معرفی
Wim Van Lancker is an Associate Professor in Social Work and Social Policy at KU Leuven's Faculty of Social Sciences, specifically within the Education Policy, Sociology department. He is affiliated with the Centre for Sociological Research (CESO) and holds multiple leadership positions including programme director of POC Sociologie and membership on the Council of the Faculty of Social Sciences. Van Lancker is also active in several research institutes including KIES – KU Leuven Institute for Energy and Society and L-C&Y - KU Leuven Child & Youth Institute.
His research focuses on the welfare state, examining the interaction between the design of, public attitudes towards, and outcomes of social policies and social work interventions. Van Lancker's work spans critical contemporary issues including poverty, inequality, family policy, social investment, climate transition impacts, and welfare state measurement. His research employs diverse methodologies from qualitative inquiries to advanced regression methods and randomized controlled trials, addressing challenges such as climate change, migration, digitalization, and aging populations.
Van Lancker has published extensively in top-tier journals including American Sociological Review, Journal of European Social Policy, and Social Science Research. His publications reveal a consistent focus on comparative welfare state analysis, with particular attention to poverty measurement, family policy effects, and social inequality patterns across European countries.
- World's Top 2% scientists (Stanford University)
- Member of the Young Academy of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and Arts
- Co-editor of The Palgrave Handbook of Family Policy
- Recipient of European Research Council funding for the rEUsilience project
Van Lancker actively supervises students and contributes to policy debates through frequent media appearances and parliamentary testimony. He leads numerous research projects funded through Horizon Europe, national research councils, and institutional grants, with a current focus on understanding poverty cycles, climate transition social impacts, and welfare system responsiveness. His work bridges academic research with practical policy applications, notably through the Permanente Vorming Armoede & Participatie educational program for poverty policy professionals.
As part of the rEUsilience project consortium, Van Lancker contributes to developing innovative measurement tools for family resilience across European welfare states. His work with the Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy and other European research networks demonstrates his commitment to comparative analysis of social policy effectiveness across different institutional contexts.
