• On 25 March 2022 Marc Van Meirvenne announced his resignation as the dean of the faculty. He was dean since 2015. His resignation starts on 1 April.
• On 1 April 2022 Ann Dumoulin, the academic secretary, takes over the dean's responsibilities until a new dean has been appointed for the period until 1 October 2022. On 21 April, the faculty board will decide who this will be.
• On 1 October 2022 Els Van Damme becomes dean. She was elected by the faculty board on 17 March 2022.

Marc Van Meirvenne resigns

Prof. Marc Van Meirvenne has sent out this message concerning his resignation.

Over the past weeks the faculty of Bioscience Engineering entered a storm due to multiple media reports of boundary-crossing behaviour both form a sexual nature as by power misuse against collaborators. This has resulted in two stressful faculty councils. Clearly a rupture of confidence has emerged.

To allow a recovery of confidence it appears to me that it is necessary that somebody takes the responsibility for what went wrong over the past years at our faculty, being a part of the greater entity of the university. Who else than the dean who was in function during those days can do this?

Therefore, I have offered to the rector my resignation as the dean of the FBE. He has accepted it. This is a purely personal decision without pressure from anybody.

This resignation starts on the 1^st of April, 2022. A procedure to appoint a dean for the remaining period of the current mandate (from 1 April till 30 September 2022) will be initiated and in the meantime the academic secretary, Prof. Ann Dumoulin, takes over the responsibilities of the dean. Together with the new dean and the members of the faculty management, I will ensure (from the background) the continuity of the functioning of the faculty in the coming months.

With kind regards,
Marc Van Meirvenne

Els Van Damme becomes dean on 1 October

Prof. Els Van Damme will be the first female dean of the faculty.

Prof. Van Damme (department of Biotechnology) is faculty Research Director since 2012. She is a member of the Board of Governors at Ghent University since 2014.

In 2002, Els Van Damme started her career as associate professorat the faculty of Bioscience Engineering. She specialises in biochemistry and glycobiology, and in the interactions between proteins and carbohydrates in plants.

Els Van Damme: “Consultation and discussion are key elements on the road to efficient administration. We must ensure that we can come to the faculty with pleasure, where we build the future together, with respect for each other and each other's limits. I will fully commit to this in my position as dean."