Research Professor in Sport Ethics and Integrity (BOFZAP)

June 15, 2023

The KU Leuven invites scholars to apply for a full?time research professorship in the area of Sports Ethics and Integrity. This position is funded by the Special Research Fund (BOFZAP), established by the Flemish Government. We are looking for internationally and interdisciplinary oriented candidates with a background in Applied Ethics (e.g. sport ethics, bioethics, healthcare ethics, research ethics), an excellent research record and an outstanding educational competence within this field. Applications will be evaluated in parallel and independently by 1) the KU Leuven Research Council in a competitive process across academic domains and 2) the faculty advisory committee. During the first 10 years, the teaching obligations as a research professor will be limited. Afterwards, the position will be transformed into a regular professorship. You will be appointed in the department of Public Health and Primary Care of the Biomedical Sciences Group.
Duties
Research
  • You are an ambitious, internationally oriented researcher in the field of Sports Ethics and Integrity. 
  • You have research experience in one or more relevant research domains such as the integrity of the athlete and other actors in sports, safeguarding, ethics of anti-doping, ethics in sport medicine, ethical aspects of performance-enhancing technologies and its use in various groups, match fixing and anti-corruption, ethical leadership and good governance. 
  • You will develop a research program within Sports Ethics and Integrity, publish in international journals, acquire research funding, and develop national and international research partnerships. 
  • You are appointed to strengthen the research networks on Sports Ethics and Integrity within the KU Leuven and to continue to develop KU Leuven as a leading international research centre in this area. 
  • You will develop additional networks and projects, working closely together with colleagues from other departments, faculties and interfaculty centres and research initiatives such as Ethics@KU Leuven (https://www.kuleuven.be/ethics-kuleuven). Additionally, you will catalyse teamwork and develop collaborative interdisciplinary projects
 
Education
  • You will contribute to teaching within the area of Sports Ethics and Integrity, with a clear commitment to the high quality of other ethics programmes at KU Leuven, including a leading role in the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master degree in Sports Ethics and Integrity (MAiSI: www.maisi-project.eu). 
  • You will also contribute to the supervision of master theses and as a promoter of PhD students. 
  • The candidate 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.
 
Service
  • You will take a leading role in the International Research Centre for Sports Ethics and Integrity, as a self-sustainable world hub, and actively contribute substantially to activities of related interdisciplinary networks for ethics at the KU Leuven. 
  • You will provide scientific, social and internal services that will contribute to the reputation of the entire university.
  • Additionally, you will be expected to contribute to existing university-wide applied initiatives regarding applied ethics and research integrity.
 
Requirements
  • Candidates must hold a PhD with demonstrated research experience in one or more research topics relevant to Sport Ethics and Integrity. 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 an strong research profile in the field and an indisputable research integrity.
  • The quality of the research must be evidenced by publications in international journals and experience in writing project applications.
  • International research experience is an added value. 
  • You have strong teaching skills and preferably demonstrable teaching experience. 
  • You have the necessary communication and organizational skills and you are a team player.
  • You must also possess leadership capacities within a university context and global academic networks.
  • 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.
Offer
  • We offer full-time employment in an intellectually challenging environment. KU Leuven is an 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 researches 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 without substantial other funding and appointed for at least 50%. 
 
More information
Interested?

More information on the content of the job can be obtained from the academic contact person, Prof. Filip Staes, dean of the Faculty of Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences ([email protected], + 32 16 32 91 25) or from the Department, Prof. Pascal Borry, chair of the Department of Public health and Primary Care ([email protected], +32 16 37 95 17).

 

More information on the guidelines, regulations and application file is available from Ms. Kristin Vermeylen ([email protected] , tel. +32 16 32 09 07), Ms. Martine van Nierop ([email protected], tel. +32 16 32 76 98) or Ms. Christelle Maeyaert ([email protected] , tel. +32 16 31 41 94).

You can apply for this job no later than September 14, 2023 via the online application tool
KU Leuven seeks to foster an environment where all talents can flourish, regardless of gender, age, cultural background, nationality or impairments. If you have any questions relating to accessibility or support, please contact us at [email protected].