Founded in 1834, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) (http://www.ulb.be) has a long tradition of excellence in Research with four scientific Nobel Prizes, two Nobel Peace Prizes, one Fields Medal, three Wolf Prizes and two Marie Curie Excellence Awards. It is one of the largest and best Research Universities in Belgium, with a student population of 30,000 and with almost 2,000 PhD in progress distributed among 22 Doctoral schools.

The Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (IAA) is part of the Physics Department of the ULB. It is currently composed of six permanent researchers, and about 10 and PhD students and postdoctoral fellows. For several decades, the IAA has been recognized internationally as a centre of excellence in the field of nuclear astrophysics. These activities are complemented with a related research activity in stellar evolution with the aim of better understanding of certain classes of chemically peculiar stars. Various observational programs are also actively conducted at ESO or other observatories in order to better characterize the chemical peculiarities of these stars, in particular those rich in heavy elements. In this respect, the IAA is known worldwide for its work on nucleosynthesis processes responsible for the production of the heavy nuclei. These concern the so-called s-, r-, and p-processes.

Web page

• http://www.astro.ulb.ac.be/

ChETEC contact person

• Stephane Goriely (sgorielyastro.ulb.ac.be)