Veerle De Bosscher

Veerle De Bosscher is associate professor at the department of Sports Policy and Management (faculty of Physical Education) of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium. She graduated in 1994 in Physical Education, earned a Masters degree (GGS) in sports management in Brussels (VUB, 1995) and in training and coaching in Leuven (KUL, 1995). From 2013-2015 she was a visiting professor at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, School of Governance and in 2009 she was a visiting research fellow at Bond University (Australia, Queensland).

Her research has resulted in more than 120 publications: approximately 40 publications in the most respected and highest ranked sport management and other journals (such as the European Sport Management Quarterly, the Journal of Sport Management, the Sport Management Review and the International journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship); she (co)authored 25 book chapters; and seven English and eight Dutch books (e.g. Successful elite sport policies; the Global Sporting Arms Race (Meyer & Meyer Sport, 211 cit.). Her research is appealing to various researchers and sport organisations as is confirmed by the numerous invitations as a keynote or invited speaker during more than 50 scientific and applied conferences worldwide over the past five years (e.g. Australia, Brazil, Japan, Thailand, France, Scotland, Switzerland, Portugal, Denmark, Spain, Germany, Sweden).

She has established and coordinates a worldwide international network on research in high performance sport, called SPLISS (Sports Policy factors Leading to International Sporting Success) on which she also obtained her PhD in 2007 and won a Best Paper Award during the SMAANZ conference in 2009. This network has grown into worldwide recognized research collaboration, involving over 20 countries, 58 researchers and 33 policy makers interested in elite sport policy and its effectiveness. Over time the SPLISS model has been widely discussed and used by several scholars and empirically applied by policy makers and National Olympic Committees internationally. For more information: see www.SPLISS.net. Her leadership in managing research grants are growing, as she currently obtained research money for a total value of approximately 1.7 million Euros from national and international funding organisations.

Veerle is board member of the European Sport Management Quarterly (ESMQ), co-editor of the International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics (IJSPP), the Global Sport management Journal, board member of the European Association of Sport Management (EASM) and of the Steering Committee of elite sport in Belgium (Flanders). She counselled to elite sport development of several organisations and countries over the past years.