causes the eel to glow when blue light is shone on it is unlike any found in other living organisms.
Akiko Kumagai & Atsushi Miyawaki
Luc Henry, EPFL – École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne
Researchers have discovered a fluorescent protein in a Japanese eel consumed as a popular sushi snack. The discovery could help develop simpler and more sensitive tests to detect jaundice and other diseases…
Professeur ordinaire à l’université de Lausanne (Unil), chercheur au Centre d’histoire internationale et d’études politiques de la mondialisation (Unil), co-directeur du Groupe de recherche Achac., Université de Lausanne