UNPACK: vacancies for seven PhD positions

‘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.

Join our interdisciplinary team to research the asylum procedure in Belgium:

• Two PhD positions in anthropology (KU Leuven)
• Two PhD positions in social work / educational sciences (UGent)
• PhD position in linguistics (UGent)
• PhD position in interpreting (UGent)
• PhD position in law (UGent)

The application deadline is 15 March 2026 (23:59 CET).

More information can also be found here.