Olivier Hamant's robustness honored at UCLouvain's 2026 Honorary Doctorates

On February 12, UCLouvain held its traditional Honorary Doctorates ceremony.

The theme of the 2026 ceremony was “Enlighten to understand, resist to move forward”, and it honored three personalities whose careers embody intellectual rigor, courage, and commitment: Izzeldin Abuelaish (Palestinian doctor), Olivier Hamant (French biologist), and Salomé Saqué (French journalist).

The Earth and Life Institute was heavily involved this year, as Professor Valentin Couvreur, a researcher at the Institute, hosted Olivier Hamant, alongside Laurence Albert, director of Student Services at UCLouvain Saint-Louis Brussels.

Studying the complexity and resilience of biological systems

Olivier Hamant, 50, is a researcher in biology and biophysics, and director of research at the Institute for Research in Agriculture, Food, and the Environment at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon.

He seeks to understand how plants use forces to control their development, combining approaches from molecular and cellular biology, mechanics, and modeling.

More broadly, he questions the complexity, resilience, and fragility of biological systems.

Author of several essays, Olivier Hamant studies humanity's relationship with nature: he advocates a model of society inspired by living organisms, guided by the pursuit of robustness rather than performance. 

Watch below the video portrait of Olivier Hamant created by UCLouvain, featuring Valentin Couvreur and Laurence Albert.

A very special and robust class

Numerous activities and meetings were organized throughout the week as part of the Honorary Doctorates program. 

Olivier Hamant gave a class to a full auditorium of bachelor's students in agricultural sciences. 

The session was also open to students from other years and cursus, and to members of the Earth and Life Institute. 

Professors Valentin Couvreur and Pierre Defourny were in charge and facilitated the discussions and numerous questions that the students had prepared for Olivier Hamant. 

Conference: how to build a resilient society

Alongside journalist Salomé Saqué, also among this year's honorary doctors, Olivier Hamant gave a lecture at the UCLouvain Saint-Louis campus in Brussels on the theme of “Resisting and adapting: how to build a resilient society in the face of cascading crises”. 

The lecture was moderated by Xavier Counasse, editor-in-chief of Le Soir.

The conference by Salomé Saqué and Olivier Hamant can be viewed again below. 

A emotional and optimistic ceremony

The highlight of this intense week was the official ceremony for the awarding of Honorary Doctorates by UCLouvain, in Louvain-la-Neuve. 

The ceremony, which took place in the Aula Magna in front of nearly 1000 people, featured particularly emotional and engaging speeches by this year's three honorees and by the rector of UCLouvain, Françoise Smets.

In keeping with the theme of the ceremony, Izzeldin Abuelaish, Salomé Saqué and Olivier Hamant emphasized the importance of resisting violence and hate, and moving toward other narratives, other possibilities for tomorrow's world. 

Through realistic but optimistic speeches, the honorees emphasized the importance of commitment and resistance, as well as solidarity, listening, and nuance. 

The ceremony was punctuated by multiple standing ovations. It then concluded with a reception in honor of the three honorees. 

You can watch the ceremony again in the replay below. 

And much more...

This article focuses on biologist Olivier Hamant, as he was hosted by a researcher from the Institute. 

However, there is also much to say about Izzeldin Abuelaish and Salomé Saqué, the two other honorary doctors awarded this year, and about the program of this very special week for the university. 

We invite you to read this article (in French) for a more complete overview and to discover the full photo album of the ceremony. You can also find here the three video portraits of the honorees and replays of the events.