Research professor in Virology of DNA viruses (BOFZAP)

3 Apr 2026
Job Information

Organisation/Company

KU LEUVEN

Research Field

Medical sciences » Medicine

Researcher Profile

Leading Researcher (R4)
Established Researcher (R3)

Application Deadline

1 Sep 2026 - 23:59 (UTC)

Country

Belgium

Type of Contract

To be defined

Job Status

Full-time

Offer Starting Date

1 Sep 2027

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by a EU programme

Reference Number

BZI-2026-7

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

It is part of the assignment of the appointed candidate to develop an international, competitive research program, to pursue excellent scientific results at an international level and to support and promote national and international research partnerships. The candidate must meet a strong research profile or have the potential to do so. In addition, the candidate is expected to have a multidisciplinary attitude and a willingness to cooperate intensively with other researchers and research units at KU Leuven and at the University Hospital (UZ Leuven). 

The candidate:

• Is an excellent, internationally oriented researcher and develops a research program at the forefront in the field of human DNA viruses.
• Develops an own research group.
• Publishes at the highest scientific level articles in various leading international journals in the virology domain and/or broader international top journals.
• Focusses closely to the development and exploration of emerging technologies and treatment strategies for various DNA viruses.
• Supervises master students, PhD students and postdocs at a high international level. 
• Aims to acquire competitive research funding from national and/or international agencies and submits effective research project proposals for this purpose.
• Establishes both within KU Leuven, national and international partnerships in the context of the research program. 
• Strives for excellence in research and provides a contribution to the international research reputation of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Transplantation of the Biomedical Science Group, and KU Leuven. 
• Has a pronounced interest in fundamental research on DNA viruses, but also actively seeks to the valorization and applications of these findings, e.g., societal applicability (transfer of the fundamental and clinical research to the relevant patient group) on the one hand and applied research with an industrial finality on the other hand. The candidate can identify and pursue potential valorization of the research results in cooperation with clinicians (societal valorization) or with a valorization manager and the technology transfer unit Leuven Research and Development (industrial finality).

Although the position regards a research professorship at the start of employment, the candidate is expected to gradually contribute to state of the art teaching. 

The assignment of the candidate to be appointed also includes a teaching assignment.

He/she will contribute to the overall educational project of KU Leuven by providing high-level training, guidance and supervision of bachelor/master and PhD students in the lab in the framework of their thesis. The candidate also contributes to the pedagogic project of the faculty/university. He/she 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.

Scientific, societal  and internal services (administrative and/or institutional) are also part of the assignment.

• You have a MD/PhD or a PhD in either Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medical or Biomedical Sciences, (Molecular) Biology, Bioscience engineering, or equivalent.  
• You have by preference 5 years of postdoctoral experience and expertise with drug discovery programs.
• You have a strong research profile in the field and an indisputable research integrity.
• The quality of your research is proven by publications in prominent/leading international top journals. The high quality of your research should be evidenced by high-impact first and/or last author publications in international peer-reviewed journals.
• You have demonstrable qualities related to academic education. Teaching experience is a plus. 
• You possess organizational skills and have a cooperative attitude. You also have leadership skills within a university context.
• 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. 

• We offer full-time employment in an intellectually challenging environment. KU Leuven is a 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 researchers 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 regarding immigration and administration, housing, childcare, learning Dutch, partner career coaching, …
• To facilitate scientific onboarding and accelerate research in the first phase a starting grant of 110.000 euro is offered to new professors (subject to eligibility criteria). 

Before you start your application, please read the full description of the procedure and important information about attachments and templates under 'Call for Research Professorships (BOFZAP)' and 'Procedure application and selection’ under 'More information'.
More information on the content of the job can be obtained from the academic contact person Prof. Katrien Lagrou, katrien.lagrou@uzleuven.be , tel. +32 16 37 52 00 or Prof. Dominique Schols, dominique.schols@kuleuven.be , tel. +32 16 32 19 98.

More information on the guidelines, regulations and application file is available from Ms. Kristin Vermeylen (kristin.vermeylen@kuleuven.be ) or Ms. Martine van Nierop (martine.vannierop@kuleuven.be , tel. +32 16 32 76 98).

Where to apply

Website

https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60636606?hl=en

Requirements

Research Field

Medical sciences

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Languages

DUTCH

Level

Basic

Languages

ENGLISH

Level

Excellent

Research Field

Medical sciences » Medicine

Years of Research Experience

None

Additional Information
Benefits

• We offer full-time employment in an intellectually challenging environment. KU Leuven is a 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 researchers 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 regarding immigration and administration, housing, childcare, learning Dutch, partner career coaching, …
• To facilitate scientific onboarding and accelerate research in the first phase a starting grant of 110.000 euro is offered to new professors (subject to eligibility criteria). 

Eligibility criteria

• You have a MD/PhD or a PhD in either Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medical or Biomedical Sciences, (Molecular) Biology, Bioscience engineering, or equivalent.  
• You have by preference 5 years of postdoctoral experience and expertise with drug discovery programs.
• You have a strong research profile in the field and an indisputable research integrity.
• The quality of your research is proven by publications in prominent/leading international top journals. The high quality of your research should be evidenced by high-impact first and/or last author publications in international peer-reviewed journals.
• You have demonstrable qualities related to academic education. Teaching experience is a plus. 
• You possess organizational skills and have a cooperative attitude. You also have leadership skills within a university context.
• 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. 

Selection process

Before you start your application, please read the full description of the procedure and important information about attachments and templates under 'Call for Research Professorships (BOFZAP)' and 'Procedure application and selection’ under 'More information'.
More information on the content of the job can be obtained from the academic contact person Prof. Katrien Lagrou, katrien.lagrou@uzleuven.be , tel. +32 16 37 52 00 or Prof. Dominique Schols, dominique.schols@kuleuven.be , tel. +32 16 32 19 98.

More information on the guidelines, regulations and application file is available from Ms. Kristin Vermeylen (kristin.vermeylen@kuleuven.be ) or Ms. Martine van Nierop (martine.vannierop@kuleuven.be , tel. +32 16 32 76 98).

Website for additional job details

https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60636606?hl=en

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

KU LEUVEN

Country

Belgium

City

Leuven

Geofield

Contact

City

Leuven

STATUS: EXPIRED

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