Science Talk with Naz

Dr. Peter Tom Jones is the director of the KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals (SIM²), an interdisciplinary research hub of more than 400 experts dedicated to the exploration, extraction, processing, refining, and recycling of energy-transition metals crucial for clean energy and mobility. Also, the host of the ‪RAW MATTERS podcast.‬

Europe wants to reduce its dependence on China for critical raw materials - BUT can it move fast enough? This episode explores Kazakhstan’s growing strategic importance, the opportunities and risks in EU-Kazakhstan cooperation, and what investors, policymakers, and researchers should understand about critical raw materials, stability, execution, and the race to secure future supply chains.

Dr. Peter Tom Jones on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-tom...
RAW MATTERS podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RAWMATTERS/v...
RAW MATTERS podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ySWGgr...

Documentaries:
Responsible Mining in Europe: https://kuleuven.sim2.be/documentary-...
Europe's Lithium Paradox: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37096241/
Made in Europe: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32414578/

External sources:
Tokayev, EU Leaders Hold Talks in Brussels, Adopt Joint Statement [image source] https://astanatimes.com/2026/06/tokay...
Can Europe Catch Up in the Global Critical Minerals Race? https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2026/09/17...

1:27 Did Europe miss the bus?
3:38 Why Europe is more vulnerable than it looks
12:23 Kazakhstan's billion-dollar opportunity
16:14 EU + Kazakhstan in 2030: best case vs worst case

24:17 What investors really want before they commit capital
28:05 US vs China vs Europe: three very different ways of getting things done
33:56 Europe wants to escape China dependence: here’s the problem
40:20 Why academic papers are not enough

47:14 Special message to Kazakhstani partners
50:40 A lesson from a filmmaking crew
56:45 I could be wrong about...
57:54 A message to Belgium and Kazakhstan

What can Mars and Venus teach us about saving Earth's soil? In this episode, we go from planetary science to regenerative agriculture, biofertilizers, and the reality of PhD life across the US and Europe - plus hackathons, hobbies, and why doing nothing might be the most productive thing you can do. A wide-ranging conversation for anyone curious about space, sustainability, and the path of scientific research.

Guest: Jaya Nepal is a Postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Plant Science at Penn State College of Agricultural Science

First episode with Jaya about his research in 2024:

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/v_Cypmu2J70?feature=oembed

External sources mentioned in the ep.:

- Why This Robot Kills Weeds With Lasers:

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/KmxNtDMAj2A?feature=oembed

- A super El Niño threatens disaster. Trump is handling it recklessly: https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...

- UAE’s ruling royal family benefits from more than €71m in EU farming subsidies: https://www.theguardian.com/world/202...

- The Godfather of AI Warns About Its Perils, Praises Its Promise: https://www.ncsl.org/state-legislatur...

- Venus & Greenhouse Effect: https://theclimatehistorian.substack....

- Why Mars by Carl Sagan: https://www.planetary.org/space-image...

- Universe's First Life Might Have Been Born on Carbon Planets: https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/univ...

- Carl Sagan's groundbreaking experiment: 30 years on: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/202...

- 20 Inventions We Wouldn't Have Without Space Travel: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/infographics...

Timeline

00:00 Intro

00:36 Why space studies matter

03:45 Why space Soils matter

06:20 Regolith: the key to living off-world

07:32 Inventions born from space research

08:49 Venus's greenhouse effect & Mars's ozone loss: how Earth studies benefited

13:50 What planetary science teaches us about Earth's soil

18:06 What is regenerative agriculture

21:20 Biofertilizers explained

26:27 Our paper finally got published

27:16 Can bio-products replace synthetic fertilizers

33:10 PhD life: US vs. Europe

45:15 PhD qualifying exams: US vs. Europe

52:50 Why flexibility matters when plans fall apart

56:53 Hackathons during a PhD: research to real-world

59:38 Why podcasting (and hobbies) matter in a PhD

1:03:58 The art of doing nothing & cross-pollinating ideas

1:07:50 Climate change and information overload

1:09:32 Favorite science & sci-fi movies 

Our special guest is Bolys Sabitbek, a post-doctoral researcher at the Ghent Analysis & PDE Center, Ghent University. We were also honoured to be joined by Mr. Sayasat Nurbek, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, who shares his perspective on the growing academic collaboration between Kazakhstan and Ghent University, the skills today's world demands, and what these two scientific communities can learn from one another. Bolys also makes the case for why mathematics matters, tracing the history and development of the field from the Soviet era through to mathematics in Kazakhstan today, and shares details of the ongoing Mirror Lab collaboration between Ghent University and Kazakhstan.

Curious about the ecosystem behind this collaboration? 🇰🇿

🤖 Alem.ai - Kazakhstan's International Center for Artificial Intelligence in Astana. A hub for the global AI community, it brings together a Museum of Singularity, an AI research university, startup incubation programs, research labs, and the home of the Mirror Laboratory: https://alem.ai/en/

🚀 Astana Hub - Central Eurasia's largest international tech park, connecting 1,800+ local and international companies and driving the region's technology growth through programs, events, and community: https://astanahub.com/en/

Together, they form the backbone of Kazakhstan's growing innovation landscape - and the setting for our latest episode. 🎧

Ghent Analysis and PDE center website: https://analysis-pde.org/

More on Bolys's research, website: https://sites.google.com/view/bolys-sabitbek

Mirror Laboratory in Kazakhstan to our Ghent Analysis & PDE Centre: https://analysis-pde.org/blog/

A special challenge for our audience - put your math skills to the test with the problem lists compiled by Erdős: https://www.erdosproblems.com/lists

Books and research works mentioned in the episode:

"Birth of A Theorem" by Cedric Villani

"Henri Poincare: A Scientific Biography" by Jeremy Gray

Vladimir Arnold in Russian, link:

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/zZEHozSnalU?feature=oembed

Movie about Misterious Japanese Chalk:

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/PhNUjg9X4g8?feature=oembed

About the Central Limit Theorem (related to the law of large numbers):

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/zeJD6dqJ5lo?feature=oembed

3Blue1Brown best math youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@3blue1brown/videos

Newton’s three-body problem explained - Fabio Pacucci:

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/D89ngRr4uZg?feature=oembed

Designing Math ft. Grant Sanderson (3Blue1Brown):

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/bLSLN96Gn-w?feature=oembed

More on Game Theory: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1512.06808

Mathematical methods and human thought in the age of AI: https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.26524

Mathematical methods and human thought in the age of AI by Terence Tao: https://terrytao.wordpress.com/2026/03/29/mathematical-methods-and-human-thought-in-the-age-of-ai/

Anthropic news: https://www.anthropic.com/news/fable-mythos-access

External image credits:

Milky Way photos by https://www.instagram.com/p/DR06XwcjE0C/?img_index=5

Kolsai lake: https://caravanistan.com/kazakhstan/almaty-region/

Arkalyk launch photos: https://www.gettyimages.be/fotos/arkalyk

00:00 Intro

00:32 Meet the New Voice of Qazaq Mathematics

01:29 Was Math Discovered or Invented?

03:41 Is Math Really Hard or Just Unfairly Feared?

05:30 The Hidden Math Behind Your Everyday Decisions

11:29 How AI Is Reshaping Mathematics

19:10 UGhent University & Kazakhstan: A New Collaboration

20:03 Kazakhstan's Minister of Science on Partnering with Ghent

23:12 Mr. Sayasat Nurbek: The Skills the World Needs Now

27:13 What UGhent and Kazakhstan Can Learn From Each Other

28:40 Why Mathematics?

31:20 Math Behind the Iron Curtain: The USSR & Kazakhstan

36:20 Lab Tour: The Legendary Chalk Story & a Favourite Equation

41:58 Kazakhstan: Cradle of the Soviet Space Dream

46:03 Favourite Mathematicians, Books & Films

49:58 The Eiffel Tower Was Always About Science

51:08 Why There's No Nobel Prize in Mathematics

52:06 The Skills That Actually Matter

54:12 Advice for Final-Year PhDs

Guest: Prof. Dmitri Krysko – an Associate Professor, Head of Cell Death Investigation and Therapy (CDIT) Laboratory at the Department of Human Structure and Repair at Ghent University. Also an elected member of The Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium since 2023. Sadly, Prof. Krysko passed away in an accident shortly after this interview. We dedicate this episode to his family to honor his legacy, his warmth, and his passion for teaching. We hope his words continue to inspire the next generation of researchers.

Special thanks to Ph.D. fellow Mariia Saviuk for her invaluable support, and to the Krysko family as we share this piece of his legacy.

More details: https://www.crig.ugent.be/en/news/mem....

Article mentioned in the episode: https://www.nature.com/articles/s4146...

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/...

00:00 Intro 01:30 Why “Cell Death” and how my journey started into this research world

03:44 What were the main motivations behind the founding CDIT laboratory at Ugent?

11:51 Lab tour & Ph.D. experience with Marii Saviuk

20:40 3D cancer spheroids to mimic real tumor environments

22:19 What are anti-cancer vaccines and are they around the corner?

30:47 Advice to young researchers entering this research domain

Guest: Lotte Baert a Teaching Assistant and PhD researcher at Ghent University. Her research focuses on soil amendments and drought resilience, and explores how different materials such as compost, chitin, and other amendments influence soil water retention under changing climate conditions, combining greenhouse experiments with field studies. Alongside her research, she is actively involved in teaching, bringing together scientific investigation and academic training in her daily work.   

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/baertlotte/ 

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/...

🔗 Study Sources Mentioned in the Episode:

Lotte’s research: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...

Women statistics mentioned at 21:16 min https://www.eppgroup.eu/what-we-do/wi...

Special thanks: to Lotte Baert for the images, videos, and feedback provided for this episode, also for having us for the practical cources

⏱️ Timeline:

01:08 — Why Soil Amendments Are Essential Today

02:52 — The Amendments Behind the Research

07:46 — How Chitin-Enriched Compost Helps Soil

10:10 — Compost, Farming, and Climate Impact

12:50 — Interactive Teaching in Action (available on YouTube only)

12:50  — Life Between Research and Teaching

18:01 — What Makes Teaching Worth It

20:25 — Balancing Science, Teaching, and Motherhood

21:28 — Women’s Experiences in Academia

23:44 — Must-Have Skills for a PhD

28:13 — Tips for Incoming PhD Students 

In this episode, we’re joined by Prof. Francis wyffels and Dr. Andreas Verleysen from AIRO (AI & Robotics), the robotics team within IDLab (Ghent University – imec). Visit 'AIRO IDLab Ghent University - imec' website for more information: https://airo.ugent.be/
More research works: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=r2JqQ0oAAAAJ&hl=en
https://airo.ugent.be/ 

Relevant links mentioned in the episode:
Dwengo - https://www.dwengo.org/
Research at AIRO - https://airo.ugent.be/research/
External video sources: 

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLGFKZ_2y13shMLgsFvFt91mbtBWodEZ-M

Optimus - Gen 2 | Tesla 

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/cpraXaw7dyc?feature=oembed

NEO The Home Robot | X1 

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/LTYMWadOW7c?feature=oembed

00:36 — Who are our guests today
01:13 — What robots can actually do today (and why they’re not here to “take over”)
03:53 — From impressive demo to real-world scale: generalisation + industrial automation
06:39 — Humans first: robots as helpers and teammates, not replacements
09:20 — AI, creativity, and job security

12:06 — Lab tour & live demos
24:33 — Curiosity Camera

26:43 — Service robots in daily life: what’s coming next
27:55 — Why STEM curiosity matters
31:04 — Origin stories: how we got into AI & robotics
34:11 — Why making science accessible matters
37:50 — Pop culture robots: how movies shape perceptions
40:46 — Movies/books with thoughtful takes on robotics

44:42 — Current projects and real-world impact
46:30 — Essential skills for students and future PhDs
49:19 — Advice for incoming PhDs in AI & robotics

Prof. Hans Verbeeck is a Research Professor at Ghent University, and also co-leader of the Q-ForestLab. His work integrates process-based ecosystem modelling, field ecology, and advanced remote-sensing to understand how forests respond to climate change. He has led major international projects working in tropical and temperate forests, He has important activities in the Congo Basin; did a lot of work on the impact of lianas on tropical forests, but today we will focus on his work the ecology and restoration of tropical mountain forest in the Andes in Ecuador (RecoAndes Project). His research connects fundamental ecological science with practical forest-management strategies aimed at improving carbon-sequestration and climate resilience.

Prof. Verbeek on: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hans-verb...
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/...
Q-Forestlab: https://q-forestlab.ugent.be/index.html

External materials:
video source for the project https://youtu.be/iF3bY-kDy38?si=eDYNx...
additional acknowledgements for the video:
[EN] The video is a product of the Vice-Rectorate for Research and Innovation of the University of Cuenca, developed by MEDIALAB–Philosophy–2025
[ESP] Un producto del Vicerrectorado de Investigación e Innovación de la Universidad de Cuenca, desarrollado por MEDIALAB–Filosofía–2025

Special thanks:
to Prof. Hans Verbeeck, Ximena Palomeque and Dalma Orellana Peralta for the images, videos and feedback provided for this episode, and also to the University of Cuenca.

00:15 Cold open: Why the Andes matter
01:24 Inside the Andean mountain forest research
03:01 Origin story: How the project began
04:37 Project partners + the importance of Indigenous knowledge
05:29 Why the Andean forest ecosystem is research-critical

06:44 PhD experience: reflection interview
10:21 Research impact: local communities and policy
12:24 Main threats to Ecuador’s mountain forests & how to investigate them
14:10 Methodology in action
17:06 Capacity building: what the project leaves behind

18:43 Which planet do you choose? Main message
20:07 Essential PhD skills to have/build
21:22 Advice for incoming PhDs

Tobias Augspurger – aerospace engineer, climate scientist, and open-source advocate. Also a founder of OpenSustain.tech, an open platform for free and open climate technology. He also pioneered the application of open source in the German automotive industry within the DHL Group as head of software development for autonomous driving, worked for over 13 years in different remote sensing applications, and loves to innovate based on open-source practices. Today, we will be talking about the MapYourGrid project.

Tobias on LinkedIn:   / tobias-augspurger  
MapYourGrid: https://mapyourgrid.org/

Other relevant mentioned sources:
OpenSustain.tech: https://opensustain.tech/
The Open Source Sustainability Ecosystem report: https://lfenergy.org/2023-open-source... 

00:00 – Intro

00:56 – Who Is Tobias

02:09 – What Is MapYourGrid | Overlooked Quality Data from OpenStreetMap

09:31 – The Power of Open Access Data

11:37 – The Role of Local Communities

14:38 – How to Reach and Engage Local Communities

18:48 – Why Open Access Data Matters for a Traceable Sustainable Future

23:55 – On Non-Traceable Sustainability Claims and Greenwashing

31:20 – Open Access from Public and Private Sectors | Green Claims Act

34:42 – MapYourGrid 101 for Beginners

40:12 – Why We Still Need People | Limits and Cautions of AI

46:07 – Who Is Using Grid Stats Map

50:30 – Why Mapping the Electrical Grid Is Essential

52:76 – Current Challenges in MapYourGrid

58:10 – Sentinel-2 Data: Potential and Limitations

1:00:38 – Funding, Sponsors, and How to Support MapYourGrid

1:04:00 – MapYourGrid as a Teaching Tool

1:08:14 – Our Planet Is Too Complex to Argue with Black Boxes

1:08:52 – The Future Impact of MapYourGrid

1:09:59 – Prioritizing Natural Solutions in Today’s Systems

Nick Krekelbergh is a teaching assistant and PhD student at Ghent University. Nick's research focusses on the dynamics of microplastics in soils from a pedological perspective.
Nick is also an active member at the Knowledge centre Viae Caspiae of Eureast Platform   
Nick on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickkrekelbergh/
Nick on X: https://x.com/nickkrekelbergh?lang=en
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/...

⏱️ Timeline:
00:00 – Intro
00:32 – Microplastics 101
14:49 – Microplastics as a soil-forming factor in the 21st century
21:54 – Challenges of measuring microplastics: is there a standardized method?
24:39 – Research & policy priority highlights (OVAM report) – Why Belgium may lead
26:01 – Current research highlights: Raman vs fluorescence
35:02 – Lab tour 47:57 – What is the ‘Knowledge Centre Viae Caspiae’?
51:06 – Shrinking Caspian Sea & historical repetition (Aral Sea parallels)
57:27 – Why EU and Central Asia matter to each other
1:00:00 – Essential skills for incoming academics
1:01:54 – Advice for PhDs

Rocco Suanno - PhD student at Institut Lumière Matière (Lyon)

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rocco-suanno-71ba2a249/

Instagram: @roccosuanno

00:00 – Intro

01:08 – Spinodal decomposition

03:29 – Implementation of spinodal decomposition & factors impacting

09:40 – Why this process is important across studies

11:44 – The 'Grande Victoria!', 1st-year-PhD experience & personal motivation for research topic

14:34 – Why physicists sneak philosophical quotes into their slides

17:12 – Special prize

18:17 – Inspiration for science

20:18 – Message to new PhDs