“I dream of a personalised AI tutor for every student”

Rector Jan Danckaert’s office, on the top floor of the Braem Building, is bathed in sunlight. Coco, his daughter’s grey pug, refuses to leave his side and settles comfortably beside Danckaert on the sofa. “It’s a kind of co-housing arrangement,” he explains. His daughter’s dog stays with him half the time. And this happens to be his week. The interview took place on Friday 18 September, a few days before the Academic Opening Ceremony and therefore also before the opening address he is delivering today. “Innovation drives growth, and universities want to play their part. I urge policymakers not to make cuts to research and innovation.”

Jan Danckaert is at the start of his second four-year term as rector. He begins it with a strong mandate, but also in particularly difficult financial circumstances. “I was re-elected last spring for a second four-year term, with a clear mandate from the university community and almost 80 per cent of the vote,” says Danckaert.

“During the rector elections, we already knew we were facing a difficult situation. On top of an existing €10 million cost-saving plan came the budget cuts imposed by the Flemish Government, which have hit Brussels-based institutions – and VUB in particular – especially hard. In total, we are looking at €24 million in savings, which we can spread over several years. That makes for an exceptionally challenging context. But as I said during the rector elections: cutting costs is not a vision in itself. We need to put VUB on a sound financial footing so that we can continue building our project, ‘A pioneering university in the capital of Europe’. Our humanist values rooted in free inquiry will remain our compass.”

The changed circumstances have not fundamentally altered his vision. They do, however, call for a new balance between building on what is already there and introducing new ideas. “There will always be a combination of continuity and renewal. You can see that in the leadership team as well: two vice-rectors are starting a second term, while two new vice-rectors are taking office. That renewal is partly driven by internal circumstances, but also by a changing external environment.”

Coco, who has now decided to take an active part in the interview, growling contentedly as she vies for the rector’s attention, is gently shown out. “This will work better,” Danckaert says with a smile, before getting straight to the point.

“For education, I am putting forward four concrete commitments. First, every graduate must be AI-literate, whether they are a lawyer, engineer, doctor or psychologist. Everyone must be able to use AI appropriately and ethically within their own field.”

“Second, we must integrate AI into our courses. We cannot simply add AI on top of everything else, as that would make degree programmes that are often already demanding even more intensive.”

“Third, we must adapt the way we assess students. We need to safeguard the value of our degrees and be able to assess students properly in an environment where AI can sometimes be used without us knowing. Simply checking how much of a text was generated by AI does not strike me as a sustainable solution. We need to guide students through the learning process that comes before the final result, make their own contribution visible and establish whether they have genuinely mastered their work.”

“The fourth commitment concerns equal opportunities. AI risks creating a new divide between students who have access to powerful paid models and those who do not. That is why, at the Learning and Innovation Center, which we run together with ULB, we are developing an AI café where students will have access to these powerful models.”

Assessment in the age of AI

At the same time, concerns are growing about AI systems becoming more autonomous and harder to control. For Danckaert, the line must be drawn at human responsibility. “That is a real challenge, and one that the companies themselves are also raising. You could argue that such warnings add to the hype, but the problem is real. Humans must always retain responsibility – and must remain capable of doing so. Systems need to be designed in such a way that humans make the final decision. That applies to researchers, who must be able to explain to their peers how their results were produced, but also to students.”

“Brussels remains an attractive city for international students and researchers to live, study and work”

The challenge goes beyond detecting the use of AI. University education sits at the intersection of knowledge, independent thought and critical insight. That deeper learning process must also be reflected in assessment. “I prefer to speak of knowledge and understanding,” Danckaert clarifies. “They go hand in hand. You cannot develop an understanding of a field without sufficient background knowledge, but knowledge alone is not enough either. That is why we should not focus exclusively on the end result. We need to follow the learning process, see how the student develops and establish whether they remain in control of that process. That represents an important shift in our assessment policy and, at the same time, a challenge for degree programmes with large numbers of students. Many disciplines already have ways of monitoring the process. In a bachelor’s or master’s thesis involving laboratory work, for example, measurements are recorded in logs. This allows you to see how a student collected, interpreted and presented their results.”

In four years’ time, Danckaert will judge his second term first and foremost by VUB’s financial health. For him, that is not an end in itself, but a prerequisite for the University to continue pioneering. “I want to put VUB on a sound financial footing, because only then can we continue to pioneer. My policy plan is about being a pioneering university in the capital of Europe. That pioneering spirit is reflected in our education, including the four commitments on AI, but also in the programmes we offer. VUB was the first to introduce several degree programmes, from computer science and criminology to, more recently, the bachelor’s programme in AI. We need to preserve that pioneering spirit.”

The Brussels context remains equally important. “With ‘in the capital of Europe’, I am positioning VUB not only in Brussels, but also within the European landscape that is so tangible here. The EUTOPIA alliance plays an important role in this. We need to operate on a European scale, both in education and research. Our researchers are already performing exceptionally well in European projects and ERC grants. In the latest round, we were awarded five Starting Grants. That puts us in an excellent position compared with our Flemish and European partners and competitors.”

That pioneering spirit must ultimately translate into economic and societal impact. “This is not just an ambition; we are already actively pursuing it. The Research Park in Zellik is a good example of how we translate research and innovation into societal impact. We recently laid the foundation stone for a high-tech building where Siemens Benelux will establish its headquarters. Siemens wants to be part of this kind of innovative ecosystem and sees the University as an important partner. One of a university’s core tasks is to bring knowledge from research and laboratories into society. Even before the developments in Zellik, VUB had already produced spin-offs that grew into leading companies, such as Collibra, Ablynx and SoftKinetic. We are proud of this kind of economic impact generated through our spin-offs.”

“Take part in campus life”

Further rounds of budget cuts by the Flemish and federal governments could make the financial challenge even greater. Danckaert is particularly concerned about tax incentives for research, development cooperation and pension reforms. “There is considerable concern about this. Federal measures can affect universities too. For example, there is a tax scheme that allows us to retain part of the payroll tax on researchers’ salaries and reinvest it in research. Proposals have been put forward to exclude certain disciplines within the humanities from this scheme. The rectors opposed this. That particular proposal now appears to be off the table, but other cuts may follow.

“We are also concerned about pension reform. If we want academic careers to remain attractive to professors and highly qualified technical staff, we need to be able to offer pensions that are sufficiently comparable to those in the private sector.”

Do not cut funding for research and innovation

“As far as the Flemish Government is concerned, I want to hold Minister Demir to her commitment that there will be no further cuts to education. We also hope that Minister Diependaele, who is responsible for Research and Innovation, will protect research and innovation. They are engines of economic growth. If we want to keep budget cuts manageable, the economy needs to grow more strongly, and innovation can drive that growth. Universities want to contribute to this. That is why I am calling on policymakers not to cut funding for research and innovation.”

At the end of the conversation, Danckaert addresses students directly. They too are facing budget cuts, as well as stricter rules on student grants and academic progress. “It is not only the University that is affected by budget cuts. Students are also feeling the impact of stricter rules governing Flemish student grants and tighter academic progress requirements. Making sufficient progress in your studies is important, and as a university we have no room for manoeuvre here: the rules are laid down by decree.

“That is why I encourage students to come to campus, attend classes and take a full part in campus life. It is not only a learning experience, but a life experience too. At the same time, we have consolidated and refocused our own student funding mechanisms so that we can provide targeted support to students who fall through the cracks and help them continue their studies.”

Empty lecture theatres inevitably bring back memories of the Covid period. Danckaert saw first-hand just how important both digital innovation and face-to-face interaction are. “I was Vice-Rector for Education and Student Affairs during the Covid period, so I experienced it very intensely. Week after week, together with everyone involved, the deans and the degree programmes, we decided which forms of teaching were possible. A student representative later told me that every year of their studies had been a different learning experience: first during Covid, then in the post-Covid period, with the rediscovery of face-to-face interaction on campus, and subsequently with the arrival of AI. The Covid period accelerated our digital transformation, but the campus experience remains essential. Students do not only learn from the professor or teaching assistant at the front of the room, but also from each other – by thinking together, discussing ideas and seeking help. That is why we need to invest more strongly in an authentic campus experience that is both a learning experience and a life experience.”

Internationalisation remains essential

The start of the academic year has been overshadowed by the situation of students from Gaza who are waiting for visas to Belgium. Danckaert is unequivocal on the matter. “All Belgian rectors share the same position: we are angry and outraged. Links are being made with asylum, migration and family reunification, but none of those issues are relevant here. These are thirteen students who have been awarded scholarships funded by Belgian development cooperation. Like everyone else, these students have to submit a visa application, but circumstances beyond their control mean they are unable to do so in person. The Belgian Government must give them the opportunity to complete that application so that they can take up their scholarships, study here and later put the knowledge they have gained to use in their region, just like all the other students from other countries and regions who are given the opportunity to study here. That is the position of all Belgian rectors and of the other institutions involved.”

“One of a university’s core tasks is to bring knowledge from research and laboratories into society”

In the broader international context, VUB also wants to provide a safe haven for students and researchers from countries where freedom of academic inquiry is under pressure. Brussels and VUB continue to have strong international appeal. “That is difficult to determine from the overall statistics. VUB attracts students representing more than a hundred nationalities, countries and cultures. Despite the Flemish Government’s decision to stop subsidising non-European students, which means we are gradually increasing tuition fees, we are once again seeing an increase in the number of students from outside the European Economic Area. Brussels remains an attractive city for international students and researchers to live, study and work.

“Two years ago, I used international media to encourage researchers to consider Europe, and VUB in particular, if their research was being restricted or their funding withdrawn. With support from the Helios Foundation, we were able to select four researchers working in climate and sustainability from around a hundred interested candidates. Two will work full-time on our campus; the other two will take up a 10 per cent appointment while maintaining their ties with the United States.”

Growth, with a focus on STEM

The overall student population also continues to grow. According to Danckaert, the preliminary enrolment figures confirm the upward trend of recent years, although that growth is also putting additional pressure on the University’s finances. “These are preliminary figures,” Danckaert stresses. “It looks as though we will grow by around 5 to 6 per cent again, a rate we have sustained for more than a decade. That shows that students find VUB an attractive place to study. At the same time, that growth is one of the causes of our financial difficulties. Funding for additional staff and infrastructure only follows after a considerable delay, and even then only partially. That is why we already had a €10 million cost-saving plan in place: our costs, particularly staffing costs, were rising faster than our income. We are trying to protect the academic areas of education and research as much as possible, while focusing on making administrative and technical support more efficient.”

VUB wants to build on its strengths by focusing on STEM programmes. For now, however, the picture is mixed. Some programmes are attracting more students, while others are losing ground. “Based on the preliminary figures, I do not yet see a clear shift. Some STEM programmes are growing, including within faculties offering health-related programmes with a strong STEM foundation, while other science programmes are seeing their numbers decline. My impression is that, in Flanders and Brussels, we are not succeeding in increasing the overall pool of STEM students. Gains in one programme often seem to coincide with losses in another. STEM programmes at universities of applied sciences, on the other hand, appear to be growing strongly. At VUB, the picture is mixed; I do not see an overall increase.”

Flanders’ declining scores in international education studies such as PISA have raised concerns about the prior knowledge of students entering higher education. Danckaert cautions against drawing premature conclusions, but does see a distinct challenge in the metropolitan context. According to the rector, it is still too early to draw conclusions: “It is also too early to see the impact of recent policies reflected in those scores. To assess that, we would need to examine the results of diagnostic and benchmark tests over a longer period. At this stage, I cannot give an evidence-based answer. What we do see is that, in the Brussels metropolitan context, students score lower on average in these tests than students from other regions. That is probably due in part to teacher shortages and the significant differences between schools. We see the effects of that metropolitan context first and most strongly in Brussels, but they are also becoming visible in Antwerp and other major cities.”