Department: Department of Economics

Louis Lippens is an FWO postdoctoral researcher at Ghent University, specialising in labour economics with a focus on measuring, understanding, and addressing labour market discrimination. Holding a master’s degree in work psychology from Ghent University, his academic path led to a joint PhD in economics and sociology from Ghent University and Vrije Universiteit Brussel. His doctoral research analyses the dynamics of labour market discrimination, examining its extent and underlying mechanisms. His postdoctoral project investigates whether discrimination weakens under market competition. Louis’ scholarly contributions are published in journals such as European Economic Review, Labour Economics, and Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. As an affiliated researcher at UGent @ Work, he is also involved in interdisciplinary research projects exploring significant labour market challenges and aims to contribute to evidence-based policy advice.

Ilse Ruyssen is Associate Research Professor in Migration Economics at the Department of Economics of Ghent University and affiliated Research Fellow at the UNU-CRIS. Her research focuses on the factors shaping migration decisions and immobility (with particular attention for the role of climate change, health and retain factors), as well as the the implications of (non-)migration for the livelihoods of individuals and communities. She teaches various courses in migration and international economics at Ghent University, chairs the facultary Committee for Diversity and Inclusion, and coordinates the International Trade, Migration and Investment research group at her Department. Furthermore, she is the director of the CliMigHealth International Thematic Network, uniting scholars around the world from multiple disciplines working on the nexus between climate change, migration and health(care).

Els Bekaert is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Economics at Ghent University and a Visiting Research Fellow at the United Nations University – CRIS, affiliated to the Nature, Climate and Health and Migration and Social Policy clusters. She obtained her PhD in Economics at Ghent University in 2022. Her research explores how climate change shapes human mobility, focusing on how environmental shocks affect migration aspirations and decisions, and why many people remain in climate-vulnerable regions despite rising risks. She currently holds a three-year postdoctoral fellowship from the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) for her project “Towards a better understanding of climate (im)mobility” (Application no. 12A5424N). By combining georeferenced climate data with survey evidence, her work aims to nuance climate-mobility debates and inform policy. She is also affiliated with the international research network CliMigHealth.