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). Since 2006, he has been an Associate Fellow at Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, and since 2021, a Professor Emeritus at Ghent University's School of Economics. He sits on the boards of the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics and the TINA innovation fund (PMV). Gosselin is also a member of the Energy Steering Panel of the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) and served on NATO's Emerging & Disruptive Technologies Advisory Board from 2022 to 2025.
From 2006 to 2009, he was Corporate Vice-President of Strategy at GDF SUEZ's Paris headquarters. Prior to this, he was Senior Executive Vice-President at SUEZ Energy International (2001–2006). He joined the Alcatel Alsthom group in 1990, becoming Vice-President for Northern and Central Europe and the MEAA region of Alcatel in 1996.
Earlier in his career, Gosselin was an Attaché in the Science Policy Programming Department of the Prime Minister's Office. He returned to public service in 2009 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, he remained active in academia, holding the position of Full Professor Extraordinarius at Ghent University's School of Economics until 2021. From 2006 to 2022, he was an Associate Fellow at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford. His research focuses on long-term decision-making in uncertain, complex, and dynamic environments, with a particular emphasis on the context of futures studies. His interdisciplinary work explores the intersection of society and technology.
He holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering, an MSc in Control Engineering and an MSc in Industrial Engineering, as well as a Doctorate 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 received certification as Auditor in security, defence and geopolitics from the Royal Higher Institute for Defence (RHID) and the European Security and Defence College (ESDC). He is a GUBERNA Certified Director and a Fellow of The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).
Baron Gosselin is a Fellow of Academia Europaea and the Royal Academy for Science and the Arts of Belgium (KVAB), and an Associate Fellow of the Belgian Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences (RAOS). From 1995 to 2012, he was appointed by royal order an Honorary Adviser on Foreign Trade to the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs and was a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Future Councils from 2008 to 2015. In recognition for meritorious service, he was awarded the rank of Grand Officer in the Order of Leopold by His Majesty King Philippe of the Belgians, and a Knight in the Order of the Legion of Honour by the President of 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.