Doctoral fellow

ABOUT GHENT UNIVERSITY

Ghent University is a world of its own. Employing more than 15.000 people, it is actively involved in education and research, management and administration, as well as technical and social service provision on a daily basis. It is one of the largest, most exciting employers in the area and offers great career opportunities. With its 11 faculties and more than 85 departments offering state-of-the-art study programmes grounded in research in a wide range of academic fields, Ghent University is a logical choice for its staff and students.

YOUR TASKS

About the UNPACK project:
‘Unpacking the asylum procedure in its intersecting linguistic, sociocultural, psychological and legal dimensions’ (hereafter UNPACK) is an interdisciplinary and interuniversity iBOF project investigating fairness in asylum procedures. Asylum procedures are challenging, partly due to the diverse socio-cultural and linguistic backgrounds of all actors involved (such as applicants, officials, interpreters, and lawyers) and the interactions between them.
The UNPACK project integrates insights from four disciplines – linguistics, anthropology, psychology and law – to examine the lived experiences of those involved. Through in-depth ethnographic research of specific case studies and the broader organizational context, UNPACK seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the asylum procedure, in order to develop a new, comprehensive and evidence-based framework of fairness.
With iBOF funding, the Flemish universities pool resources from their research funds to support frontier research. UNPACK is coordinated by Karel Arnaut (anthropology, KU Leuven), Ilse Derluyn (social work, UGent), Katrijn Maryns (applied linguistics, UGent) and Ellen Desmet (law, UGent). The project is embedded in a unique collaboration – the first of its kind in Europe – with the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS), the Belgian authority responsible for deciding on applications for international protection.

Your tasks

• You will engage in linguistic-ethnographic and sociolinguistic research into discursive processes (interactional, textual, multimodal) in the asylum procedure from the perspective of the various stakeholders involved, with the goal of obtaining a doctoral degree.
• You will develop the specific research focus in dialogue with the supervisors, the co-researchers and the asylum administration.
• As a member of the UNPACK team, you will be intensively working together in a team of 8 researchers and 4 professors. You will share your data and analyses with your co-researchers and supervisors, and engage in extensive collaborative (interdisciplinary) research, next to individual (disciplinary-specific) research.
• You will report on your research both academically and to a broader audience.
• You actively contribute to the activities and tasks of the research group and department.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

General requirements for UNPACK research positions:

• You are a team player, as this project is distinctive by the degree of collaboration required.
• You have a demonstrated affinity with the topic of refugees and/or asylum procedures
• You have excellent analytical, writing and presentation skills.
• You have a high level of proficiency in Dutch or French, and considerable fluency in the other language.
• You are fluent in written and spoken academic English
• You have a diversity-sensitive attitude and good intercultural communication skills, and you feel motivated to work in a multilingual environment
• You are empathetic, work with precision, and have a critical mindset.
• You are open to giving and receiving constructive feedback, you value continuous learning.
• You are capable of managing deadlines effectively.
• You help foster a pleasant working environment.
  
  

Specific requirements for this position:

• You hold an internationally recognised Master’s degree or an equivalent degree in Linguistics.

Assets:

• You have knowledge of and/or experience with language-in-society research, with a focus on linguistic diversity and multilingualism.
• You have knowledge of and/or experience with qualitative research methods: ethnographic data collection (field observations, interviewing) and discourse-analytical methods (interactional sociolinguistics, textual analysis, narrative analysis).
• You have knowledge of languages relevant to refugee communities.
• You have an affinity with and/or experience with working with people in vulnerable situations
• You have experience with academic research, particularly from an interdisciplinary perspective.

WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU

• You will join an interdisciplinary team within a dynamic and stimulating work environment.
• 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.
• You will be employed in the Department of Translation, Interpreting and Communication, and be a member of the MULTIPLES Research Centre for Multilingual Practices in Society and CESSMIR (Centre for the Social Study of Migration and Refugees).
• Your contract will ideally start on 1/09/2026.
• 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, a bicycle allowance and eco vouchers. Click here for a complete overview of all the staff benefits.

INTERESTED?

Send your application in one PDF file to unpack@ugent.be. The deadline for applications is 15 March 2026, 23:59 CET.

Please use the following as the subject line of your email and as the name of the PDF file:
“Surname – First name – PhD in Linguistics”

Your application must include the following documents:

• your CV and an overview of your study results
• a motivation letter (max. 2 pages)
• copy of your diploma (if already in your possession)
• summary (1-pager) of your master dissertation or of a recent academic publication

We do not accept late applications.

As Ghent University maintains an equal opportunities and diversity policy, everyone is encouraged to apply for this position.

You will be informed by 3 April at the latest whether you have been selected for the next round. If selected, the next round will take place in person in Ghent on 20-21 April or 4-5 May 2026.

For more information about this vacancy, please contact Prof. Katrijn Maryns (katrijn.maryns@ugent.be, +32(0)485/53 61 62).