Research professor in Experimental Cognitive Psychology (BOFZAP)

It is part of the assignment of the appointed candidate to develop, within the domain of Experimental Cognitive Psychology an international, competitive research program, 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, in particular the research unit of Brain & Cognition.

The candidate:

• Is an excellent, internationally oriented researcher and develops a research programme at the forefront in the field of Experimental Cognitive Psychology, studying perception and/or memory with innovative behavioral paradigms. In addition, we welcome candidates that combine this focus on cognition with research that employs an interdisciplinary and/or multi-methods approach (such as computational or neuroscience methods), integrates a neuropsychological perspective, or extends beyond the study of young, neurotypical students, embracing diversity in cognitive profiles. 
• Strengthens existing research lines and brings complementary and/or additionally new expertise by working closely with the members of the research unit of Brain & Cognition.
• Publishes at the highest scientific level in international peer-reviewed journals.
• 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 effective 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 Brain & Cognition, the Faculty of Psychology & Educational Sciences, and KU Leuven.

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.

The candidate also contributes to the pedagogic project of the faculty/university. He/she develops teaching in accordance with KU Leuven’s vision on activating and research-based education and makes use of the possibilities for the educational professionalization offered by the faculty and the university.

The assignment of the candidate to be appointed also includes a teaching assignment. Candidates should have a broad background that allows them to teach in domains such as general psychology, behavioral neuroscience, and experimental methodology, and demonstrate a sincere interest in teaching.

• You have a PhD in Psychology, Cognitive Science, or a related field. If you have recently obtained your PhD, it is important that you support your research and growth potential with academic references [e.g. demonstrate potential through at least one top publication, academic references, promising research projects and articles in preparation].
• You have a strong research profile in the field and an indisputable research integrity.
• The quality of your research is proven by publications in prominent international peer-reviewed journals.
• International research experience is considered as an important advantage.
• 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.

• 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.
• 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, junior researchers are appointed as assistant professor on the tenure track for a period of 5 years; after this period and a positive evaluation, they 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, subject to eligibility criteria set by KU Leuven.

More information on the guidelines, regulations and application file is available from Ms. Kristin Vermeylen ([email protected] , tel. +32 16 32 09 07) or Ms. Martine van Nierop ([email protected] , tel. +32 16 32 76 98).

For a full description of the procedure and information on annexes and templates, follow the link 'Full application and selection procedure Research Professorships (BOFZAP)' under 'More information'. Please read this before you start your application.

Please submit your application in English. For problems with online applying, please contact [email protected].

KU Leuven places great importance on research integrity and ethical conduct and will therefore ask you to sign an integrity statement upon appointment.