Jean-François Bastin winner of the "Francqui Start-Up grant" 2022



Lecturer in ecosystem monitoring at the Faculty of Gembloux Agro Bio-Tech of the University of Liège, Jean-François Bastin has just received the prestigious "Francqui Start-Up grant" to launch his research team to work on topics related to the understanding, monitoring, conservation and restoration of biosphere ecosystems.

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ean-François Bastin has been teaching courses in geographic information systems and remote sensing at Gembloux Agro Bio-Tech since 2020, and is developing his research within the Biodiversity-Landscape axis on cross-cutting themes related to the understanding, monitoring, conservation and restoration of biosphere ecosystems.

Since his arrival, he has devoted his energies to seeking funding to build a team of young dynamic researchers from the North and the South with the objective of answering key questions concerning (i) the state of our ecosystems on a global scale, (ii) their carbon storage capacity and (iii) the potential of their restoration as a natural solution to climate change and biodiversity loss.

Obtaining this prestigious prize - which covers the period from 2022 to 2025 - is a wonderful opportunity to build his young team of researchers: "In addition to what it means to me, this prestigious prize will allow me to reinforce my team with a slightly more experienced profile, who will be able to take a leadership role in a research theme that is very important to me. I still have to think about the best thing to do, but I am thinking in particular about proposing a postdoctoral project in collaboration with a research team from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and about the opportunity that a research project between our institutions can represent for our university, for my team and for a young researcher. I am thinking primarily of a project that combines existing data and new technologies to improve our understanding of how Central African forests function. I am extremely excited to develop this project, which will be able to build on three PhD theses that have just -or will just- start in my team on related topics."

About the Francqui Strat-up Grant

The Francqui Foundation proposes to grant a "Francqui Start-Up Grant" or "Collen-Francqui Start-Up Grant" (in the biomedical field), for a period of 3 years. This grant is 200.000€, half of which is paid by the Foundation and the rest by the host institution.

This grant is intended for young researchers under 40 years old that the University would like to hire in its academic framework. In particular, it can be granted either to a young researcher for whom this financial aid would constitute an attraction to accept the mandate offered by the institution, or to a particularly brilliant young person, not yet belonging to the academic staff, whom the University would like to keep. The holder of this mandate will have the title of "Chargé de cours (Collen-)Francqui" for a period of three years.

Contact

Jean-François Bastin

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