Sonia Collin
libst | Louvain-la-Neuve
Postal address:
Croix du Sud 2
Boîte L7.05.07
1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
E-mail: Sonia Collin
Phone: +32 10 47 29 13
Location:
LIBST, Croix du Sud 1-3
De Serres building (SC14-15)
Floor 1, office B113
Louvain-la-Neuve campus
Narrative summary
Doctor of Chemical Sciences (1988, University of Namur), she began her career at UCLouvain in the early 1990s, first as a "Chargé de Recherche" and later as a "Chercheur Qualifié" with the FNRS. After quickly joining UCLouvain's academic staff, she was appointed Full Professor in 2009.
Within the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, she teaches food chemistry, analytical methods for organic compounds, brewing chemistry, and sensory analysis methods for beer. She coordinates both the Advanced Master in Brewing Engineering (60 ECTS) and the University Certificate in Brewing Engineering (30 ECTS). In May 2022, she published her two-volume "Traité de Brasserie" with Dunod, an updated version of the renowned Brewing Course by Professor Jean De Clerck.
She has supervised 25 completed PhD dissertations (with 5 more currently in progress). She is the author of more than 200 international publications and patents, mainly focused on aromas and polyphenols in beer, wine and chocolate.
Her four major research areas in beer are : 1) the evolution of the chemical structures of polyphenols and their antioxidant activity throughout the production technologies; 2) the discovery of new molecules in hops, particularly cysteinylated and glutathionylated precursors of polyfunctional thiols, resveratrol and its analogues, and the enzymes responsible for hop creep; 3) control of pathways leading to aging defects, such as the cardboard off-flavour in lager beers, Madeira-like oxidation in specialty beers, and premature aging in alcohol-free beers (NABLABs); 4)identification of chemical pathways leading to carcinogenic aroma compounds such as furan-2(5H)-one and perillaldehyde.
Her three research areas in wine are : 1) aging of Sauternes wines; 2) oxidation aroma compounds in Vin Jaune wines; 3) polyfunctional thiols in traditional and interspecific grape varieties used in Belgian wines.
Her three main research areas in cocoa and chocolate are : 1) the fate of flavonoids and flavours through roasting and conching; 2) resveratrol and its glycosides in cocoa; 3) aroma compounds and polyphenols in ancestral cacao varieties such as Criollo and Nacional.
She is responsible for the CRQMB analytical and industrial services platform (GC-MS, UPLC-MS/MS, etc.), which includes a microbrewery and a bean-to-bar chocolate production facility. She has also developed the recipes for several renowned Belgian and international beers, including the Blonde of Saint-Tropez.
She was inducted as a Knight of the Brewer's Paddle (Chevalier du Fourquet) in 2018, and has been a member of the French Academy of Chocolate and Confectionery since 2023. For the past 30 years, she has chaired, every four years, the J. De Clerck Chair, which highlights paradoxes encountered in brewing science. She represents the Belgian brewing sector at numerous international organisations, including the EBC Brewing Science Group and ASBC committees.
For more information, see http://www.chair-de-clerck-2018.com