Let’s Talk About Service 12
“Foundations for Future-Proof Service Research”
Center for Service Intelligence, Ghent University, Belgium
3-5 December 2025
Application deadline: 30 September 2025
The aim of LTAS is to introduce young scholars to the wonderful world of service research and guide them through their academic journey.
In the 2025 edition of LTAS, we seek to (1) explore the foundations of service research, (2) coach participants to develop future-proof service ideas, and (3) pitch these research ideas for top scholars and editors from service and related journals.
For the exploration of the foundations of service research, we are happy to welcome Prof. Dr. Valarie Zeithaml, Prof. Dr. Jens Hogreve, Prof. Dr. Kaisa Koskela-Huotari, and Prof. Dr. Stefan Stremersch who will prepare LTAS participants for ideating future-proof service research ideas.
After these keynote speeches, LTAS participants will be assigned to small groups where they will – with the help of experienced service scholars acting as a coach – develop future-proof research ideas to be presented for top scholars and (associate) editors, including Journal of Marketing Editor Prof. Dr. Jan-Benedict Steenkamp.
If you would like to apply, please send an application in PDF to csi@ugent.be with the following information by September, 30, 2025:
- Curriculum Vitae (CV) in English with the file name “LastName_FirstName_CV”
- Motivation Letter with the file name “LastName_FirstName_motivation” including:
– a brief statement of why attending LTAS2025 would be beneficial for you and your career (200-250 words)
– one paragraph about your area of expertise that includes the research topics that you are focusing on and/or interested in.
Notification of acceptance: October 3, 2025
Fee: €550 (incl. overhead and admin costs)
Follow the Linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/let-s-talk-about-service-ltas-2025/
LTAS 2024 (11th edition, “Finding the Sweet Spot of Your Research Impact”) at Maastricht University, The Netherlands:
– impressions from Dominik Mahr and Kars Mennens (hosts)
LTAS 2023 (10th edition, “Emerging Paradigms in Service Research”) at University of Namur, Belgium:
– impressions from Linda Alike & Wafa Hammedi (hosts)
LTAS 2022 (9th edition, “Service Agility: Moving the Discipline Forward”) at Hasselt University, Belgium:
– impressions from Sara Leroi-Werelds (host)
LTAS 2019 (8th edition, “Achieving Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Service Research”) at Fordham University, New York:
– impressions from Sertan Kabadayi (host)
– summary video from Werner Kunz
– insights: The Theory of Mindfulness (Ellen Campos Sousa)
– insights: Interdisciplinarity from an editors view (Mike Brady)
– insights: Interdisciplinary research (Stephanie Noble)
LTAS 2018 (7th edition, “Smart Use of the Extant Literature”) at the Center for Service Intelligence in Ghent:
– impressions from Bart Larivière (host)
– summary video from Werner Kunz
LTAS 2017 (6th edition, “Young Service Researchers Got Talent: Bridging Academia and Business”) at University of Antwerp:
– impressions from Annouk Lievens (host)
LTAS 2016 (5th edition, “Contemporary Methodologies for Service Research”) at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business in New York:
– impressions from Sertan Kabadayi (host)
– insights: Agent Based Modeling and Sentiment Analysis (Barak Libai and Bing Liu)
– Behind the Scenes of LTAS (Wafa Hammedi)
LTAS 2015 (4th edition, “Service Research Priorities: How to make them happen?”) at University of Namur:
– impressions from Wafa Hammedi (host)
LTAS 2014 (3rd edition) at the Center for Service Intelligence in Ghent
– impressions from Katrin Verleye (host)
