Research professor - open to all scientific fields (Open BOFZAP)

The KU Leuven announces the vacancy of full-time academic positions as 'research professor' that are open to all research profiles from the various scientific fields. These positions are intended for outstanding researchers and the assignment mainly consists of scientific research of a high international level, in a field to be proposed by the candidate and affiliated with a department or faculty of the KU Leuven (Open BOFZAP). These positions are funded by the Special Research Fund (BOFZAP), established by the Flemish Government. The availability of these positions is dependent on possible embedding within the research unit and financial scope (see for more information under 'Requirements' and 'More information'.

We are looking for motivated and internationally oriented candidates with an excellent research record and with educational competence in the specified field. The appointment is expected to start on 1 September 2026.
Applications will be evaluated in parallel and independently by 1) the KU Leuven Research Council in a competitive process across academic domains and 2) the faculty advisory committee. During the first 10 years, the teaching obligations as a research professor will be limited. Afterwards, the position will be transformed into a regular professorship.
Website unit

Duties

Research

It is part of the assignment of the appointed candidate to develop, within the specified domain, an international, competitive research programme, to pursue excellent scientific results at an international level and to support and promote national and international research partnerships. The candidate must meet a strong research profile or have the potential to do so. In addition, the candidate is expected to have a multidisciplinary attitude and a willingness to cooperate intensively with other researchers and research units at KU Leuven.

The candidate:

• Is an excellent, internationally oriented researcher and develops a research programme at the forefront in the specified field.
• Strengthens existing research lines and brings complementary and/or additionally new expertise by working closely with the members of the research unit.
• Publishes at the highest scientific level appropriate to the specific domain, e.g.articles in various leading international journals in the domain and/or broader international top journals, monographs in leading series, conference proceedings, ....
• Develops an own research group.
• Supervises master students, PhD students and postdocs at a high international level.
• Aims to acquire competitive research funding from national and/or international agencies and submits research project proposals for this purpose.
• Establishes both within KU Leuven, national and international partnerships in the context of the research programme.
• Strives for excellence in research and provides a contribution to the international research reputation of the host entity, the involved faculty or department and the KU Leuven.
• Has a pronounced interest in fundamental research, but also pays attention to the valorization and applications of the research.

Teaching

The candidate also has the necessary didactic qualities for teaching assignments at the university. Although the position regards a research professorship at the start of employment, the candidate is expected to gradually contribute to state of the art teaching. In the first 10 years, the teaching assignment will be limited. The candidate must be prepared to take on additional teaching tasks after the 10-year BOFZAP period.

The provided education must meet the requirements set for academic education in terms of level, orientation, and academic content, and is research-based and research-oriented. The teaching must be in line with the educational concept of KU Leuven and any partner institutions involved. We expect commitment to the quality of the program as a whole.

Service

Scientific, societal  and internal services (administrative and/or institutional) are also part of the assignment.

Requirements

• You have a doctoral degree relevant to the specified field and you have at least three full years of research experience at the start of the mandate as a research professor, which means that the doctorate was obtained before 1 September 2023. If you have recently obtained your PhD, it is important that you support your research and growth potential with academic references.
• Upon application, you have no more than a 20% ZAP appointment at KU Leuven.
• You have an strong research profile in the field and an indisputable research integrity.
• Depending on the stage in the research career, you have achieved a high international level in your field and/or demonstrate a very high research potential, which is illustrated by, among other things, your internationally recognized scientific publications. International research experience is considered as an important advantage.
• You must show a strong commitment to teamwork in order to develop a research strategy together with their colleagues.
• You have demonstrable qualities related to academic education. Teaching experience is a plus.
• You possess organizational skills and have a cooperative attitude. You also have leadership skills within a university context.
• Your spoken and written English is excellent. The official administrative language used at KU Leuven is Dutch. If you do not speak Dutch (or do not speak it well) at the start of employment, KU Leuven will provide language training to enable you to take part in administrative meetings. Before teaching courses in Dutch or English, you will be given the opportunity to learn Dutch resp. English to the required standard.
• You have consulted with an academic contact at KU Leuven, and there is commitment for embedding in the research unit and financial scope. This confirmation is added to your application via a signed attachment, without which your application is not valid. See under 'More information' the explanation of this on 'Full application and selection procedure Research Professorship (BOFZAP)' and the link to the template of the attachment 'Host letter'.

Offer

• We offer full-time employment in an intellectually challenging environment. KU Leuven is a research-intensive, internationally oriented university that carries out both fundamental and applied scientific research. Our university is highly inter-and multidisciplinary focused and strives for international excellence. In this regard, we actively collaborate with research partners in Belgium and abroad. We provide our students with an academic education that is based on high-quality scientific research.
• The selection takes into account the university's global research and education policy. The number of vacant positions depends on the available budget.
• Depending on your qualifications and academic experience, you will be appointed to or tenured in one of the grades of the senior academic staff: assistant professor, associate professor, professor or full professor. In principle, researchers who have a relative short research experience are basically appointed, without excluding a higher academic position, as assistant professor in a Tenure Track for a period of 5 years . After this period and a positive evaluation, you are permanently appointed as an associate professor.
• You will work in Leuven, a historic and dynamic and vibrant city located in the heart of Belgium, within twenty minutes from Brussels, the capital of the European Union, and less than two hours from Paris, London and Amsterdam.
• KU Leuven is well set to welcome foreign professors and their family and provides practical support with regard to immigration and administration, housing, childcare, learning Dutch, partner career coaching, &
• In order to facilitate scientific onboarding and accelerate research in the first phase a starting grant of 110.000 euro is offered to new professors, if they are eligible according to the criteria set by KU Leuven. 

More information

Full application and selection procedure Research professorships (BOFZAP)
Template Host Letter

Interested?

For more information please contact Mrs. Martine van Nierop, tel.: +32 16 32 76 98, mail: [email protected] or Mrs. Kristin Vermeylen, tel.: +32 16 32 09 07, mail: [email protected].

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