Vision and Policy
Postdoc Career Hub: Why?
The key characteristic of a postdoc position is that it is a temporary, career-building step on the path to a more permanent role. It is also a formative phase in your career — a chance to build experience, explore new directions, and reflect on your long-term goals.
Climbing the academic ladder has become increasingly challenging. Each year, more PhDs are graduating, swelling the ranks of postdocs, while the number of available professor positions grows at a much slower pace. Only 3% of PhD candidates and 10% of postdocs go on to have an academic career. As a result, a growing proportion of postdocs and PhDs will pursue careers outside academia — a trend observed worldwide.
The Postdoc Career Hub is here to help you navigate that process — to explore your options, identify your strengths, and take informed, confident steps toward whatever comes after your postdoc phase. Whether you aspire to continue in academia, transition to industry, or pursue an entirely different path, we provide the guidance, resources, and connections to support you along the way.
Ghent University implements a career policy that does not just target the expansion of knowledge and research skills, but that focuses on a wider development of skills, stimulating and recognizing the various tasks, authorities and responsibilities. Coaching, mentoring, training and tailor-made education help postdocs to fine-tune their competencies and boosts their appeal on the internal and external labour market. - Board of Governors (14/02/2014) - Vision statement postdoctoral career policy and career guidance at Ghent University
Ghent University
- pursues a talent-oriented career policy, which gives maximum opportunities to postdoctoral researchers to prepare for the next step in their careers. The aim is to improve the career prospects of postdoctoral researchers.
- raises awareness among postdoctoral researchers in all disciplines about their careers and supports them with a wide range of initiatives and activities.
- is equally committed to the transfer to an independent academic appointment at home or abroad or a career on the external labour market (knowledge institutions, business, higher education, government, non-profit ,...).
Ghent University will update its 2014 policy document “Postdoctoral Career Policy and Career Guidance at Ghent University” (in Dutch) as part of its HR strategy.
Target date: 2026–2027
Ghent University is committed to developing a Charter for Postdoctoral Researchers. This charter will serve as a guideline for postdoctoral researchers, senior academic staff, and all others involved in supporting postdocs’ work and career development. It provides a clear framework that outlines the mutual expectations and responsibilities of everyone engaged in the postdoctoral environment at Ghent University.
Target date: 2026-2027
OJO stands for “Omkadering van Jonge Onderzoekers” — Support for Early-Career Researchers.
At Ghent University, the Doctoral Schools and the Postdoc Career Hub outline their approach and priorities in a five-year strategic policy plan (2024–2029).
An overview of all Ghent University's strategic policy plans can be found on the intranet.
You will find the entirety of Ghent University's regulations and codes of conduct bundled in one codex.
The HR Strategy is designed to push for an excellent human resources management and to make research careers more attractive. As such, HR contributes to the development of a dynamic European research area and an open labour market for researchers.
Since 2014 Ghent University holds the HR Excellence in Research quality label for its HR Strategy and Action Plan.
All HR-related content can be found on the intranet (employees only).
All information on research at Ghent University can be found on this webpage and/or on the intranet (for employees only). Please consult these pages for the most up-to-date information.
For information on funding opportunities, please visit our funding page.
For the latest on the number of postdocs
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in our Ghent University Research community, see Research in Numbers / Onderzoek in cijfers.
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in our Flemish Universities, see VLIR personnel statistics / VLIR personeelsstatistieken.
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in research by ECOOM.
Check our policy with regard to data and film/photo.