Jan Danckaert

Jan Danckaert (born 6 July 1964) studied Physics at the University of Antwerp and joined VUB in 1985 as an assistant in the Department of Applied Physics and Photonics. In 1992 he obtained his doctorate in nonlinear optics, researching the behaviour of nonlinear optical resonators for optical information processing.

After a postdoctoral stay in Grenoble and visiting research periods at IFISC in Palma de Mallorca, he returned to VUB. In 2005 he became full professor at the Faculty of Sciences & Bio-engineering Sciences, where he led the Applied Physics research group (APHY), a team of about fifteen researchers working on complex systems in physics and technology.

In 2016 he was appointed Vice-Rector for Education and Student Affairs on the team of Rector Caroline Pauwels. In that role he oversaw, among other things, the institutional review and the transition to hybrid education during the pandemic. Following the passing of Caroline Pauwels, he became Rector ad interim in March 2022. On 21 June 2022 he was elected Rector with 62.72% of the vote.

His research interests include nonlinear dynamics, photonics, metamaterials, neural networks and systems biology. He supervised some fifteen doctoral students who today hold prominent positions both in Belgium and abroad. He is also the author of more than one hundred publications in international scientific journals.

“I ask the university community for their trust to continue carrying this responsibility. Not to keep everything the same, but to safeguard together what is strong and to purposefully strengthen what is needed.”