With six study areas and a multitude of study programmes, VIVES is a university of applied sciences where various sectors meet. This is also reflected in academic research, which is increasingly drawing the map of multidisciplinarity. The result? Vives creates innovative knowledge that solves real problems. In the healthcare sector, for example, where technology and expertise about care, patients and nursing staff are effectively bridged.
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Practice-oriented research makes the difference VIVES opts for multidisciplinary approach
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The Zorglab (Healthcare lab) at Vives
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n the five VIVES campuses in West Flanders, an average of 15,000 young people annually opt for a study programme in health care, education, social agogical work, biotechnology, industrial sciences & technology, commercial sciences and business administration. “There is an expertise centre for each field of study. Together, 170 employees deliver scientific research there, full-time or otherwise,” says Koen Denys, coordinator of the Smart Technologies expertise centre. “As a university of applied sciences, we focus on practice-based research that is increasingly being initiated by a demand from the professional field,” continues Ingeborg Simpelaere, coordinator of the Healthcare Innovation Expertise Centre. “We work on research questions resulting from healthcare institutions, educational institutions and companies/organisations from a wide range of sectors. We are extremely satisfied with this mix, because it enables us to
add value for people, society and the economic system. Conversely, the cooperation with practice results in new knowledge and insights that we share with the students”.
Strong together VIVES’ research portfolio is richly filled every year. As a result of Covid-19, one field of study was in the spotlight even more than usual in 2020: healthcare. “This is an area in which we score particularly high,” says Ingeborg Simpelaere. “On the one hand, we bring together researchers from healthcare, technology and economic sciences. On the other hand, we set up partnerships with producers and practitioners”. Sofie Van Hecke, coordinator of the Zorglab, picks up on this: “Many companies are very innovative, but launch innovations that are not entirely geared 48
