Doctoral School

Foundations for Future-Proof Service Research

Target audience

We focus on PhD students and young scholars within the Belgian and international service community.

Organizing and scientific committee

Prof. dr. Kaat De Poucq; Prof. dr. Katrien Verleye (UGent) & Prof. dr. Bart Larivière (UGent/KULeuven)

Abstract

The aim of Let’s Talk About Service (LTAS) is to introduce young scholars to service research and guide them through their academic journey. In the 2025 edition of LTAS, we seek to (1) explore the foundations of service research, (2) coach participants to develop future-proof service ideas, and (3) pitch these research ideas for top scholars and editors from service and other related journals. For the exploration of the foundations of service research, we are happy to welcome Prof. Dr. Valarie Zeithaml, Prof. Dr. Jens Hogreve, Prof. Dr. Kaisa Koskela-Huotari, and Prof. Dr. Stefan Stremersch who will prepare LTAS participants for ideating future-proof service research ideas. After these keynote speeches, LTAS participants will be assigned to small groups where they will – with the help of experienced service scholars acting as a coach – develop future-proof research ideas to be presented for top scholars and (associate) editors, including Journal of Marketing Editor Prof. Dr. Jan-Benedict Steenkamp.

More information on LTAS can be found here: LTAS – SERVSIG

More information in the 2025 edition on Foundations for Future-Proof service Research can be found here: LTAS 2025 in Ghent – SERVSIG

Objectives

LTAS creates opportunities for young researchers to learn from more experienced keynote speakers and coaches by encouraging them to collaborate and publish papers together in international research teams. With great success, since several papers that have been published in top journals (e.g., Journal of Service Management, Journal of Service Research among others) originate from LTAS. To achieve this end, attendees need to

- understand that service research can be conducted from different perspectives (e.g., founder, positivist, social-constructionist perspective)

- reflect upon their own perspective on service research

- understand how to generate innovative ideas in service research

- understand different ways to develop research ideas (e.g., based on personal experience, field experiences, or literature reviews leading to ideas)

- generate innovative ideas in service research in collaboration with fellow students under the guidance of experienced coaches in service research

- learn how to pitch innovative ideas in service research for editors of different journals and other attendees

- understand which journals to target when publishing innovative ideas in service research

 

Dates and venue

Dates: 3-5 December 2025

Venue: Monasterium PoortAckere, UGent

Programme

Wednesday, December 3, 2025

17h: registration and welcome reception 

Thursday, December 4, 2025

8h30-9h: registration with coffee

9h-9h15: welcome by founders and UGent-FEB dean

9h15-10h15: Keynote - what is service research?

  • Founder's perspective on service research by Prof. Dr. Valarie Zeithaml – lifetime achievement award (US)
  • Positivist perspective on service research  by Prof. Dr. Jens Hogreve (Germany) 
  • Social-constructionist perspective on service research by Prof. Dr. Kaisa Koskela-Huotari  - emerging scholar award (Stockholm)

10h15-10h45: coffee break

10h45-12h15: Keynote - how to generate service ideas?

  • Presentation of Prof. Dr. Stefan Stremersch on “How can academics generate great research ideas? Inspiration from ideation practice” (cf. IJRM paper 2024) (Netherlands/Belgium)
  • Explanation of coached sessions 

12h15-13h00: lunch break

13h-15h: service idea development with coach – part 1

15h-15h30: coffee break

15h30-17h30: service idea development with coach – part 2

18h: dinner under the towers

Friday, December 5, 2025

9h-10h: Keynote - developing service ideas in practice

  • Personal experience and/or field leading to ideas – Prof. Dr. Bieke Henkens (Netherlands)
  • Literature reviews leading to ideas – Prof. Dr. Arne De Keyser (France)

10h-12h: service idea development with coach – part 3

12h-13h: lunch break

13h-14h30: pitching service ideas for editors of different journals and other attendees

14h30 – 15h: break

15h – 16h: presentation of journals by editors: when to target our journal with your research?

  • Service journals: JOSM editor (NN) and/or JSR editor (NN)
  • Marketing journals: JM editor Prof. Dr. Jan-Benedict Steenkamp (US) and/or JAMS editor (NN)
  • Multidisciplinary journals:  JBR editor (NN)

16h30 – 17h: concluding speeches 

17h: goodbye reception

Registration

Registration fee

Free of charge for Doctoral School members.

Number of participants

Maximum 85 participants

Language

English

Training method

·        Plenary sessions: To enlighten PhD students on the foundations of service research, we invite a variety of well-known keynote speakers (e.g., Prof. dr. Valarie Zeithaml, Prof. dr. Jens Hogreve, Prof. dr. Kaisa Koskela-Huotari, Prof. dr. Stefan Stremersch, and Prof. Dr. Jan-Benedict Steenkamp. ) to (1) introduce them to a variety of perspectives on service research, (2) inspire them to generate innovative service ideas, and (3) inform them about the potential journals to publish in.

·        Coaching sessions: To allow PhD students to collaboratively develop research ideas under the guidance of an experienced service scholar, the attendees will be divided into small groups to work on a research idea that aligns with their research interests.

·        Presentation session: By the end of the specialist course, all PhD students will present in group their research ideas to the editors of several service and other related journals.

Evaluation method

We ask for 100% attendance and active participation during the sessions. After successful participation, the Doctoral School Office will add this course to your curriculum of the Doctoral Training Programme in Oasis. Please note that this can take up to one to two months after completion of the course.