The SCK CEN Day of the PhDs aims at bringing together all our PhD students, their promoters and colleagues at the universities, their mentors and other scientific collaborators at SCK CEN, the SCK CEN management and the members of our Scientific Council, and all other scientists and engineers interested in nuclear research.  
 
During this day our second- and third-year PhD students will discuss their research challenges. A plenary session presenting all research themes will be followed by a poster session during a walking lunch. In the afternoon a plenary Q&A session will give all participants the opportunity to discuss the presented work. 

Below you find poster presentations of the research of our PhD students.

 Feel free to post any questions you have in the YouTube chat during the event. These will be treated during the plenary Q&A session. 

Medical applications
 

  Dayana Castillo

Dosimetry aspects of recoiling daughter nuclides of 225-Actinium in Targeted Alpha Therapy

SCK CEN mentors: 
Marijke De Saint-Hubert & Maarten Ooms
Promoter: Michel Koole (KU LEUVEN)

  Lorain Geenen

Study of the radiobiological basis of the therapeutic and cytotoxic responses of targeted radionuclide therapy using Lu177-DOTATATE and Ac225-DOTATATE

SCK CEN mentors: Noami Daems
& Sarah Baatout
Promoter: Erik Verburg (EURotterdam)

  Nathalie Heynickx

Study of the radiobiological basis of therapeutic and toxic responses of prostate cancer radiation therapy

SCK CEN mentor: Koen Vermeulen
Promoter: Sarah Baatout (UGENT)

  Racell Nabha

Assessment of relative biological effectiveness of clinical and secondary irradiation in proton therapy by microdosimetric measurements and simulations

SCK CEN mentors:
Olivier Van Hoey & Rafi Benotmane
Promoter: Edmond Sterpin (KU LEUVEN)
  Jessica Ribeiro Radiation effects on human brain development, modeled in human brain organoids SCK CEN mentors: 
Roel Quintens & Mieke Verslegers
Promoter: Jay Gopalakrishnan (HHU)
  Magy Sallam Cardiovascular dysfunction after cancer radiation therapy: search for biomarkers and study of the underlying physiological mechanisms

SCK CEN mentors: 
Raghda Ramadan & Rafi Benotmane  
Promoter: Pieter-Jan Guns (UANTWERPEN)

  Anthony Waked Targeted radionuclide therapy as new treatment opportunity against glioblastoma recurrences SCK CEN mentors: 
Rafi Benotmane & Koen Vermeulen
Promoter: Bernard Rogister (ULIEGE)

 

Nuclear materials
 

  Cholidah Akbar Fitriani

Fracture mechanisms in environmentally assisted cracking of austenitic steels SCK CEN mentor: Serguei Gavrilov
Promoter: Kim Verbeken (UGENT)
  Chih-Cheng Chang Assessment of mechanical properties of fusion materials by micro-mechanical testing SCK CEN mentors: 
Dmitry Terentyev & Wouter Van Renterghem
Promoter: Thomas Pardoen (UCLouvain)
  Gamze Colak Preparation of Am containing transmutation targets SCK CEN mentors: 
Gregory Leinders & Rémi Delville
Promoter: Jozef Vleugels (KU LEUVEN)
  Noelia Fuentes Solis Effect of liquid metal environment on nucleation and propagation of fatigue cracks SCK CEN mentors: 
Serguei Gavrilov & Pierre Marmy
Promoter: Marc Seefeldt (KU LEUVEN)
  Olga Kachko Development of Reduced Activation Ferritic Martensitic Steels for fusion applications SCK CEN mentor: 
Dmitry Terentyev
Promoter: Roumen Petrov (UGENT)
  Amke Lescur The influence of heavy liquid metal environment on mechanical and corrosion properties of austenitic stainless steel welds SCK CEN mentors: 
Jun Lim & Erich Stergar
Promoter: Roumen Petrov (UGENT)
  Eloa Lopes Maia Mechanisms of localized corrosion initiation in liquid metal environment  SCK CEN mentors: 
Serguei Gavrilov & Valentyn Tsisar
Promoter: Herman Terryn (VUB)
  Selim Uygur Phase stability and oxidation behavior of high Pu content fast reactor MOX fuel SCK CEN mentors: 
Rémi Delville & Gregory Leinders
Promoter: Jozef Vleugels (KU LEUVEN)

 

Radiation protection
 

  Floris Abrams Combining Machine Learning and Operations Research methods for Optimizing Remediation Efforts in Response to Large-Scale Nuclear Emergencies Affecting Food and Agriculture SCK CEN mentors: 
Lieve Sweeck & Johan Camps
Promoter: Jos Van Orshoven (KU LEUVEN)
  Francesc Xavier Dengra i Grau Impact of land use change on the migration of historical radionuclide and heavy metal contamination in riparian soils of the Grote Nete Valley SCK CEN mentors:
Liesbeth Van Laer & Lieve Sweeck
Promoter: Erik Smolders (KU LEUVEN)
  Inés Llopart Development of novel assays for ‘difficult-to-measure’ radionuclides in materials produced during nuclear decommissioning activities SCK CEN mentors: 
Mirela Vasile & Andrew Dobney
Promoter: Martine Leermakers (VUB)
  Amit Ravindra Patil Model development for the assessment of the impact of accidental and routine radioactive releases into the Meuse-Scheldt aquatic system SCK CEN mentor: Fabricio Fiengo Perez
Promoter: Eric Deleersnijder (UCLouvain)
  Isabelle Van Dyck Application of Lemna minor in site remediation strategies SCK CEN mentors: 
Nathalie Vanhoudt  & Jordi Vives i Batlle
Promoter: Jaco Vangronsveld (UHASSELT)
  Margot Vanheukelom Quantifying the effects of soil and plant characteristics on radiocesium uptake: A global perspective SCK CEN mentors: 
Lieve Sweeck & Talal Al Mahaini
Promoter: Erik Smolders (KU LEUVEN)

 

Radiochemistry
 

  Robin Aerts Non-aqueous separation process for the purification of the lutetium-177 medical radioisotope SCK CEN mentors: 
Karen Van Hecke & Bart Geboes
Promoter: Koen Binnemans (KU LEUVEN)
  Han-Hung Hsu Sol-gel chemistry to control morphology and porosity of actinide oxide feeds for electroreduction SCK CEN mentor: Bart Geboes
Promoter: Tom Breugelmans (UANTWERPEN)
  Dominic Maertens Study of reaction kinetics in continuous partitioning processes for actinide separations SCK CEN mentor: Thomas Cardinaels
Promoter: Koen Binnemans (KU LEUVEN)
  Hongshan Zhu Inorganic sorption materials tailored for 225Ra/225Ac and 225Ac/213Bi radionuclide generators for biomedical applications SCK CEN mentors: 
Stephan Heinitz & Thomas Cardinaels
Promoter: Koen Binnemans (KU LEUVEN)

 

Nuclear technology
 

  Moad Al-dbissi A novel approach to partial defect testing of spent nuclear fuel for safeguards applications SCK CEN mentors: 
Alessandro Borella & Riccardo Rossa
Promoter: Imre Pazsit (Chalmers)
  Gregori Giacomo Electrochemical measurement and characterization of corrosion products in lead-bismuth eutectic SCK CEN mentors: 
Jun Lim & Alexander Aerts
Promoter: Thomas Doneux (ULB)
  Sophie Hurier High intensity ISOL ion source for long-term irradiations SCK CEN mentor: Kim Rijpstra
Promoter: Thomas Cocolios (KU LEUVEN)
  Đorđe Petrović Investigation of a Hypothetical Core Disruptive Accident scenario in MYRRHA SCK CEN mentors: 
Guy Scheveneels & Matteo Zanetti
Promoter: William D'haeseleer (KU LEUVEN)
  Sadik Serag Essam Coatings enabling robotic systems in liquid metal for a new generation of nuclear reactors. SCK CEN mentor:
Paul Schuurmans & Ben Caers  
Promoter: Stéphane Lucas (UNAMUR)

 

Waste & disposal
 

  Shamseldin Abdo Development of a constitutive law for accurate prediction of time dependent deformation of OPC based cementitious material at elevated temperatures SCK CEN mentors: 
Suresh Seetharam & Tri Phung Quoc
Promoter: Roman Wan-Wendner (UGENT)
  Francisco Javier Giménez Microbial community structure and dynamics during radioactive waste disposal SCK CEN mentors: 
Kristel Mijnendonckx & Miroslav Honty
Promoter: Eveline Peeters (VUB)
  Xiang Li Corrosion study of the BR1 fuel in highly alkaline conditions SCK CEN mentors: 
Sébastien Caes & Bruno Kursten
Promoter: Thomas Pardoen (UCLouvain)
  Luong The Thinh Nguyen Carbonation, decalcification and recalcification of Calcium-Silicate-Hydrate SCK CEN mentors: 
Tri Phung Quoc & Norbert Maes
Promoter: Özlem Cizer (KU LEUVEN)
  Thi Nhan Nguyen Physico-chemical evolution of geopolymers in contact with aggressive environment  SCK CEN mentors: 
Tri Phung Quoc & Diederik Jacques
Promoter: Yiannis Pontikes (KU LEUVEN)