End of April, the General Council of Vlerick Business School has unanimously approved the reappointment of Marion Debruyne as Dean of Vlerick Business School. Her second term of 4 years will officially start in August. This decision followed upon the positive recommendation of both the Partner Council as well as the Board of Directors of the school, and with an overwhelming support from all stakeholders and faculty.

AACSB International – the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business – has recently decided to extend its accreditation of Vlerick Business School for a further period of five years. With this extension, Vlerick remains the only school in Belgium to hold the “triple crown”, made up all three major international management education accreditation labels.

UK Power Networks Services has joined forces with the Vlerick Energy Centre for a two-year partnership. They deliver world-class engineering, power systems operation, distributed energy resources and industry-leading consultancy for some of the most energy-reliant and complex organisations in the UK. According to Director Ian Smyth, this collaboration will enable them to implement best practice and continue to keep their clients ahead of their competition and ensure value for money in their investments. “It’s our mission to increase productivity, reduce carbon emissions and integrate new technologies for the benefit of our clients, and this partnership will ensure we achieve this.”

Can you learn how to become an entrepreneur? It's perfectly possible. However, the most valuable lessons are often learned in practice. Vlerick Business School has collaborated with the business sector for many years and we are lucky to be able to count on an extremely diverse group of entrepreneurs and investors who are willing to share their stories, knowledge and experience with our students completely voluntarily. The huge value of this synergy between academia and practice has now also been given official recognition with the new title of ‘Entrepreneur in Residence’ or ‘Investor in Residence’.

Are you an enthusiastic woman entrepreneur who is passionate about running her own business? Are you keen to inspire others by sharing the story behind your business success and your vision with them? Register now for the WOMED Award and give business successes achieved by and for women a face.

“If you have a business and want to grow, you need money. And investors are constantly in search of interesting opportunities”, says Yannick Dillen, senior research associate and coordinator of the iGMO platform and Vlerick Venturing. “Once a year, we bring our students and alumni who have founded a start-up in contact with venture capitalists and business angels through [email protected]” Yannick takes a brief look back with Dries Wijnen, the co-founder of Securafin and runner-up in [email protected] 2017.

In the context of the 11-day event Vlaanderen Feest! and on the occasion of the Flemish public holiday on 11 July, the Flanders-Europe Movement will be presenting awards to deserving Flemish citizens as it does every year. Louis Verbeke, honorary chairman of Vlerick Business School, will be presented with a Golden Spur for Economic Excellence.

Vlerick Business School is to launch the first Belgian 100% online MBA programme from this December. The Vlerick online MBA, which will be delivered in English, will be taught entirely remotely without any need for participants to attend any of the Vlerick Business School campuses. It will provide business leaders globally with a high-quality, tailored and pragmatic programme that fits around their schedule.

The Vlerick Healthcare Management Centre and the Leuven Institute for Healthcare Policy at KU Leuven are joining forces. The two bodies intend to work together under the umbrella of the new Health Sciences & Business Institute (HSBI) in the fields of scientific research, and international training in entrepreneurship and leadership in healthcare.

The Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE) has been globally supporting (social) entrepreneurs wanting to start up or expand clean, renewable and sustainable energy businesses in developing countries. A recent knowledge collaboration with Vlerick’s Energy Centre allows them to connect to the huge potential of our young and innovative Masters- and MBA-students, who have the necessary skills to look at the energy access issue with a fresh perspective. Vlerick, in turn, can tap into the extensive ARE network of entrepreneurs, financiers, and public and private partners. As a first concrete result, the students taking part in our brand-new Renewable Energy boot camp will travel to the ARE conference in Lisbon to put their knowledge into action and solve a selection of participating social entrepreneurs’ real-life challenges.