Ghent University to install Bicycle Chair with Flanders’ support

Flemish Minister for Mobility Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) plans to install a new Bicycle Chair at Ghent University from December 1st, with financial and substantive support from the Flemish government. Mobility experts who want to contribute to cycling policy in Flanders with their academic work can apply for the vacancy of part-time guest professor.

The Chair aims to produce scientific publications and reports that can contribute to policy choices and the social debate on bicycle mobility. The guest professor will conduct scientific research into several specific themes, which will be determined in consultation with a supervisory committee. Possible themes might be bicycle safety, influencing bicycle behavior and use, and developing innovative technology to make cycling more comfortable and safer.

Academic knowledge and scientific insights

With the new Chair, the Flemish government and Ghent University want to strengthen the ambitious Flemish cycling policy with academic knowledge and insights.

Lydia Peeters: “The bicycle plays a crucial role in making our mobility system more sustainable. Therefore, we are investing massively in the necessary infrastructure and initiatives to encourage cycling. Still, a successful cycling policy must also be able to build on reliable academic knowledge and scientific insights. With this new Bicycle Chair, we want to strengthen further the extensive expertise we already have in Flanders in the field of bicycle policy to realize our cycling ambitions.”

The Bicycle Chair will start on December 1st, 2023, in the Geography department of the Faculty of Science at Ghent University and run for three years.