![](\"https:\/\/vgt.be\/changinsigns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/VideocomingsoonEN.png\" "\\"VideocomingsoonEN\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Who we are?<\/h3><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![](\"https:\/\/vgt.be\/changinsigns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/margot-1-scaled.png\" "\\"margot\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Margot Janssens<\/h3><\/div>PhD researcher<\/h5><\/div>margot.janssens@ugent.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>Margot Janssens is a doctoral student in the Research Centre for Multilingual Practices and Language Learning in Society (MULTIPLES) at Ghent University (Belgium) and also works as a research assistant at the Flemish Sign Language Center (VGTC). Within the ChangIN’signs project, she investigates how prolonged contact with Dutch shapes construction variation and change in Flemish Sign Language (VGT). She studies the impact of this language contact and how social and cognitive mechanisms reveal structural changes at the construction level. In addition, she investigates how usage-based dynamics, social variation, and the perceptions and attitudes of language users contribute to these changes. Her research combines corpus analyses with qualitative methods such as focus groups and surveys, using constructions as central units to map variation and change across users and contexts.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
![](\"https:\/\/vgt.be\/changinsigns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/jorn-1-scaled.png\" "\\"jorn\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Jorn Rijckaert<\/h3><\/div>PhD researcher<\/h5><\/div>jorn.rijckaert@kuleuven.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>Jorn Rijckaert was born deaf and is a Flemish Sign Language user. He first came into contact with International Sign through the world of sports during his teenage years. After completing his university studies, he worked primarily as a teacher of Flemish Sign Language and as an interpreter\/translator, using Dutch, Flemish Sign Language, and International Sign as his working languages. Furthermore, he ran a media company specializing in sign language media. He contributed to various research projects, including Mobile Deaf (Heriot-Watt University) and SignON (led by Dublin City University). He has also published several academic papers on the comprehensibility of news in\/with Flemish Sign Language for deaf signers, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Chang’IN’signs project, he investigates unimodal contact between Flemish Sign Language and other sign languages, including International Sign.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
![](\"https:\/\/vgt.be\/changinsigns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Heidi-1-scaled.png\" "\\"Heidi\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Heidi Verhelst<\/h3><\/div>PhD researcher<\/h5><\/div>heidi.verhelst@ugent.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>Heidi Verhelst is a deaf doctoral student in the Department of Linguistics at Ghent University. Before starting her doctoral research, she gained experience as a teacher and home tutor working with deaf children, adolescents, and adults. Within the ChangIN\u2019signs project, she investigates language variation in Flemish Sign Language, with a specific focus on traditional regional varieties, processes of (spontaneous) standardization, and generational differences. In addition, she studies how deaf signers experience current language changes and the standardization process. In her research, she combines corpus analyses with qualitative research methods, such as interviews and focus groups.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
![](\"https:\/\/vgt.be\/changinsigns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/mieke-1-scaled.png\" "\\"mieke\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Prof. Dr. Mieke Van Herreweghe<\/h3><\/div>Supervisor<\/h5><\/div>mieke.vanherreweghe@ugent.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>Prof. Mieke Van Herreweghe is a senior full professor at Ghent University and served two terms as vice rector (2017\u20132025). Together with Myriam Vermeerbergen, she pioneered research on Flemish Sign Language (VGT) and the Flemish Deaf Community. She published the first exploratory grammar book on Flemish-Belgian Sign Language in 1995. They co authored numerous publications and collaborated in many VGT research projects. After degrees in Germanic Languages (Ghent University, 1987) and Linguistics (University College Dublin, 1988), she completed an FWO PhD (1996) with a research stay at RIT\/NTID Rochester (USA).<\/p>\n
Her career at Ghent University spans roles from research assistant to senior full professor, with an increasing focus on VGT linguistics. She is a trained VGT\u2013Dutch interpreter and taught in the interpreter training programme at CVO VSPW, later serving as chair. She co founded and chaired the Flemish Sign Language Centre (VGTC) and chaired the first VGT Advisory Committee (2008\u20132012). She has (co-)supervised twelve PhDs, including some on (sign) language acquisition, phonology, grammar and AI based sign recognition. She has led numerous major VGT projects, including the VGT-Dutch online dictionary, the VGT corpus, cross linguistic work with SASL, and studies on deaf children\u2019s language development.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
![](\"https:\/\/vgt.be\/changinsigns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Myriam-1-scaled.png\" "\\"Myriam\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Prof. Dr. Myriam Vermeerbergen<\/h3><\/div>Supervisor<\/h5><\/div>myriam.vermeerbergen@kuleuven.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>Myriam Vermeerbergen is Full Professor at the Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven, where she teaches at the Antwerp campus, with a focus on Flemish Sign Language (VGT) linguistics and interpreting. In the early 1990s, she pioneered sign language research in Flanders; her PhD project constituted the first large-scale study of the grammar of VGT. Her subsequent postdoctoral research included further linguistic investigation of VGT, lexicographical studies, research on home sign, sociolinguistic studies within the Deaf community, and typological research.<\/p>\n
In 1997, she co-founded the Flemish Sign Language Centre and she contributed to the process that led to the official recognition of VGT in 2006. Since 2008, together with her deaf colleagues, she has been responsible for establishing and developing the first academic training programme for VGT interpreters. Her current research spans sign language linguistics\u2014with a continued focus on VGT\u2014the interface between gesture and sign, sign language technology, and sign language interpreting and translation.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
![](\"https:\/\/vgt.be\/changinsigns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/inez-1-scaled.png\" "\\"inez\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Dr. Inez Beukeleers<\/h3><\/div>Postdoctoral researcher<\/h5><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Margot Janssens<\/h3><\/div>PhD researcher<\/h5><\/div>margot.janssens@ugent.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>Margot Janssens is a doctoral student in the Research Centre for Multilingual Practices and Language Learning in Society (MULTIPLES) at Ghent University (Belgium) and also works as a research assistant at the Flemish Sign Language Center (VGTC). Within the ChangIN’signs project, she investigates how prolonged contact with Dutch shapes construction variation and change in Flemish Sign Language (VGT). She studies the impact of this language contact and how social and cognitive mechanisms reveal structural changes at the construction level. In addition, she investigates how usage-based dynamics, social variation, and the perceptions and attitudes of language users contribute to these changes. Her research combines corpus analyses with qualitative methods such as focus groups and surveys, using constructions as central units to map variation and change across users and contexts.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Jorn Rijckaert<\/h3><\/div>PhD researcher<\/h5><\/div>jorn.rijckaert@kuleuven.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>Jorn Rijckaert was born deaf and is a Flemish Sign Language user. He first came into contact with International Sign through the world of sports during his teenage years. After completing his university studies, he worked primarily as a teacher of Flemish Sign Language and as an interpreter\/translator, using Dutch, Flemish Sign Language, and International Sign as his working languages. Furthermore, he ran a media company specializing in sign language media. He contributed to various research projects, including Mobile Deaf (Heriot-Watt University) and SignON (led by Dublin City University). He has also published several academic papers on the comprehensibility of news in\/with Flemish Sign Language for deaf signers, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Chang’IN’signs project, he investigates unimodal contact between Flemish Sign Language and other sign languages, including International Sign.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Heidi Verhelst<\/h3><\/div>PhD researcher<\/h5><\/div>heidi.verhelst@ugent.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>Heidi Verhelst is a deaf doctoral student in the Department of Linguistics at Ghent University. Before starting her doctoral research, she gained experience as a teacher and home tutor working with deaf children, adolescents, and adults. Within the ChangIN\u2019signs project, she investigates language variation in Flemish Sign Language, with a specific focus on traditional regional varieties, processes of (spontaneous) standardization, and generational differences. In addition, she studies how deaf signers experience current language changes and the standardization process. In her research, she combines corpus analyses with qualitative research methods, such as interviews and focus groups.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Prof. Dr. Mieke Van Herreweghe<\/h3><\/div>Supervisor<\/h5><\/div>mieke.vanherreweghe@ugent.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>Prof. Mieke Van Herreweghe is a senior full professor at Ghent University and served two terms as vice rector (2017\u20132025). Together with Myriam Vermeerbergen, she pioneered research on Flemish Sign Language (VGT) and the Flemish Deaf Community. She published the first exploratory grammar book on Flemish-Belgian Sign Language in 1995. They co authored numerous publications and collaborated in many VGT research projects. After degrees in Germanic Languages (Ghent University, 1987) and Linguistics (University College Dublin, 1988), she completed an FWO PhD (1996) with a research stay at RIT\/NTID Rochester (USA).<\/p>\n
Her career at Ghent University spans roles from research assistant to senior full professor, with an increasing focus on VGT linguistics. She is a trained VGT\u2013Dutch interpreter and taught in the interpreter training programme at CVO VSPW, later serving as chair. She co founded and chaired the Flemish Sign Language Centre (VGTC) and chaired the first VGT Advisory Committee (2008\u20132012). She has (co-)supervised twelve PhDs, including some on (sign) language acquisition, phonology, grammar and AI based sign recognition. She has led numerous major VGT projects, including the VGT-Dutch online dictionary, the VGT corpus, cross linguistic work with SASL, and studies on deaf children\u2019s language development.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Prof. Dr. Myriam Vermeerbergen<\/h3><\/div>Supervisor<\/h5><\/div>myriam.vermeerbergen@kuleuven.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>Myriam Vermeerbergen is Full Professor at the Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven, where she teaches at the Antwerp campus, with a focus on Flemish Sign Language (VGT) linguistics and interpreting. In the early 1990s, she pioneered sign language research in Flanders; her PhD project constituted the first large-scale study of the grammar of VGT. Her subsequent postdoctoral research included further linguistic investigation of VGT, lexicographical studies, research on home sign, sociolinguistic studies within the Deaf community, and typological research.<\/p>\n
In 1997, she co-founded the Flemish Sign Language Centre and she contributed to the process that led to the official recognition of VGT in 2006. Since 2008, together with her deaf colleagues, she has been responsible for establishing and developing the first academic training programme for VGT interpreters. Her current research spans sign language linguistics\u2014with a continued focus on VGT\u2014the interface between gesture and sign, sign language technology, and sign language interpreting and translation.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Dr. Inez Beukeleers<\/h3><\/div>Postdoctoral researcher<\/h5><\/div>
PhD researcher<\/h5><\/div>margot.janssens@ugent.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>Margot Janssens is a doctoral student in the Research Centre for Multilingual Practices and Language Learning in Society (MULTIPLES) at Ghent University (Belgium) and also works as a research assistant at the Flemish Sign Language Center (VGTC). Within the ChangIN’signs project, she investigates how prolonged contact with Dutch shapes construction variation and change in Flemish Sign Language (VGT). She studies the impact of this language contact and how social and cognitive mechanisms reveal structural changes at the construction level. In addition, she investigates how usage-based dynamics, social variation, and the perceptions and attitudes of language users contribute to these changes. Her research combines corpus analyses with qualitative methods such as focus groups and surveys, using constructions as central units to map variation and change across users and contexts.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Jorn Rijckaert<\/h3><\/div>PhD researcher<\/h5><\/div>jorn.rijckaert@kuleuven.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>Jorn Rijckaert was born deaf and is a Flemish Sign Language user. He first came into contact with International Sign through the world of sports during his teenage years. After completing his university studies, he worked primarily as a teacher of Flemish Sign Language and as an interpreter\/translator, using Dutch, Flemish Sign Language, and International Sign as his working languages. Furthermore, he ran a media company specializing in sign language media. He contributed to various research projects, including Mobile Deaf (Heriot-Watt University) and SignON (led by Dublin City University). He has also published several academic papers on the comprehensibility of news in\/with Flemish Sign Language for deaf signers, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Chang’IN’signs project, he investigates unimodal contact between Flemish Sign Language and other sign languages, including International Sign.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Heidi Verhelst<\/h3><\/div>PhD researcher<\/h5><\/div>heidi.verhelst@ugent.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>Heidi Verhelst is a deaf doctoral student in the Department of Linguistics at Ghent University. Before starting her doctoral research, she gained experience as a teacher and home tutor working with deaf children, adolescents, and adults. Within the ChangIN\u2019signs project, she investigates language variation in Flemish Sign Language, with a specific focus on traditional regional varieties, processes of (spontaneous) standardization, and generational differences. In addition, she studies how deaf signers experience current language changes and the standardization process. In her research, she combines corpus analyses with qualitative research methods, such as interviews and focus groups.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Prof. Dr. Mieke Van Herreweghe<\/h3><\/div>Supervisor<\/h5><\/div>mieke.vanherreweghe@ugent.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>Prof. Mieke Van Herreweghe is a senior full professor at Ghent University and served two terms as vice rector (2017\u20132025). Together with Myriam Vermeerbergen, she pioneered research on Flemish Sign Language (VGT) and the Flemish Deaf Community. She published the first exploratory grammar book on Flemish-Belgian Sign Language in 1995. They co authored numerous publications and collaborated in many VGT research projects. After degrees in Germanic Languages (Ghent University, 1987) and Linguistics (University College Dublin, 1988), she completed an FWO PhD (1996) with a research stay at RIT\/NTID Rochester (USA).<\/p>\n
Her career at Ghent University spans roles from research assistant to senior full professor, with an increasing focus on VGT linguistics. She is a trained VGT\u2013Dutch interpreter and taught in the interpreter training programme at CVO VSPW, later serving as chair. She co founded and chaired the Flemish Sign Language Centre (VGTC) and chaired the first VGT Advisory Committee (2008\u20132012). She has (co-)supervised twelve PhDs, including some on (sign) language acquisition, phonology, grammar and AI based sign recognition. She has led numerous major VGT projects, including the VGT-Dutch online dictionary, the VGT corpus, cross linguistic work with SASL, and studies on deaf children\u2019s language development.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Prof. Dr. Myriam Vermeerbergen<\/h3><\/div>Supervisor<\/h5><\/div>myriam.vermeerbergen@kuleuven.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>Myriam Vermeerbergen is Full Professor at the Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven, where she teaches at the Antwerp campus, with a focus on Flemish Sign Language (VGT) linguistics and interpreting. In the early 1990s, she pioneered sign language research in Flanders; her PhD project constituted the first large-scale study of the grammar of VGT. Her subsequent postdoctoral research included further linguistic investigation of VGT, lexicographical studies, research on home sign, sociolinguistic studies within the Deaf community, and typological research.<\/p>\n
In 1997, she co-founded the Flemish Sign Language Centre and she contributed to the process that led to the official recognition of VGT in 2006. Since 2008, together with her deaf colleagues, she has been responsible for establishing and developing the first academic training programme for VGT interpreters. Her current research spans sign language linguistics\u2014with a continued focus on VGT\u2014the interface between gesture and sign, sign language technology, and sign language interpreting and translation.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Dr. Inez Beukeleers<\/h3><\/div>Postdoctoral researcher<\/h5><\/div>
margot.janssens@ugent.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div> Margot Janssens is a doctoral student in the Research Centre for Multilingual Practices and Language Learning in Society (MULTIPLES) at Ghent University (Belgium) and also works as a research assistant at the Flemish Sign Language Center (VGTC). Within the ChangIN’signs project, she investigates how prolonged contact with Dutch shapes construction variation and change in Flemish Sign Language (VGT). She studies the impact of this language contact and how social and cognitive mechanisms reveal structural changes at the construction level. In addition, she investigates how usage-based dynamics, social variation, and the perceptions and attitudes of language users contribute to these changes. Her research combines corpus analyses with qualitative methods such as focus groups and surveys, using constructions as central units to map variation and change across users and contexts.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> jorn.rijckaert@kuleuven.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div> Jorn Rijckaert was born deaf and is a Flemish Sign Language user. He first came into contact with International Sign through the world of sports during his teenage years. After completing his university studies, he worked primarily as a teacher of Flemish Sign Language and as an interpreter\/translator, using Dutch, Flemish Sign Language, and International Sign as his working languages. Furthermore, he ran a media company specializing in sign language media. He contributed to various research projects, including Mobile Deaf (Heriot-Watt University) and SignON (led by Dublin City University). He has also published several academic papers on the comprehensibility of news in\/with Flemish Sign Language for deaf signers, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Chang’IN’signs project, he investigates unimodal contact between Flemish Sign Language and other sign languages, including International Sign.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> heidi.verhelst@ugent.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div> Heidi Verhelst is a deaf doctoral student in the Department of Linguistics at Ghent University. Before starting her doctoral research, she gained experience as a teacher and home tutor working with deaf children, adolescents, and adults. Within the ChangIN\u2019signs project, she investigates language variation in Flemish Sign Language, with a specific focus on traditional regional varieties, processes of (spontaneous) standardization, and generational differences. In addition, she studies how deaf signers experience current language changes and the standardization process. In her research, she combines corpus analyses with qualitative research methods, such as interviews and focus groups.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> mieke.vanherreweghe@ugent.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div> Prof. Mieke Van Herreweghe is a senior full professor at Ghent University and served two terms as vice rector (2017\u20132025). Together with Myriam Vermeerbergen, she pioneered research on Flemish Sign Language (VGT) and the Flemish Deaf Community. She published the first exploratory grammar book on Flemish-Belgian Sign Language in 1995. They co authored numerous publications and collaborated in many VGT research projects. After degrees in Germanic Languages (Ghent University, 1987) and Linguistics (University College Dublin, 1988), she completed an FWO PhD (1996) with a research stay at RIT\/NTID Rochester (USA).<\/p>\n Her career at Ghent University spans roles from research assistant to senior full professor, with an increasing focus on VGT linguistics. She is a trained VGT\u2013Dutch interpreter and taught in the interpreter training programme at CVO VSPW, later serving as chair. She co founded and chaired the Flemish Sign Language Centre (VGTC) and chaired the first VGT Advisory Committee (2008\u20132012). She has (co-)supervised twelve PhDs, including some on (sign) language acquisition, phonology, grammar and AI based sign recognition. She has led numerous major VGT projects, including the VGT-Dutch online dictionary, the VGT corpus, cross linguistic work with SASL, and studies on deaf children\u2019s language development.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> myriam.vermeerbergen@kuleuven.be<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div> Myriam Vermeerbergen is Full Professor at the Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven, where she teaches at the Antwerp campus, with a focus on Flemish Sign Language (VGT) linguistics and interpreting. In the early 1990s, she pioneered sign language research in Flanders; her PhD project constituted the first large-scale study of the grammar of VGT. Her subsequent postdoctoral research included further linguistic investigation of VGT, lexicographical studies, research on home sign, sociolinguistic studies within the Deaf community, and typological research.<\/p>\n In 1997, she co-founded the Flemish Sign Language Centre and she contributed to the process that led to the official recognition of VGT in 2006. Since 2008, together with her deaf colleagues, she has been responsible for establishing and developing the first academic training programme for VGT interpreters. Her current research spans sign language linguistics\u2014with a continued focus on VGT\u2014the interface between gesture and sign, sign language technology, and sign language interpreting and translation.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Jorn Rijckaert<\/h3><\/div>
PhD researcher<\/h5><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Heidi Verhelst<\/h3><\/div>
PhD researcher<\/h5><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Prof. Dr. Mieke Van Herreweghe<\/h3><\/div>
Supervisor<\/h5><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Prof. Dr. Myriam Vermeerbergen<\/h3><\/div>
Supervisor<\/h5><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>Dr. Inez Beukeleers<\/h3><\/div>
Postdoctoral researcher<\/h5><\/div>
![](\"https:\/\/vgt.be\/changinsigns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Fien-1-scaled.png\" "\\"Fien\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>![](\"https:\/\/vgt.be\/changinsigns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/beatrijs-1-scaled.png\" "\\"beatrijs\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>![](\"https:\/\/vgt.be\/changinsigns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Hilde-1-scaled.png\" "\\"Hilde\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>