Stefaan Poedts graduated in Applied Mathematics in 1984 at the KU Leuven. As 'research assistant' of the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research he obtained a PhD in Sciences (Applied Mathematics) in 1988 at the same university. After one year as Postdoctoral researcher he left the KU Leuven to become a Postdoctoral researcher at the Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik in Garching bei München. In October 1991 he moved to the Netherlands to work in the FOM-Instituut voor Plasmafysica 'Rijnhuizen', first as 'scientific collaborator' and from October 1995 on as 'Senior researcher'. In October 1996 he returned to the KU Leuven as Research Associate of the FWO-Vlaanderen at the Centre for mathematical Plasma Astrophysics (CPA) in the Department of mathematics. Since October 1, 2000 he is Academic Staff at the KU Leuven, first as 'Hoogleraar' (= 'Reader' in UK and 'associate professor' in USA) and presently as 'Gewoon hoogleraar' (= 'Professor' in UK and 'Full Professor' in USA). Research interests: Solar Astrophysics: Theory and Observations Coronal loop dynamics Coronal heating mechanisms Space Weather Solar corona and solar wind modeling Coronal Mass Ejections: initiation and IP evolution, incl. interaction with planetary magnetospheres Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion Research (CTFR) Tokamak dynamics and stability MHD spectroscopy