Jan Danckaert

Jan Danckaert is Rector of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and a full professor in the Department of Applied Physics and Photonics. He leads the Applied Physics research group and is a member of the VUB Data Lab, contributing his expertise in interdisciplinary projects that integrate physics, mathematics, computer science, biology, and engineering.

His research spans nonlinear dynamics, photonics, metamaterials, neural networks, machine learning, and systems biology. He has authored over 100 papers in international journals and more than 100 conference contributions, and has supervised over 20 successful PhD students. Between 2016 and 2022, he served as Vice-Rector for Education and Student Affairs at VUB and led the Education Work Package of the European University “Eutopia.”