Professor Baron Derrick-Philippe Gosselin is Chair of the Belgian Nuclear Sciences Research Centre (SCK CEN) and Vice-Chair of the Royal Higher Institute for Defence (RHID). He sits on the boards of the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics and the TINA innovation fund (PMV). Gosselin was a member of the Energy Steering Panel of the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) from 2021 to 2026, and served on NATO's Emerging & Disruptive Technologies Advisory Board from 2022 to 2025.
Gosselin began his career as an Attaché in the Science Policy Programming Department of the Prime Minister's Office. He joined the Alcatel Alsthom group in 1990, becoming Vice-President for Northern and Central Europe and the MEAA region of Alcatel in 1996. He subsequently served as Senior Executive Vice-President at SUEZ Energy International (2001–2006) and as Corporate Vice-President of Strategy at GDF SUEZ's Paris headquarters (2006–2009).
In 2009, he returned to public service as Head of Cabinet to the Prime Minister of Flanders, a position he held until 2012. During this period, he developed the New Industry Policy, which aimed to reindustrialise Flanders.
Throughout his business and political career, Gosselin remained active in academia. He held the position of Full Professor Extraordinarius at Ghent University's School of Economics until 2021, and has been Professor Emeritus there since. He was an Associate Fellow at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, from 2006 to 2022, and has been an Associate Fellow at Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, since 2006. His research focuses on long-term decision-making in uncertain, complex, and dynamic environments, with a particular emphasis on futures studies, exploring the interdisciplinary intersection of society and technology.
He holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering, an MSc in Industrial Engineering, and an MSc in Control Engineering, as well as a PhD in Economic Sciences from Ghent University. He undertook further postgraduate studies in Management Sciences at INSEAD and the University of Oxford (Saïd Business School and Green Templeton College). He is an alumnus (Auditeur) of the High Studies in Security, Defence and Geopolitics at the Royal Higher Institute for Defence (RHID), of the European Security and Defence College (ESDC), and of the international session of IHEDN. He is a Certified Director of GUBERNA Institute of Directors.
Gosselin is an Associate Fellow of the Belgian Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences (RAOS), a Fellow of Academia Europaea (AE), and a Fellow of the Royal Academy for Science and the Arts of Belgium (KVAB). Gosselin is also an honorary Fellow of Hogenheuvel College (KU Leuven) and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).
From 1995 to 2012, Gosselin was appointed by royal order Honorary Adviser on Foreign Trade to the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, and from 2008 to 2015 he was a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Future Councils. In 2026 he received the Honorary Medal from KU Leuven. In recognition of meritorious service, he was awarded the rank of Grand Officer in the Order of Leopold (Belgium), and the rank of Knight in the Order of the Legion of Honour (France).
Key Publications
Gosselin, D.-P., & Tindemans, B. (2016). Thinking futures: strategy at the edge of complexity and uncertainty. Lannoo Campus Publishers, Leuven, Belgium.
Dentchev, N., Heene, A., & Gosselin, D.-P. (2011). Corporate social responsibility and the strategic management process. In D. von der Oelsnitz & W. Güttel (Eds.), Jahrbuch Strategisches Kompetenz-management (Vol. 5, pp. 79–101). https://doi.org/10.1688/978-3866187481
Fassin, Y., & Gosselin, D.-P. (2011). The collapse of a European bank in the financial crisis: an analysis from stakeholder and ethical perspectives. Journal of Business Ethics, 102(2), 169–191. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0812-2
Gosselin, D.-P., & Huerre, T. (2010). A quoi pourraient ressembler les 2030’s et les Au-delà? In P. Duclos & L. Tribot la Spière (Eds.), L’Europe sous tension énergétique (pp. 179–190). Centre d’Étude et de Prospective Stratégique (CEPS), Paris, France.
Gosselin, D.-P., & LEYSEN, J. (2008). Vision of evolutions in the petroleum market. European Review of Energy Markets, 2(3), 131–163. https://doi.org/1854/11052
Gosselin, D.-P., Leysen, J., & Verbeke, T. (2007). Protecting a nation’s economic potential: proposal for a scientific research agenda. European Journal of Intelligence Studies, 1(1), 3–21.