Jean-Claude Burgelman is a Professor of Open Science Policy at the Free University of Brussels (VUB), Editor in Chief of Frontiers Policy Lab, Director of the Frontiers Planet Prize, and former Head of Unit for Open Science Policy at the European Commission. He has 40 years of experience in academia and policymaking, and he is determined to advocate for open science and the benefits it offers to people and the planet.

He joined the European Commission in 1999 as a Visiting Scientist and Project Leader in the Joint Research Centre, where he became Head of the Information Society Unit in 2005. In 2008, he became an Adviser for innovation policy at the European Commission Bureau of European Policy Advisers and later joined the DG for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) as a Head of Unit in charge of top level advisory boards like the European Research and Innovation Area Board, the Innovation for Growth Group or the European Forum for Forward Looking Activities. In 2017, he was appointed Head of Unit for Open Science Policy at DG RTD, position he held until 2020, when he joined Frontiers as Editor in Chief of Frontiers Policy Lab. 2022 he also took on the role as Director of the Frontiers Planet Prize.

Regarding academia, he joined the VUB as a professor of communication technology in 1987 and founded the SMIT-VUB research group in 1990. In 2020, he became Professor of Open Science Policy and a year later, in 2021, he was named VUB Academic Coordinator for Open Science.