VUB professor of nuclear energy Peter Baeten will take over as head of Belgium’s nuclear research centre SCK CEN in November. This renowned institute based in Mol, Antwerp province, works on technologies to monitor the safety of existing and future nuclear installations, to develop targeted techniques to combat cancer and to efficiently tackle the decommissioning of nuclear installations. He will continue to teach at VUB.
Peter Baeten: "Contact with students is important. We must continue to pass on our knowledge to the next generation. In addition, it is of course good that a nuclear research centre like ours maintains a strong relationship with the university world." VUB is a special place for him, as it is where he studied electrical engineering and obtained his doctorate in nuclear engineering. After he finished studying, he went straight to work at SCK CEN in 1999.
He already knows the institute inside out, knowledge that will be needed in this next step, as he will be taking over from his predecessor at a time when the De Croo government has chosen to keep two nuclear plants open. The facility has 900 employees and 100 doctoral students, and a budget of about ¤250 million.
Vrije Universiteit Brussel is an internationally oriented university in Brussels, the heart of Europe. By providing excellent research and education on a human scale, VUB wants to make an active and committed contribution to a better society.
The World Needs You The Vrije Universiteit Brussel assumes its scientific and social responsibility with love and decisiveness. That’s why VUB launched the platform De Wereld Heeft Je Nodig - The World Needs You, which brings together ideas, actions and projects based on six Ps. The first P stands for People , because that’s what it-s all about: giving people equal opportunities, prosperity, welfare, respect. Peace is about fighting injustice, big and small, in the world. Prosperity combats poverty and inequality. Planet stands for actions on biodiversity, climate, air quality, animal rights... With Partnership , VUB is looking for joint actions to make the world a better place. The sixth and last P is for Poincaré , the French philosopher Henri Poincaré, from whom VUB derives its motto that thinking should submit to nothing except the facts themselves. VUB is an -urban engaged university-, strongly anchored in Brussels and Europe and working according to the principles of free research.
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VUB professor Peter Baeten to lead SCK CEN nuclear research centre
