Doctoral fellow

ABOUT GHENT UNIVERSITY

Ghent University is a top 100 university and one of the major universities in Belgium. Our 11 faculties offer a wide range of courses and conduct in-depth research within a wide range of scientific domains. Ghent University occupies a specific position among the Flemish universities. We are a socially committed and pluralistic university that is open to all students, regardless of their ideological, political, cultural or social background.

In its mission statement, Ghent University identifies itself as a socially committed university. This implies that the institution reflects about the positive impact that its activities can have upon society, and that it attempts to optimize that impact. It also implies the reflection about the potential negative impact of activities upon society, and the attempt of minimizing such impact.

Over the course of its 200 year history Ghent University has built up a strong scientific reputation. Ghent University invests both in fundamental, high risk science as in applied research. The university is known for its scientific expertise in life sciences and medicine, materials and agricultural science, veterinary medicine, psychology and history, and many more. 

Faculty of Law and Criminology

The Faculty provides academic teaching and services based on innovative scientific research. The education within these programmes is supported by the innovative scientific research performed within the 3 faculty departments encompassing all possible disciplines within the fields of law and criminological sciences.

Human Rights Centre

The Human Rights Centre at the Faculty of Law and Criminology at Ghent University is an academic centre specialized in human rights law. Its members include senior experts as well as many young researchers, covering a broad research and teaching expertise, which includes international, regional, national and comparative law of human rights. Human Rights Centre members work on a range of thematic issues, including legal pluralism, freedom of expression, gender, indigenous peoples’ rights, and the European Court of Human Rights. Members also actively engage with human rights practice by supervising clinical projects and submitting third-party interventions to the European Court of Human Rights.

Diversity

We ensure equal opportunities, equal treatment and equal access to the vacancies for all who apply. We ensure an objective and non-biased assessment procedure. Origin, ethnicity, gender, age, employment disability, sexual orientation and other identity factors will not be a factor in assessing the competences. Candidates who self-identify as belonging to vulnerable or minority groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

Additional information

For more information about Justice Visions, please click here.

For more information about the position, please contact us at justicevisions@ugent.be.

YOUR TASKS

We are seeking to hire one fully funded PhD researcher as part of the FWO project: Reckoning with Belgium’s colonial past: Towards a better understanding of interconnected (truth) initiatives and their contribution to redress.

The PhD project focuses on better understanding a range of initiatives carried out by grassroots actors and institutions aimed towards redress and repair — understood broadly as material, symbolic, institutional, or relational responses to address colonial harm.

The candidate is expected to select and analyse a set of these initiatives (ideally spanning different actor types) to examine how the actors behind them articulate, negotiate, and pursue redress: What forms of redress and repair do they prioritize? How do they legitimize their initiatives? What tensions arise between different visions of redress and repair? And how do these initiatives interact with, or challenge, other initiatives?

The ideal candidate holds an interdisciplinary background preferably combining social sciences and legal studies, including familiarity with conceptual frameworks and debates on historical (in)justice, redress and repair, epistemic authority and (in)justice, recognition and analysis of change processes, and how they relate to colonial harm. A grounded understanding of Belgium’s colonial history and its enduring consequences that continue to shape contemporary societies (both domestically and in its former colonies) is essential (See below). They have experience with, or are open to using, various relevant empirical research methods.

The researcher will be based at the Human Rights Centre at the Faculty of Law and Criminology of Ghent University. On site presence is expected.

The selected candidate will be offered a position of limited duration as PhD researcher (12 months initially, with 36 months extension upon passing the first-year PhD requirements).

We value perspectives that emerge from community engagement, activism, or intergenerational memory. Candidates whose lived experience, activism, or research emerges from communities impacted by colonialism are encouraged to apply. Our recruitment process is aimed at ensuring inclusion and diversity.

Description of the research project

The candidate will be part of a broader research project examining the complex, cross-sectoral ecosystem of initiatives aimed at redress of colonial harm.

Globally, influential movements such as Black Lives Matter, #RhodesMustFall, and other decolonization initiatives, have put questions about the potential for historical justice, redress, and social change higher on public, policy and academic agendas. Civil society organizations, grassroots activists, academics, museums, and artists have put in place an array of redress initiatives, ranging from truth-seeking and other documentation initiatives, commemoration practices, memory work, advocacy, and campaigns to pressure governments to action.

In response, — and at times in dialogue with these actors — European former colonial powers, including Belgium, have seen an increasing variety of redress initiatives: policy reforms, legal mechanisms, formal apologies, restitution of looted cultural objects, curatorial practices, memorialization projects, and the removal of colonial symbols from public spaces.

The result is a complex landscape of initiatives related to colonial harm and its enduring consequences, each embracing a different understanding of what redress and repair might look like, how should it be pursued and who should be involved. The PhD project will investigate how these initiatives emerge, whether and how they interact with other initiatives, and what pathways of change they envision.

The project’s overarching research question is: How do initiatives for redress and repair led by different actors in Belgium interact? and how do these interactions shape the forms, priorities, and legitimacy of their initiatives (symbolic, material, or institutional)?  

The research question will be refined through iterative engagement with research participants to ensure it reflects the realities and epistemologies of those involved in the selected initiatives.

We will use a mixed-method actor-centred approach. Methods may include, but are not limited to, qualitative interviews, participant-observation, document analysis, and network analysis (applied qualitatively (to map relational dynamics) or quantitatively (to measure structural patterns), depending on the candidate’s preference and selected case study).

We are committed to participatory research practices including co-creation of outputs, interpretations, and dissemination strategies with research participants; to ensure that the knowledge produced reflects and resonates with communities and actors involved.

Description of your specific research as a PhD

There is substantial room for PhD researchers to bring in their own topical and methodological expertise, provided their work centres on initiatives for redress of colonial harm in the Belgian context.

The PhD researcher will take the lead in carrying out their case study while being supported by two co-supervisors. While the project’s overarching framework and research questions have been defined, the researcher is expected to finetune the research design, questions, methods, and deliverables based on their case selection, input from supervisors and research participants. This is essential: it enables researchers to contribute their expertise, experience and interests, while jointly shaping an integrated research approach that supports mutual learning, forward thinking, participatory research practices. Please consider whether such an approach is the right fit for you before applying.

The selected candidate will be supervised by prof. dr. Tine Destrooper and dr. Cira Pallí-Asperó, as well as having ample room for working with the other members of the Justice Visions team, the Human Rights Centre, and the Human Rights Research Network at UGent.

Within the first year of their PhD, the candidate will be expected to finetune the final research design of their case study to fit the broader project, and to develop their ethics and data management plan in line with Justice Vision’s broader ethical orientation. This includes engaging with suggested readings and identifying further relevant reading for individual and collective purposes; joining team meetings; identifying the most relevant methodological, theoretical and conceptual framework; engaging with research participants; writing the first drafts of the methodological, theoretical and conceptual chapters; enrolling in doctoral schools training and taking relevant courses and summer schools; participating in activities of Justice Visions, the HRC and the Faculty, including team meetings. In following years, the candidate will be required to carry out empirical data collection and analysis, embark upon the writing of a PhD on articles or monograph; present at conferences and scientific meetings; and assist with teaching and other team efforts such as outreach (limited).

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

In order to be eligible, applicants must

• hold a MA, MSc or LLM degree in social and political sciences, law, anthropology or a related discipline;
• have obtained their degree at the time of application or demonstrate convincingly that they will have that degree in hand by September 1, 2026;
• be fluent in English as their primary working language and as their primary publication language, be fluent in the language spoken by actors in the initiatives they wish to examine.

Furthermore, applicants who meet multiple of the following conditions will be ranked higher during the assessment procedure

• have demonstrable familiarity with initiatives for redress/repair for colonial harms, either in practice or through the study thereof (e.g. through dissertation work, activism/mobilization, professional experience, educational curriculum, prior research experience, consulting, volunteering, etc);

• have in-depth knowledge of the history and context colonial harms and initiatives related to this in the Belgian context, and have pre-existing networks that can facilitate fieldwork;
• have a multidisciplinary training (e.g. as demonstrated through multiple academic or professional degrees) and/or a proven track record in multidisciplinary research;

• have experience with qualitative or quantitative research methods.

In addition to these project specific elements, we expect candidates to

• have the ability to work independently and pro-actively but as part of a multi-disciplinary and international team;
• have experience working in co-creative ways with research participants;
• have good (academic) writing/presentation skills;
• contribute towards the general well-functioning of the team;
• have some social media experience, or interest therein;
• work in a meticulous way and be able to manage deadlines;
• reside in Belgium.

WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU

• We offer a full-time position as a doctoral fellow, consisting of an initial period of 12 months, which - after a positive evaluation, will be extended to a total maximum of 48 months.
• Your contract will start on 09/01/2026 at the earliest.
• The fellowship amount is 100% of the net salary of an AAP member in equal family circumstances. The individual fellowship amount is determined by Team Personnel Administration based on family status and seniority. A grant that meets the conditions and criteria of the regulations for doctoral fellowships is considered free of personal income tax. Click here for more information about our salary scales
• All Ghent University staff members enjoy a number of benefits, such as a wide range of training and education opportunities, 36 days of holiday leave (on an annual basis for a full-time job) supplemented by annual fixed bridge days, bicycle allowance and eco vouchers. Click here for a complete overview of all the staff benefits.

INTERESTED?

Apply online by submitting all the required documents below as one PDF via mail (justicevisions@ugent.be) before March 15, 2026 (23:59CET).  

Your application must include the following documents:

• your cover letter, outlining your motivation for applying (max 500 words);
• a detailed CV (including publication list, presentations and other relevant experience);
• A research statement: this is a crucial component of the application, that will allow us to assess project fit. Please limit this document to 1.000 words max. Topics you may discuss in the research statement are:

• Which initiatives you would want to focus on for your PhD as part of this project;
• Why, in your opinion, these initiatives are relevant in a project that examines initiatives aimed towards redress and repair for colonial harm;  
• What your relationship to the case study (e.g. have you worked on it as a practitioner, studied it for your dissertation, been an organizer/activist, etc);
• Which methodological skills you could leverage (please be as specific as possible (e.g. not just quant or qual): which precise methods, where have you learnt these, when and where have you used these, etc);

This statement should not be a thoroughly developed research proposal, but reading more about your interest and skills will help us assess the fit with our project.

• A transcript of the required degree (if already in your possession). If you have a foreign diploma in a language other than Belgium’s national languages (Dutch, French or German) or English, please add a translation in one of the mentioned languages. You will be required to present a certificate of equivalence if you have a degree from outside the European Union.
• One (academic) letter of recommendation specific to this role (please make sure the letter includes contact details);
• A writing sample on a related topic (10.000 words maximum, in English, ideally an academic paper, an extract of your MA thesis, etc).

!! Please combine all these documents into one PDF file, name it LASTNAME_FirstName_Belgium, and send it to the address listed below.

We cannot accept late applications, applications submitted to other addresses, or applications with more than one PDF attachment.

As Ghent University maintains an equal opportunities and diversity policy, people self-identifying as belonging to a minority or under-represented group are encouraged to apply for this position.

The foreseen starting date is September 1, 2026.

For inquiries, please contact us at justicevisions@ugent.be

Evaluation procedure

A longlist of applicants selected on the basis of the submitted dossier will be invited for a home-based written assignment.

Longlisted candidates will be informed by April 3, when they will also receive the written assignment. The written assignment will take place between April 3 and April 19, 2026. Candidates who need special facilities in order to be able to carry out a written assignment, can indicate this, and we will try to accommodate their request.

On the basis of this assignment, shortlisted applicants will be invited for an interview in Ghent or through video conference. Shortlisted candidates will be invited by April 24, for an interview which will most likely take place on 4 or 5 May 2026. Video conferencing will be available for international applicants or those who prefer to use this option. During this interview, we will assess the relevance of the candidate’s experience for this project, and gauge whether the candidate meets all the requirements.

If a suitable candidate is identified, we aim to extend an offer in the second half of May 2026 for an envisioned start on 1 September 2026 (negotiable).