The Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences or RAOS (french: Académie royale des sciences d'outre-mer, or ARSOM; nl, Koninklijke Academie voor Overzeese Wetenschappen, KAOW) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

federal academy that contributes to the progress of scientific knowledge about overseas regions. It is located in

Uccle Uccle () or Ukkel () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). It is generally considered an affluent area of the city an ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and is one of Belgium's numerous academies.

History

The academy was founded in 1928 as the Royal Belgian Colonial Institute (''Institut royal colonial belge''). It was renamed in 1954 as the Royal Academy of Colonial Sciences (''Académie royale des sciences coloniales''). Its interests were initially restricted to the

Belgian colonial empire Belgium controlled several territories and concessions during the colonial era, principally the Belgian Congo (modern DRC) from 1908 to 1960 and Ruanda-Urundi (modern Rwanda and Burundi) from 1922 to 1962. It also had small concessions in Guate ...

and particularly the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

until decolonisation. In 1959, it was renamed the Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences (''Académie royale des sciences d'outre-mer'') and broadened its geographical remit to include Sub-Saharan Africa,

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, and

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...

. The academy organises a wide range of activities, including publications, academic conferences, and annual competititions. The Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences is divided into three Sections: * Section of Human Sciences * Section of Natural and Medical Sciences * Section of Technical Sciences

Competitions, scholarships and prizes

The Academy organizes yearly competitions with specific topics for each of its three Sections. Scholarships are also granted every year as part of the Fund, which aim is to contribute to the training of future agricultural engineers or veterinary surgeons by giving them the opportunity to go for a training period in a developing country. Finally the Academy awards the following three-year prizes: * The

Lucien Cahen Lucien is a male given name. It is the French form of Luciano or Latin ''Lucianus'', patronymic of Lucius. Lucien, Saint Lucien, or Saint-Lucien may also refer to: People Given name * Lucien of Beauvais, Christian saint *Lucien, a band member ...

Prize for Geology (2012). * The Yola Verhasselt Prize for Tropical Geography (2013). * The

Fernand Suykens Fernand is a masculine given name of French origin. The feminine form is Fernande. Fernand may refer to: People Given name * Fernand Augereau (1882–1958), French cyclist * Fernand Auwera (1929–2015), Belgian writer * Fernand Baldet (1885– ...

Prize for the study of ports (2013). * The Jean-Jacques and Berthe Symoens Prize for Tropical

Limnology Limnology ( ; from Greek λίμνη, ''limne'', "lake" and λόγος, ''logos'', "knowledge") is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems. The study of limnology includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characteris ...

(2014).

Publications

Works produced by the society include: * * ', 1948-2015; 11 volumes (Also called ''Biographie Coloniale Belge'') * Bulletin des Seances. 1930-
online
* Commission d'Histoire du Congo. (Publications.) 1953-1958. * Livre blanc: Apport scientifique de la Belgique au developpement de l'Afrique centrale. 1962- * Memoires
online
** Memoires de la classe des sciences morales et politiques. 1933- ** Memoires de la classe des sciences naturelles et medicales. 1931- ** Memoires de la classe des sciences techniques. 1930-

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Academy Of Overseas Sciences Scientific organisations based in Belgium Science and technology in Belgium Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage 1928 establishments in Belgium Belgian colonial empire

History

Competitions, scholarships and prizes

Publications

See also

References

External links