Working at VUB
For more than 50 years, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has stood for freedom, equality and connectedness. These values are strongly present on our campuses, in our students as well as our staff. At the VUB, you’ll find a diverse collection of personalities: pure innovators and especially people who are 100% their authentic selves. With about 3.500 employees, we are the largest Flemish-speaking employer in Brussels, an international city with which we are all too happy to be connected, and around which our four campuses are located.
Our education and research are grounded in the principles of free research with an eye on human progress. We disapprove of every purely authoritative argument and guarantee the free formation of judgement that is necessary for this basic principle to be incorporated in the community.
The VUB is autonomous and managed democratically. As such, we guarantee fundamental freedoms within our university, as well as the right of the university community to be involved in making and checking university policy.
The mission of the university includes:
the development, the transfer and the application of high-standing academic education and scientific research, free from any prejudice;
community integration of this in a spirit of social compassion;
critical development of everyone in light of the responsibilities borne in the community.
Job
The Brussels Interdisciplinary Research centre for Migration and Minorities (BIRMM) is a recognised interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence (IRPCOE) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) that brings together over 100 researchers from 11 different disciplines. BIRMM aims to increase the visibility of VUB research on migration and minorities. It develops and supports interdisciplinary research projects in these fields.
The Centre also stimulates cooperation between VUB research groups and VUB researchers in international and local networks. BIRMM's research orientation is international but special attention is also paid to the dynamics in Brussels and Belgium.
We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher for grant and proposal writing (PhD or equivalent research experience) with strong skills in writing and coordinating research proposals. The candidate will contribute to the acquisition of new research projects for BIRMM and to the development of BIRMM as a centre for migration and minority research.
More specifically, the postdoctoral researcher is expected to take on the following tasks in close cooperation with the BIRMM research coordinator:
- You initiate and co-write research proposals for acquiring external research funding. More specifically, we would like to submit a large interdisciplinary research proposal on the theme of inequality, discrimination and racism in higher education, as well as other smaller project proposals on similar topics. Other research topics fitting to the expertise of BIRMM and the participating VUB professors can also be considered;
- You follow up on research funding opportunities, both regional, national and international;
- You follow up the administrative procedures at VUB and the procedures and rules of external funding channels;
- You initiate and coordinate the involvement of relevant stakeholders (external researchers, civil society organisations, student associations,...) when writing research proposals.
You are employed full-time for a duration of one year (80% employment is negotiable). Renewal is possible in case of obtaining research funding.
Job profile
PhD degree (or equivalent by experience), preferably on a topic related to migration or minorities.
Experience:
Required:
- Hold a PhD (or equivalent by experience), preferably on a topic related to migration or minorities; experience with topics such as inequality, discrimination and racism in higher education or related topics is recommended;
- Knowledge and expertise in the field of migration and minorities and the state of the art in the field of study, demonstrated by relevant publications and/or other research activities;
- Experience in supervising and/or writing funding applications, or participation in consortium-based research projects;
- Experience in project coordination and communication with stakeholders;
- Excellent command of written and spoken English.
Desirable:
- Good command of Dutch.
VUB is an employer that promotes equal opportunities. Applications from women and minorities are particularly welcome.
Are you interested in this position?
Applications must be submitted by June 5, 2022 (23h59 CET) at the latest and send to jobs_bsog@vub.be. Please include at least the BSoG application form ( Application_Form_BSoG_0.docx (102.78 KB) "word"), your CV (listing your academic qualifications, relevant research and/or work experience, and publications), a concise motivation for the application, a copy of your degree certificate, a research proposal of maximum 800 words and a publication sample (academic article, part of PhD or other publication). The aforementioned elements are to be consolidated into a single PDF file to be sent by email to jobs_bsog@vub.be
Please mention “Postdoctoral researcher - grant and proposal writing” in the subject line.
Our application process is as follows:
Step 1: CV screening by our selection panel
Step 2: Job interview (in Brussels or online), scheduled in the week of 17 June (subject to change).
Start date: 1/9/2022 or as soon as possible thereafter
For further questions on this vacancy, please contact Dr. Hannah Vermaut by telephone +32 498 67 67 10 or by e-mail hannah.vermaut@vub.be.
Offer
As an employee of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, you’ll work, every day, in a dynamic, diverse and multilingual environment. Our campuses are located in the middle of a green oasis at the edge of the capital city of Flanders, Belgium and Europe. That city centre, with all its opportunities and possibilities, is easily accessed by public transport in less than half an hour.
Depending on your experience and your academic merits, you’ll receive a salary in one of the grades that have been set by the government. Standard inclusions include hospitalisation insurance and the free use of public transport for your home–work commute.
And if you prefer to bike to work? There’s compensation for that too. On both campuses, there are extensive sport facilities available to you and childcare facilities within walking distance.
You will be working for the BIRMM research centre coordination team, in the offices of the Brussels Schools of Governance (Pleinlaan 5). BIRMM, the ‘Brussels Interdisciplinary Research centre on Migration and Minorities’ joins over 100 VUB researchers from 11 disciplines (including political science, law, sociology, criminology, geography, medical sciences, communication sciences, linguistics, psychology and educational sciences, philosophy, and history) working on migration, minorities and diversity related topics. Within BIRMM’s coordination team, you will closely work with the research coordinator, the BIRMM directors, professors and researchers as well as ethnic minorities' (student) associations.
For more information on what it’s like to work at the VUB, go to www.vub.ac.be/en/jobs.
Applications
Applications can be submitted only ONLINE.
The application contains at least the following annexes (to be consolidated into a single PDF file to be sent by email to jobs_bsog@vub.be):
- The BSoG application form Application_Form_BSoG_0.docx (102.78 KB) "word".
- A CV (listing your academic qualifications, relevant research and/or work experience, and publications)
- A concise motivation letter
- A research proposal of max. 800 words (references excluded)
- A copy of your degree certificate (highest obtained diploma).
- A publication sample (academic article, part of PhD or other publication)