The Industrial Research Fund (IOF) is an earmarked University Association Fund that is annually fed with a block grant from the Flemish Government. Each year IOF finances knowledge centers that exceed the average scale of a standard university’s research unit, called the Groups of Excellence in Applied Research (GEARs). They receive IOF funding for 5 years to carry out outstanding strategic research and to develop new application-oriented inventions with economic potential.For 2022, financing was approved for 3 new GEARs:
1. Artificial Intelligence LabThis consortium of 3 research groups combines their complementary expertise in AI with different backgrounds; computer science, mathematics, economics, linguistics, physics, psychology and philosophy. The AI Lab keeps searching for new frontiers in which to do cutting-edge research and is used to perform agile research in diverse and interdisciplinary domains that can be applied to multiple problems and application fields.
2. Software Languages LabActive in the design and implementation of the next generation of programming languages and tools for constructing secure, sustainable, and smart software systems, the research lab offers innovation services to companies that want to acquire knowledge and expertise on cutting-edge software technologies, or that want to implement novel software solutions through R&D projects and contract research.
3. NEUR-o-AIMSThe NEUR-o-AIMS consortium aims to predict cognitive decline in people with neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular brain disorders. It is a question that concerns many patients and which can be answered by studying the underlying biological processes and combining this with clinical expertise in the latest modeling techniques. The goal is to have an impact on clinical practice through improved diagnostics and treatments for these common and incurable brain diseases.
Questions?Contact our IOF Manager liesbeth.bosman@vub.be or the Administrative Coordinator mieke.de.volder@vub.be.
Discover the other research groups or GEARs receiving ongoing IOF funding here.