In this episode of SciLux, we have a closer look at lunar water with Dr. Veneranda López Días from the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST). We explore the parallels between the water cycles on Earth and the Moon, the various forms in which water exists on the lunar surface, and the scientific methods used to detect and analyse it.Discover the intriguing theories about how water migrates on the Moon, the potential for future lunar missions, and the technological advancements required to extract and utilise this precious resource. From thermal extraction techniques to the challenges of conducting in situ analysis, this episode offers a comprehensive look at the current state of lunar water research and its implications for future space exploration.USEFUL LINKSAbout Dr. Veneranda López Días on Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Veneranda-Lopez-DiasDr.  López Días on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veneranda-l%C3%B3pez-d%C3%ADas-b4b26b96/PITMS: https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=PEREGRN-1-05PROSPECT mission: https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2020/10/What_is_ProspectSciLux Related Episodes:- Solar Panels with Philip Dale: https://scilux.buzzsprout.com/1412332/episodes/15464113-season-4-episode-23-solar-panels- Mass Spectrometry and Unknown Chemicals with Emma Schymanski: https://scilux.buzzsprout.com/1412332/episodes/10331298-episode-18-prof-dr-emma-schymanski-lcsb-unknown-chemicalsStay tuned for more exciting episodes. Subscribe to SciLux and follow us for the latest updates.

In today's episode of Scilux, we look at music performance and education in Luxembourg. Joined by Eva Klein from In Tune (the Philharmonie Luxembourg podcast) and our guest, Luc Nijs, Associate Professor in early childhood music education, we explore the intersection of technology and traditional music practices. Discover the importance of physical preparation for musicians and the fascinating ways in which digital tools and wearable devices can change the musical landscape and feed creativity.USEFUL LINKSIn Tune podcast - https://play.rtl.lu/shows/en/in-tune-philharmonie/episodesMore about Luc Nijs - https://www.lucnijs.beMore about the IAS Audacity projects - https://www.uni.lu/research-en/ias/funded-projects/audacity/

Time to learn more about solar energy with an exceptional guide: Professor Phillip Dale, Head of the Laboratory for Energy Materials at the University of Luxembourg. Discover the photovoltaic technology, from the basics of solar cells to advanced research on tandem solar cells and light concentration methods. Philip explains the science behind solar energy in an engaging and accessible manner, making complex concepts easy to grasp.Moreover, this episodes also gives you a chance to explore the challenges of social acceptance of solar panels and the innovative efforts to integrate them into urban landscapes seamlessly. Learn about the exciting collaboration with Professor Catherine Jones to assess public opinion on coloured and patterned photovoltaic panels.USEFUL LINKSProfessor Philip Dale: https://www.uni.lu/fstm-en/people/phillip-dale/The lab: https://pace.uni.lu/phillip-dale/Participate in the survey: https://solarzukunft.uni.lu/

This time we look at European and comparative labour law with Luca Ratti, Associate Professor at the University of Luxembourg. Luca shares his journey of making labour law engaging for students and discusses his research on minimum wages and European social citizenship. Additionally, Luca provides insights into the right to disconnect, a topic that has gained prominence in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.SHOW NOTESAbout Luca Ratti: https://www.uni.lu/fdef-en/people/luca-ratti/Students about Luca Ratti: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tMNQQ5YDH8Guiding Principles on Implementing Workers' Right to Disconnect: https://www.europeanlawinstitute.eu/projects-publications/publications/eli-guiding-principles-on-implementing-workers-right-to-disconnect/European Law Institute: https://www.europeanlawinstitute.euDirective 2022 on Adequate Minimum Wages:https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32022L2041

Many factors can influence the way we feel the passage of time. And it seems we can also alter it using extended reality. Listen to Dr. Jean Botev and Sahar Niknam (University of Luxembourg) and Prof. Argiro Vatakis (Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences), the researchers who are developing VR/AR solutions to change our time perception. In this episode you will even get some tips on how to speed up or slow down your time perception - look for the answer to the pub quiz question.SHOW NOTESAbout the ChronoPilot project: https://www.chronopilot.eu/VR/AR Lab at the University of Luxembourg: https://vrarlab.uni.lu/About Prof. Argiro Vatakis and her lab: https://argirovatakis.comMore about FET Open projects: https://cordis.europa.eu/programme/id/H2020-EU.1.2.1.

In our recent discussions with physicists we have often ended up discussing beauty.  Wikipedia says that beauty is a feature that makes objects pleasurable to perceive. And what does prof. Alex Tkatchenko think?Prof. Alex Tkatchenko (University of Luxembourg), who is a chemical physicist, not only took the time to tell us what is beautiful in physics and chemistry, but also focused on his research interests such as dark energy, drug development and protein folding. A truly enjoyable episode for people who like science!USEFUL LINKSAbout Alex Tkatchenko - https://www.uni.lu/fstm-en/people/alexandre-tkatchenko/Theoretical Chemical Group at the University of Luxembourg - https://www.uni.lu/fstm-en/research-groups/theoretical-chemical-physics/

In this episode of SciLux, we talk about climate science and policy with Dr. Andrew Ferrone, a physical climatologist and the head of the Meteorological Department at the Administration of Technical Agricultural Services in Luxembourg. Andrew shares his expertise and insights into the evolving field of climatology, the significant role of greenhouse gases, and the critical importance of reaching net-zero CO2 emissions to stabilise our climate.We explore the profound changes in climatology over the years and the increasing involvement of various disciplines in climate studies. Andrew also discusses the dramatic increase in extreme weather events and their attribution to climate change, highlighting recent examples such as the flooding in Dubai and Luxembourg.USEFUL LINKSAndrew Ferrone’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewferroneWorld Meteorological Organisation: https://public.wmo.int/enIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: https://www.ipcc.ch/European State of the Climate Report: https://climate.copernicus.eu/ESOTC

Here's interdisciplinarity at its best - combining experitise in allergies and oncology we get a novel and special look at the interesting link between cancer cell growth and allergies. Listen to our guests, Dr. Aurelie Poli (LIH) and Dr. Heather Bax (King's College London) as they explain the bases of the field also touching upon new developments in the field of IgE antibodies.SHOW NOTESAbout Aurélie Poli's work - https://researchportal.lih.lu/en/persons/aur%C3%A9lie-poliAllergoOncology Working Group - https://eaaci.org/working-group/allergooncology/About Heather Bax - https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/heather-baxMore about MOv18 IgE - https://epsilogen.com/mov18-ige/

Sometimes science is about going very deep, but it pays off to also cross disciplines and try to apply your knowledge to other fields - this is exactly what my guests try to do in their statistical research. Listen to Prof. Masanobu Taniguichi and Sophia Loizidou as they explain complex statistical concepts, but also take the time to clarify what for example distribution is.USEFUL LINKSAbout Prof. Taniguchi - https://w-rdb.waseda.jp/html/100000713_en.htmlProf. Taniguchi's lecture at the Luxembourg - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKgOocsQUUwTeam MIDAS - https://math.uni.lu/midas/About Sophia Loizidou - https://math.uni.lu/midas/people/dp/?sophialoizidou

It is time to design policies that will combat poverty without relying on economic growth. In the latest episode, two experts in child poverty, Dr. Anne-Catherine Guio (LISER) and Prof. Olivier De Schutter (Université catholique de Louvain) have shared their findings. Olivier De Schutter is also UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights and together with Anne-Catherine, Eric Marlier and Hugh Fraser he co-authored a book called ‘Escape from Poverty: Breaking the Vicious Cycles Perpetuating Disadvantage’.USEFUL LINKS"Escape from Poverty: Breaking the Vicious Cycles Perpetuating Disadvantage" - https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/the-escape-from-povertyOlivier De Schutter - Report on non-take-up of rights: https://www.srpoverty.org/ntu/Conference "The lives of people in precarious situations in Luxembourg and the use of aid": https://www.liser.lu/?type=news&id=2450Chambre Des Députés conference "Challenges of the youth in Luxembourg" https://www.chd.lu/en/conference_youth

In oncology the treatment is very diversified right now – there’s surgery, chemotherapy, radiology, but also immunotherapy and targeted therapy. In this episode of SciLux we focus on the last two combined with some studies on gut microbiome and going back to genetics 101. Our guests, Patrick Dang who is Resident in oncology at CHL and doctoral student at LCSB/University of Luxembourg and Michael Dang, Resident in Oncology - Translational Medical Oncology at NCT Heidelberg are very good at explaining basics of their fields so you can count on an episode full of knowledge presented in a very approachable way.SHOW NOTESCHL - https://www.chl.lu/frLCSB - https://www.uni.lu/lcsb-en/NCT Heidelberg - https://www.nct-heidelberg.de/en/index.htmlMore about Patrick's research project - https://www.cancer.lu/fr/projet-de-recherche-ImMi-TxThe Bright Foundation co-founded by Patrick - https://brightfoundation.eu/

Talking to Dr. Dagny Aurich from Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB, University of Luxembourg) turned to be a brilliant travel through many of our previous episodes and we referred a lot to our discussion about unknown chemicals with Prof. Emma Schymanski, Dagny's supervisor.Dagny, who looked into historical exposomics with C2DH researchers through the IAS-funded Luxembourg Time Machine project, currently focuses more on cheminformatics tools. Prepare for a discussion about all of the above and quite a lot on interdisciplinary approach!USEFUL LINKSLCSB - https://www.uni.lu/lcsb-en/Luxembourg Time Machine - https://luxtimemachine.uni.lu/EU Time Machine - https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/820323PubChem - https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Chemical Stripes - https://gitlab.lcsb.uni.lu/eci/chemicalstripesSciLux Episodes related to this one:Prof. Emma Schymanski on Unknown Chemicals - https://www.buzzsprout.com/1412332/10331298Aida Horaniet Ibanez on Data Visualisation - https://www.buzzsprout.com/1412332/10172586Dr. Archibold Mposhi on Epigenetics - https://www.buzzsprout.com/1412332/14549769

A key role in human evolution has been the invention of heat engines and this is the starting point for our discussion about thermodynamics with our guests, Prof. Massimiliano Esposito (University of Luxembourg) and Dr. Emanuele Penocchio (Northwestern University). Emanuele is currently working in the intersection between chemistry and physics when studying chemical motors which we also discuss in this episode. Obviously, two guests also mean two pub quiz questions!SHOW NOTESMassimiliano Esposito on Google Scholar - https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UTezPWgAAAAJ&hl=enEmanuele Penocchio on Google Scholar - https://scholar.google.it/citations?user=w0buCtcAAAAJ&hl=itRolf Tarrach Prize - https://www.uni.lu/en/news/rolf-tarrach-prize-2023-for-physicist-dr-emanuele-penocchio/Video about Emanuele's PhD - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU0820ENNuoUniversity of Luxembourg - https://www.uni.lu/en/Northwestern University - https://www.northwestern.edu/

If you want estimate the expected impact of a policy intervention, for example a modification of a tax rate, you can use microsimulations. Microsimulations can inform decision makers on the possible effects of their policies on individual households and support them in evidence-based decision making.Get to know more about them from our guest, an expert in microsimulations, Dr. Denisa M. Sologon  (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER)).

This episode felt a little like going back to school as Dr. Archibold Mposhi from LIH was nice enough to first explain very basic genetics and only then moved to his specialisation, epigenetics - the study of the influence of environment and behaviours on genes. So much going on in the field that we did not know about!SHOW NOTESAbout Archibold's research: https://researchportal.lih.lu/en/persons/archibold-mposhi LIH Website: https://www.lih.lu/en/Video about Archibold's mentor, Jonathan Turner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqT2BOB7jOI

Sustainability seems to be discussed in all areas of our lives nowadays. But what does it actually mean for a materials engineer? And most importantly, how can we convince the consumers to buy sustainable materials not only because they are better for the environment, but because these materials are simply pleasing to the eye and nice to touch?In this episode we had a chance to talk to Dr. Tim Huber (LIST) about his multi-disciplinary approach to designing sustainable materials. Tim, who also has extensive experience of teaching design students, is currently trying to convince more people about the necessary dialogue between material engineers and designers. He definitely got us hooked. And you?USEFUL LINKSTim Huber on Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.nz/citations?user=i97I4r4AAAAJ&hl=en LIST: https://www.list.lu/

After a couple of weeks of discussion we finally had the pleasure to talk to the head of the amazing space labs at SnT (University of Luxembourg) and one of the postdocs who is a member of the space robotics group (SpaceR). Prof. Miguel Olivares Mendez and Dr. Carol Martinez told us what a robot really is, what it means when it has some intelligence and how it is to create labs which emulate space conditions. We also touched about the increasingly important issue of space debris and talked about an upcoming conference iSpaRo24.USEFUL LINKSSnT - https://www.uni.lu/snt-en/SpaceR - https://www.uni.lu/snt-en/research-groups/SpaceR/Carol Martinez's Website - https://carolmartinez.github.io/iSpaRo24 - https://www.isparo.space/

It is not the first episode in which we learn how interconnected everything is. Health economics is all about trying to see the big picture and taking the right cost-effective decisions. Prof. Marc Suhrcke from Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) took the time to explain what his field is about and also presented the various projects he is involved in, spanning from universal health coverage to disability assistance.USEFUL LINKSAbout Prof. Marc Suhrcke - https://liser.elsevierpure.com/en/persons/marc-suhrckeProject "Financing UHC in challenging times: leaving no-one behind": https://hfacts.net/Personal Assistance - https://liser.elsevierpure.com/en/projects/assistance-personnelle

What if we just used the soil that is on your plot instead of bringing the building materials from somewhere else? Doable? Angelika Bocian-Jaworska, the founder of Äerd Lab, convinced us that this is going to happen. Right now Angelika focuses on developing the right sustainable materials, but the future is hers - she wants to 3D print your next house.USEFUL LINKSÄerd Lab - https://aerdlab.com/Institute for Advanced Architecture (Barcelona, Spain) - https://iaac.net/Circular by Design Challenge - https://www.luxinnovation.lu/cbdc/Fit4Start Programme - https://www.startupluxembourg.com/fit-4-start

They fly above our head in the thousands yet we tend to forget about them - the satellites! In this episode we had a chance to learn a lot about them, how to communicate with them, where they are, but we also went beyond to quantum communications. All thanks to our amazing guest, Prof. Symeon Chatzinotas from SnT (University of Luxembourg).USEFUL LINKSAbout Symeon: https://ism.uni.lu/person/prof-dr-symeon-chatzinotas/Symeon about the SIGCOM Group at SnT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG7tib0BE9E

Ever wondered how housing policies and markets add to inequalities within and across countries? And how does it work in Luxembourg?In the PROPEL project, Prof. Lindsay Flynn looks at the forces shaping patterns of inequality within and between generations in affluent democracies. In this episode we look both at the housing situation of younger generations, changes in housing policies as well as try to give some solutions.The PROPEL project is supported by the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR-ATTRACT project 14345912). USEFUL LINKS:PROPEL website: https://propel.uni.lu Institute of Political Science at the University of Luxembourg:  https://www.uni.lu/fhse-en/research-groups/institute-of-political-science/About Lindsay: https://www.uni.lu/en/person/NTAwMzMzNjBfX0xpbmRzYXkgRkxZTk4=/ The article about wealth concentration since the Global Financial Crisis is: Post-crisis developments in young adults’ housing wealth: https://doi.org/10.1177/09589287211040443The article about financial strategies and housing wealth in the United States: Acquisition capital: using a new concept to explore housing outcomes among millennials in the United States: https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2023.2241841 

Would you think about building a bridge or constructing a house before actually making a plan? Probably not. Yet for software we have a tendency of not starting with the bigger picture. We often forget that for complex programmes we need proper software engineering. And this is exactly the domain in which our guest, prof. Jordi Cabot from LIST and University of Luxembourg, specialises in.We also had a chance to ask Jordi for explanations of quite a few buzzwords so this episode is definitely worth a listen!USEFUL LINKSJordi’s Website - https://jordicabot.com/Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology - https://www.list.lu/Modelling Languages Portal - https://modeling-languages.com/

It was great to have the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Kathleen Mommaerts, who works at the Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg, an institution affiliated with the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH). Our conversation revolved around sample preparation, storage, variability, and, of course, the fact that Kathleen received the Rosalind Franklin Society Award, a recognition of her contribution to the field of bio-banking.USEFUL LINKSMore about Kathleen on LIH Website: https://researchportal.lih.lu/en/persons/kathleen-mommaertsKathleen’s 3-minute thesis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFbG8ZwgXZc&t=1sMore about Kathleen receiving the Rosalind Franklin Society Award: https://www.lih.lu/en/rosalind-franklin-society-award-bestowed-to-lih-researcher/

Ever wondered how mentorship worked in academia? We did for sure, and that's why for the first episode of the new season we invited two experienced mentors: Prof. Simone Niclou, the Vice-Rector for Research at the University of Luxembourg and Prof. Andreas Fickers, the Director of the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C2DH). Simone and Andreas not only defined mentorship for us, talked about the starting point and their own experiences as mentees, they also shared some surprising questions and comments they encountered on their paths as mentors. Exceptionally we went so deep into the subject that we found no time for the pub quiz question. But worry not, it's coming back in the next episode!USEFUL LINKSUniversity of Luxembourg - https://www.uni.lu/en/C2DH - https://www.c2dh.uni.lu/More about ADVANCE mentoring programme - https://www.uni.lu/en/about/gender-equality/advance-mentoring-programme/Luxembourg Charter on Mentorship in Academia - https://www.researchluxembourg.org/en/mentorship-charter/Outstanding Mentor Award - FNR Awards - https://www.fnr.lu/fnr-awards-new/