We are looking for talented researchers to apply for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship 2025 grant.
We welcome expressions of interest in the following research areas:
- Professor Tuba Bircan (tuba.bircan@vub.be): the impact of digitalisation, public perception, and information flows on migration, equal opportunities, and gender. Professor Bircan is interested in hosting a project exploring these interconnected topics through rigorous social science approaches, including mixed methods and computational techniques. She particularly welcomes innovative research proposals investigating: migration and integration policies, especially in relation to public perception and social equity; equal opportunities and gender perspectives in diverse social or digital contexts; misinformation, media channels, and data-driven strategies to counter online misinformation; novel methodological frameworks (computational social science, mixed methods) to analyse complex social phenomena.
- Professor Pieter-Paul Verhaeghe (pieter-paul.verhaeghe@vub.be): intergenerational social mobility and racism. Potential projects may investigate income, educational, or social class mobility - examining how social mobility patterns vary across countries, social groups, or policy environments. In the area of racism, Professor Verhaeghe welcomes research addressing implicit bias, discrimination, and racial attitudes, as well as more structural or historically rooted forms of racism.
- Professor Bram Spruyt (bram.spruyt@vub.be): a proposed research topic „Towards a better understanding of the social and identity dynamics that explain support for radical politics” focusing on the long-term societal dynamics that may explain the recent rise of populism, radical right/left voting, and nativism. More specifically, the project would aim to focus on the social origins of feelings of societal alienation and marginalization to answer the following research question: To what extent does the support for radical politics result from the difficulties of finding a positive social identity or even experiencing social stigma among specific groups (e.g., the less educated, the working class, etc.)?
- Professor Sylvie Gadeyne (sylvie.gadeyne@vub.be): global health inequalities. Central themes include disparities in mortality and disease burden related to cancer, cardiovascular diseases, dementia, suicide, and violent deaths, as well as inequalities in cancer incidence. The project should critically examine how these inequalities vary across age groups, between men and women, and between regions—with a strong emphasis on international comparisons. She is particularly interested in proposals that employ rigorous and creative social science approaches, including mixed methods and computational techniques, to uncover the complex and intersecting factors driving these disparities. Projects that offer fresh perspectives on how structural, demographic, and policy differences shape health outcomes across countries are especially welcome.
The MSCA-PF is a prestigious European funding programme that supports mobility, career development, and training within and beyond Europe. The scheme offers highly competitive salary and research costs. Applicants must comply with the eligibility criteria of the MSCA PF 2025 call:
- To have a PhD by the call deadline (September 10, 2025)
- To have up to 8 years of research experience after the PhD
- To be citizens of an EU State or of an Associated Country or long-term resident in Europe (only for Global Fellowship)
- Not to have resided or carried their main activity in Belgium for more than 12 in the 36 months before the call deadline (September 10, 2025) – for European Fellowship
- Not to have resided or carried their main activity in the country of the Host Institution in the third country for more than 12 in the 36 months before the call deadline (September 10, 2025) – for a Global Fellowship.
Besides, candidates should be fluent in English, should have excellent teamwork attitude, organizational skills and ability to work in a multidisciplinary environment.
Applicants should check that they fulfil all the eligibility criteria and send an expression of interest by the end of June 2025, consisting of (1) a CV and (2) a motivation letter outlining their research interests, explaining their suitability for the fellowship and presenting a preliminary project idea, directly to the potential supervisor (emails provided above). For general questions, please contact dorota.celinska-janowicz@vub.be
We look forward to discussing how your research ambitions align with our interdisciplinary focus and to collaborating on a successful MSCA PF proposal!
