Peter Van Daele received the degree of Electrical Engineering at Ghent University in Belgium in 1984 and in 1988 a PhD also in Electrical Engineering at Ghent University. From 1988 he is a permanent member of staff from IMEC (Interuniversity MicroElectronics Center) at the Department of Information Technology (INTEC) of Ghent University.

He was and is directly responsible for several EU-funded research projects in the RACE, ACTS, ESPRIT, IST and ICT-programmes both on a technological level as well as on a more coordinating level e.g. as project coordinator of projects in the field of photonics and later in the area of Future Internet and Next Generation Internet.

Since its establishment, Peter Van Daele was also involved in iMinds, Flanders' digital research center and business incubator, established by the Flemish government in 2004. iMinds introduced digital innovation in 6 key markets (ICT, Media, Health, Energy, Smart Cities and Manufacturing). In 2017 iMinds and IMEC merged into one single organization. Peter Van Daele became associated with the IDLab (Internet Technology and Data Science Lab).

Since April 1st 1993, Peter Van Daele is part time professor at the Ghent University and was appointed Assistant Secretary General of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI) from 1993 until 2001 and again since 2008. In 2017 Peter Van Daele was elected as Secretary General of URSI.

Peter Van Daele is author or co-author of over 400 publications and presentations in international journals or at international conferences. He is a member of IEEE.