Published on 29/07/202529/07/2025 by Research Awards Prof. Luc Van Gool | Computer Vision | Best Researcher Award Prof. Luc Van Gool, INSAIT / Sofia Un. St. Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria Luc Van Gool is a renowned computer vision expert, currently a full professor at INSAIT, Sofia University, and professor emeritus at KU Leuven and ETH Zurich. With a Ph.D. in Electromechanical Engineering from KU Leuven, he has led pioneering research in image analysis, 3D reconstruction, object detection, and robotics. He has co-authored highly cited publications with over 250,000 citations and played key roles in major international conferences like ICCV and ECCV. A recipient of prestigious awards such as the David Marr Prize and an ERC Advanced Grant, Van Gool is also a successful entrepreneur, co-founding over 10 spin-offs. Author Profile Google Scholar Education Luc Van Gool began his academic journey with a strong foundation in engineering at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium. In 1981, he obtained his degree in electromechanical engineering, demonstrating an early affinity for the convergence of electronics, mechanics, and computation. His passion for academic excellence continued to flourish, and by 1982, he earned his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the same institution. Van Gool’s profound interest in geometrical computation and artificial vision led him to pursue a Ph.D. in Electrotechnical–Mechanical Engineering, which he completed in 1991. His doctoral thesis on geometrical invariants received felicitations from the jury, underscoring both the rigor and originality of his research. These formative years laid a robust theoretical and technical groundwork that would underpin his illustrious future in computer vision. Experience Luc Van Gool’s professional career is a testament to consistent innovation, leadership, and cross-border collaboration. He began as a Research Assistant at KU Leuven in 1982, transitioning to civil service in the university’s academic hospital by 1984. His early work as a Fellow at the Belgian Institute for Scientific Research between 1988 and 1990 solidified his standing in Belgium’s research ecosystem. He ascended through academic ranks at KU Leuven from Assistant Professor in 1991 to Associate Professor in 1994, then Full Professor in 1998. In parallel, Van Gool took up a Full Professorship at ETH Zurich, Switzerland’s premier science and technology university, where he built and led pioneering research teams in computer vision. His founding of the VISICS group (Visual Computing and Artificial Intelligence) at KU Leuven marked a significant milestone, turning the lab into a beacon of excellence in machine vision research. As of 2024, he holds the title of Professor Emeritus at both KU Leuven and ETH Zurich and continues his academic leadership as Full Professor at the AI Institute INSAIT of Sofia University, Bulgaria, where he spearheads the computer vision research group. Research Focus Over the decades, Van Gool has made groundbreaking contributions to the fields of computer vision, image enhancement, scene understanding, motion analysis, and 3D reconstruction. His work is deeply interdisciplinary, spanning robotics, artificial intelligence, and remote sensing. He has played pivotal roles in more than ten European-funded research projects, coordinating four of them, and has initiated influential collaborations with institutions such as the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Today, his research at INSAIT is powered by government support, European projects, and partnerships with industry giants such as Toyota, Huawei, vivo, and Google. His team addresses critical challenges in AI vision applications, combining academic insight with practical implementation. With more than 250,000 citations on Google Scholar, Van Gool ranks among the most influential scholars in his field, co-authoring hundreds of highly impactful research papers. Award and Recognition Prof. Van Gool’s stellar work has earned him numerous international honors. He was awarded the David Marr Prize in 1998, one of the most prestigious awards in computer vision. In 2012, he received the ISPRS Helava Award, and in 2016, he was honored with the Koenderink Prize, recognizing lasting impact in computer vision. Additionally, he received the 5-yearly Excellence Prize from the Flemish Fund for Scientific Research, celebrating sustained research excellence. In 2011, he was awarded a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant for his visionary project VarCity, which explored variations in urban landscapes. In 2017, he was recognized as a Distinguished Researcher by the IEEE Computer Society and is a Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA), solidifying his reputation across continents. Publications 📖 BSurf: Speeded up robust features,’’Computer Vision ECCV 2006 – Lecture Notes in Computer Science (2006). 📖 Speeded-up robust features (SURF) – Computer Vision and Image Understanding (2008). 📖 Temporal segment networks: Towards good practices for deep action recognition – European conference on computer vision (2016). 📖 Food-101–mining discriminative components with random forests – European conference on computer vision (2014). 📖 An adaptive color-based particle filter – Image and vision computing (2003). Luc Van Gool | Computer Vision | Best Researcher Award | 13554
Luc Van Gool is a renowned computer vision expert, currently a full professor at INSAIT, Sofia University, and professor emeritus at KU Leuven and ETH Zurich. With a Ph.D. in Electromechanical Engineering from KU Leuven, he has led pioneering research in image analysis, 3D reconstruction, object detection, and robotics. He has co-authored highly cited publications with over 250,000 citations and played key roles in major international conferences like ICCV and ECCV. A recipient of prestigious awards such as the David Marr Prize and an ERC Advanced Grant, Van Gool is also a successful entrepreneur, co-founding over 10 spin-offs. Author Profile Google Scholar Education Luc Van Gool began his academic journey with a strong foundation in engineering at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium. In 1981, he obtained his degree in electromechanical engineering, demonstrating an early affinity for the convergence of electronics, mechanics, and computation. His passion for academic excellence continued to flourish, and by 1982, he earned his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the same institution. Van Gool’s profound interest in geometrical computation and artificial vision led him to pursue a Ph.D. in Electrotechnical–Mechanical Engineering, which he completed in 1991. His doctoral thesis on geometrical invariants received felicitations from the jury, underscoring both the rigor and originality of his research. These formative years laid a robust theoretical and technical groundwork that would underpin his illustrious future in computer vision. Experience Luc Van Gool’s professional career is a testament to consistent innovation, leadership, and cross-border collaboration. He began as a Research Assistant at KU Leuven in 1982, transitioning to civil service in the university’s academic hospital by 1984. His early work as a Fellow at the Belgian Institute for Scientific Research between 1988 and 1990 solidified his standing in Belgium’s research ecosystem. He ascended through academic ranks at KU Leuven from Assistant Professor in 1991 to Associate Professor in 1994, then Full Professor in 1998. In parallel, Van Gool took up a Full Professorship at ETH Zurich, Switzerland’s premier science and technology university, where he built and led pioneering research teams in computer vision. His founding of the VISICS group (Visual Computing and Artificial Intelligence) at KU Leuven marked a significant milestone, turning the lab into a beacon of excellence in machine vision research. As of 2024, he holds the title of Professor Emeritus at both KU Leuven and ETH Zurich and continues his academic leadership as Full Professor at the AI Institute INSAIT of Sofia University, Bulgaria, where he spearheads the computer vision research group. Research Focus Over the decades, Van Gool has made groundbreaking contributions to the fields of computer vision, image enhancement, scene understanding, motion analysis, and 3D reconstruction. His work is deeply interdisciplinary, spanning robotics, artificial intelligence, and remote sensing. He has played pivotal roles in more than ten European-funded research projects, coordinating four of them, and has initiated influential collaborations with institutions such as the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Today, his research at INSAIT is powered by government support, European projects, and partnerships with industry giants such as Toyota, Huawei, vivo, and Google. His team addresses critical challenges in AI vision applications, combining academic insight with practical implementation. With more than 250,000 citations on Google Scholar, Van Gool ranks among the most influential scholars in his field, co-authoring hundreds of highly impactful research papers. Award and Recognition Prof. Van Gool’s stellar work has earned him numerous international honors. He was awarded the David Marr Prize in 1998, one of the most prestigious awards in computer vision. In 2012, he received the ISPRS Helava Award, and in 2016, he was honored with the Koenderink Prize, recognizing lasting impact in computer vision. Additionally, he received the 5-yearly Excellence Prize from the Flemish Fund for Scientific Research, celebrating sustained research excellence. In 2011, he was awarded a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant for his visionary project VarCity, which explored variations in urban landscapes. In 2017, he was recognized as a Distinguished Researcher by the IEEE Computer Society and is a Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA), solidifying his reputation across continents. Publications 📖 BSurf: Speeded up robust features,’’Computer Vision ECCV 2006 – Lecture Notes in Computer Science (2006). 📖 Speeded-up robust features (SURF) – Computer Vision and Image Understanding (2008). 📖 Temporal segment networks: Towards good practices for deep action recognition – European conference on computer vision (2016). 📖 Food-101–mining discriminative components with random forests – European conference on computer vision (2014). 📖 An adaptive color-based particle filter – Image and vision computing (2003).