Rebirth Of Science : Bernard Rentier at TEDx Liege - YouTube

"Born in 1947, married, 2 children, 4 grand-children, Bernard Rentier is a biologist, specialized in Virology and Immunology. He has made his major contributions on viruses (measles, chicken pox) that infect the nervous system and remain latent, sometimes reactivating later thereby causing severe diseases (subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, zoster). He authored over 200 publications (http://orbi.ulg.ac.be/browse?locale=e...) and is or has been a members of numerous associations and learned societies. He chaired the European branch of the VZV Research Foundation, EuroVar and W.A.V.E. He founded and chaired two spin-off companies in the Biotech sector (Gamma, acquired by Zentech, and Probiox). He is now chairing EOS (Enabling Open Scholarship), an association promoting Open Access to scientific publications. From 1970 to 1976, he worked at the University of Liège (ULg) and at the NIMR, Mill Hill, London, UK. After obtaining his PhD in Virology in 1976 at ULg, he worked at the NIH, Bethesda MD, USA till 1981 and he obtained a D.Sc in 1982 at ULg. He became professor in 1989, full Professor in 1997, he was elected Vice-Rector the same year and Rector in 2005. He will be leaving office on September 30, 2014 and he will hold the presidency of the 'Société Libre d'Emulation', a 240 years old respected cultural institution in Liège aiming at promoting Science and Art. Since 1997, being responsible for Research and Libraries at ULg, he became involved in the crusade against the uncontrollable growth of documentation expenditures and he has been a pioneer in the Open Access (OA) movement. He urged his University as well as the National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS) and the Ministry of Higher Education and Research to sign the Berlin Declaration on OA and he has been very active in developing, from 2007 on, a very per formative institutional repository of publication in the 'Green OA' mode, supported by a strong OA mandate known nowadays worldwide as 'the Liege Model of OA'. As an outspoken advocate of OA, he is frequently invited worldwide to express his views on the new evolution of scholarly communication and of research in general. He is also very active on social networks. In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)"