New European Master: Bioceb in GxABT
Aurore Richel likes to remind her: "Chemistry is often considered as an abstract subject, even if it is sometimes disturbing. However, did you know that chemistry has been working for many years to meet the major challenges that await us? Environmental, material or energy challenges? "Indeed, chemistry can be useful in the fight against global warming and the development of new non-toxic products for our daily lives (one example among others: new non-polluting fuels derived from biomass).
Welcome to MOOC!
All these aspects of chemistry have been studied for many years in the Biomass and Green Technologies laboratory of Professor Aurore Richel, integrated in the SMARTECH axis (Smart Technologies for Food and Biobased Products). Since 2018, the Biomass and Green Technologies laboratory has also been a member of an International Platform dedicated to biomass and related technologies for advanced biofuels in collaboration with the University of Kobe (Japan) and Texas A&M. Many other applications are also being studied, including the use of chemical molecules for the creation of food packaging to replace polyethylene terephthalate. Of course, Aurore Richel is not the only one to study these aspects of chemistry, she is assisted in particular by some 20 PhD students, most of whom are European and Asian.
On the "course" side, she is a professor for Bachelors and Masters students at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, the Faculty of Sciences and the Faculty of Applied Sciences of the University of Liège. In addition, she has created a MOOC: Massive Open Online Course on biomass and green chemistry. What does it consist of? It is a course aimed at both students (bachelor's, master's or doctorate level) and professionals. It provides a progressive approach to green chemistry and biomass conversion (via popularised and illustrated content). This course is structured around 7 modules based on videos, practical sequences, exercises and a discussion forum. All this is grouped in 50 video capsules, accessible free of charge on the Net. And just so you know: 7,500 people have already followed this MOOC, which closes next week. For those who are interested: the entire course will be offered again at the end of 2020 and twice in 2021.
Bioceb: a European dimension
GxABT is part of a brand new European programme called "Bioceb". It focuses on the global deployment of the bio-economy. It is a 2-year joint master's program that has been labeled "Erasmus Mundus Joint Master" by the European Commission in 2019. This project is supported by 5 higher education institutions recognized worldwide (France with Paris and Reims, Finland, Estonia and Belgium with ULiège). Around thirty students have been selected to follow the courses of this innovative Master's degree. They will join the Gembloutoise Faculty in September 2021 for a period of six months.
Bioceb's main objective is to meet the needs of the bio-industry sector which is currently growing rapidly. This training is the result of an interdisciplinary approach combining chemistry, biology, economic and environmental sciences. Through its European dimension, it promotes cultural diversity by bringing together students, professors and researchers who might otherwise never have crossed paths.
