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Piet Desmet is a full professor at KU Leuven's Faculty of Arts, serving as vice rector of KU Leuven, Kulak Kortrijk Campus, and academic director of the Office of the Academic Director, Bruges Campus. He leads multiple research divisions including itec and its Language and Technology subdivision, and is a member of Leuven.AI - KU Leuven Institute for Artificial Intelligence. As general coordinator of itec and academic director of the imec smart education research program, he oversees significant research initiatives spanning multiple campuses. Desmet's research focuses on the intersection of language learning and technology, with particular expertise in Second Language Acquisition and Technology, Computer-assisted Language Learning (including AI-based chatbots), Learning Analytics, and Language Technology and Corpus Linguistics. His work explores intelligent feedback systems, linguistic complexity prediction, adaptive testing, and natural language processing applications for educational contexts. His research spans theoretical linguistic frameworks to practical educational implementations, with a strong emphasis on empirical validation of technological interventions in language learning. Analysis of Desmet's recent publications reveals a strong trajectory toward integrating artificial intelligence with language education, particularly through conversational AI and learning analytics. His work increasingly focuses on chatbot-assisted language learning, adaptive assessment systems powered by large language models, and the application of computational linguistics to educational problems. The publications demonstrate a consistent methodological approach combining theoretical linguistics with empirical educational research, often employing eye-tracking, ERP studies, and learning analytics to evaluate effectiveness. Desmet actively supervises numerous PhD students and leads multiple major research projects including Smart Education at Schools (2025-2026), Enhancing EFL Learners' Speaking Ability through Chatbot-Assisted Dynamic Assessment Powered by LLMs (2024-2028), and the Flanders Ed Tech Hub (2022-2025). His research portfolio demonstrates significant funding success across multiple national and international initiatives focused on educational technology and language learning. As head of itec (an imec research team at KU Leuven), Desmet leads a substantial research ecosystem focused on smart education technologies. The itec team collaborates extensively with Leuven.AI and the KU Leuven Educational Research Institute (LIVO), creating a multidisciplinary environment that bridges computational linguistics, educational psychology, and artificial intelligence. Recent initiatives include the 'AI in Education' online training course and the network for Edtech and Learntech in Flanders.

• Second Language Acquisition
• Computer-assisted Language Learning
• Instructional Design
• +7 more

Professor Alexandra Simonenko (Ghent University) is a leading scholar in historical and diachronic linguistics, specializing in the evolution of determiners, nominal syntax, and pragmatic-driven language change across French, Finno-Ugric, and Scandinavian languages. Her work integrates treebank analysis, computational modeling, and formal semantics to trace grammatical shifts over time. Research Interests: Diachronic Semantics: Tracking how determiners and possessives shift from strong to weak interpretations Treebank-Based Methodology: Leveraging annotated corpora for quantitative analysis of Medieval French syntax Pragmatic Reasoning: Modeling language change through game-theoretic and information-theoretic frameworks Determiner Typology: Cross-linguistic analysis of full vs. clitic vs. bound determiners DP Islands and Factive Constraints: Investigating syntactic-pragmatic interactions in question structures Key Article Trends: Her recent work (2022-2026) focuses on determiner semantics, French possessive evolution, and computational models of definiteness. Earlier studies (2015-2019) emphasize Medieval French null subjects, cliticization, and treebank-based syntactic analysis.

• Historical Linguistics
• Diachronic Semantics
• Syntax-Semantics Interface
• +5 more

Pieter Colpaert is an Assistant Professor at Ghent University's Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, affiliated with the Department of Electronics and Information Systems and the IMEC research unit Internet Technology and Data Science Lab. His work focuses on Semantic Web technologies, Linked Data, and data interoperability with a specialization in intelligent transportation systems and decentralized architectures. Research areas: Semantic Web, Linked Data, Decentralized Data Governance, Intelligent Transportation Systems Projects: Materializable Linked Data Web APIs (2024-2025, funded by Special Research Fund), Local Digital Twins for Smart Communities (2025-2028, European funding) Students supervised: Wout Slabbinck, Harm Delva, Ruben Dedecker, Andrei Popescu, Arthur Vercruysse, Bryan-Elliott Tam, Ieben Smessaert, Els de Vleeschauwer, Shehabeldeen Mohamed Abdelfatah, Min Oo Sitt Min Oo Labs: Internet Technology and Data Science Lab at Ghent University

• Semantic Web
• Intelligent Transportation Systems
• Knowledge Graphs
• +6 more

Laurence Meurant is a Qualified Researcher at the University of Namur since 2011, leading the LSFB-Lab - the first and only research team dedicated to French Belgian Sign Language (LSFB). She has been instrumental in establishing sign language linguistics in the French-speaking Belgium region since her 2006 PhD thesis on gaze in LSFB. Her work bridges theoretical linguistics with applied research in bilingual education, serving as scientific expert for Sainte-Marie Inclusive School since 2004. Education: Doctor of Letters (2006) from University of Namur Awards: Van Goethem-Brichant Prize (2004) Beloeil Clinic Prize (2006) Namur Citizen of the Year (2012) Best Educational Book Prize (2022) Her research focuses on LSFB linguistics through corpus studies (including the first representative LSFB corpus), contrastive analysis with French, and multimodal approaches to discourse markers. She leads an 11-member interdisciplinary team working on parallel corpora development and sign language video recognition systems. Recent publications emphasize bilingual education frameworks , sign language technology , and discourse reformulation across spoken and signed modalities. Her scientific activities demonstrate continuous collaboration with educational institutions and technology developers to improve accessibility for deaf communities. As academic spokesperson for technological platforms and member of various university committees, she promotes methodological innovation in human sciences while maintaining active involvement in deaf education policy and sign language recognition .

• Sign Language Linguistics
• Contrastive Linguistics (French-LSFB)
• Corpus Linguistics
• +3 more