Leonardo Meeus studied business engineering at KU Leuven in Belgium with an Erasmus exchange at the University of Edinburgh in the UK. He completed a PhD in engineering at KU Leuven in 2006. 

His main academic affiliations have been with the KU Leuven, the European University Institute, and Vlerick Business School. 

At KU Leuven, Leonardo learned how to use simulation models to evaluate policies and regulations. He started in 2002 as a PhD researcher in the electrical engineering department for the research group Electa. He contributed to the electricity market coupling initiative between Belgium, France and the Netherlands. As more countries joined, this project led to the development of an international electricity market in Europe.  After his PhD, he stayed as a postdoc researcher and scientific coordinator of the KU Leuven Energy Institute and the European Energy Institute. After moving on, he remained connected as a visitor professor, and he also returned in 2022 as part-time professor to supervise PhDs, and teach a course on electricity markets in the energy master for engineers.

At the European University Institute, Leonardo learned how to engage with policy makers and regulators, and how to do qualitative research in combination with quantitative research. He started in 2008 as researcher and coordinator of the Florence School of Regulation. In 2013, he went back to Belgium, while he also continued to contribute to the activities of the Florence School of Regulation as a part-time professor. In 2020, he was appointed as the deputy Director of the Florence School of Regulation, and in 2022 he became the Director. He also became a close advisor of the European Institutions, regulatory authorities, and stakeholders. In 2024, he also started working on space policy in collaboration with the European Space Policy Institute, and the European Space Agency. In 2026, the Florence School of Regulation was appointed to run the Energy Regulation Academy to help ministries and regulators with electricity reforms. 

At Vlerick Business School, Leonardo learned how to work with the private sector, and how to be the manager and the leader of a team. He started in 2012 as associate professor, and was promoted to full professor in 2019. He was also elected partner in 2016 and promoted to senior partner in 2022 for his contributions to the development of the school. He founded the Vlerick Energy Centre, and directed an executive education programme for energy companies. He also created an MBA course on strategy and public affairs with management frameworks, teaching cases, and a brainstorming tool for gamified learning.  In 2021, he also became the director of the online MBA.

Leonardo also had a short entrepreneurial experience working for the interconnector developer Imera Power in Dublin in 2008 and 2009. As Senior VP for European and Regulatory Affairs, he successfully applied for an exemption for the East-West interconnector, a submarine HVDC  cable between Ireland and Wales.

Leonardo published in the academic journals of several disciplines, such as energy economics, regulatory economics, electrical engineering, energy law, operations research and management.  He also published the open access book “The Evolution of Electricity Markets in Europe”. He is on the editorial board of the Energy Journal of the International Association of Energy Economics (IAEE), and he has also been an editor for the Transactions on Energy Markets, Policy and Regulation of the Institute Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In 2026, he also became an external faculity affiliate of the MIT Centre for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR).