PhD Researcher - Scientific project on Education-based social identities

1 - Working at the VUB

For more than 50 years, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has stood for freedom, equality and solidarity, and this is very much alive on our campuses among students and staff alike. 

At the VUB, you will find a diverse collection of personalities: innovators pur sang, but above all people who are 100% their authentic selves. With some 4,000 employees, we are the largest Dutch-speaking employer, in the private sector, in Brussels; an international city with which we are only too happy to connect and where (around) our 4 campuses are located. 

Add to this our principle of free research - in which self-reflection, a critical attitude and an open, creative mind around scientific and social issues are central - and you have a university that is fundamentally groundbreaking and pioneering in education and research. In short: the VUB all over again. 

Moreover, the VUB is a member of EUTOPIA, an alliance of like-minded European universities, all ready to reinvent themselves.

2 - Position description

The Faculty Social Sciences & Solvay Business School, Department Sociologie, Research Group Brussels Institute for Social and Population Studies is looking for a PhD-student with a doctoral grant. 

More concretely your work package, for the preparation of a doctorate, contains: 

You will be appointed to a scientific project on Education-based social identities funded by the Research Foundation—Flanders and led by VUB (supervisor: Bram Spruyt) and the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences of the University of Groningen (supervisors: Toon Kuppens and Namkje Koudenburg).

You will form part of the Research group Brussels Institute for Social and Population Studies research cluster TOR.

Your work package for preparing a doctorate is informed by the growing societal discontent among lower-status groups and concerns about the dominance of the highly educated.

Against that background, this PhD project aims to achieve a better understanding of the particularities of education-based status processes by systematically comparing them with groups based on more purely economic grounds. To that end, we seek to answer three specific RQ’s that refer to the origins and consequences of education-based status and which cover the cognitive (RQ1), emotional/social (RQ2) and strategic (RQ3) dimensions of social status.

RQ1: What does a high/low education signal to others, how does this compare with categories based on income/ wealth, and are these characteristics related to social identity and socio-political attitudes?

RQ2: Does education-based status lead to a sense of entitlement, the feeling that one’s opinion is relevant and deserved to be heard, (RQ2a)? And if so, what effects does a sense of entitlement have for social interaction and behavior concerning political issues (RQ2b)?

RQ3: How do dominant groups react when the status quo concerning relations of dominance is openly questioned?

To answer these questions, the project will rely on both cross-sectional survey data, population-based experiments, and small group interaction studies that enable us to assess whether the manipulation in terms of (a) category salience or (b) threat of the status quo results in adaptations of thoughts and behavior. In close collaboration with your supervisors, you will design the concrete studies, carry out data collection, analyze the data, and report the results.

For this function, our Brussels Humanities, Sciences & Engineering Campus (Elsene) will serve as your home base. 

3 - Profile

What do we expect from you?

• You have obtained a master's degree in social sciences (sociology, social psychology, political science, communication science). Students who graduate in June 2025 can also apply.

• ​​​​​​​You have proven research interest in areas related to the topic of the call (education, quantitative analysis, social identities). Knowledge of or experience with experimental research and interest in political attitudes are considered a particular asset;
• You are open-minded and creative, and keen on pursuing interdisciplinary research approaches. In particular, you have familiarity with, or have eagerness and a plan to develop your knowledge in, social identity theory relevant to your research plan;
• You can operate in a multicultural and multidisciplinary research team. You have the mindset of a team player, and look forward to collaborating with your peers at the Brussels Institute for Social and Population Studies:
• You are fluent in English.

• You have not performed any works in the execution of a mandate as an assistant, paid from operating resources, over a total (cumulated) period of more than 12 months.

The VUB wants to be a reflection of the society where everyone's talent is valued, regardless of gender, age, religion, skin color, migration background, disability and neurodiversity.

4 - Offer

Are you going to be our new colleague?

You’ll be offered a full-time PhD-scholarship, for 12 months (extendable up to max. 48 months, on condition of the positive evaluation of the PhD activities), with planned starting date 01/09/2025 or 01/10/2025.

You’ll receive a grant linked to one of the scales set by the government.

IMPORTANT: The effective result of the doctorate scholarship is subject to the condition precedent of your enrolment as a doctorate student at the university.

At the VUB, you’re guaranteed an open, involved and diverse workplace where you are offered opportunities to (further) build on your career.

As well as this, you will also enjoy various other benefits:

• Extensive homeworking options, a telework allowance of 50 euros per month OR an internet fee of 20 euros per month;
• An open and informal working environment where attention is paid to work-life balance, and exceptional holiday arrangements with 35 days of leave (based on a fulltime contract), closure between Christmas and New Year and 3 extra leave days;
• Cost-free hospitalisation insurance;
• Full reimbursement of your home-to-work commute with public transport according to VUB-policy, and/or compensation if you come by bike; 
• A wide selection of meals in our campus restaurants at attractive prices;
• Excellent and affordable facilities for sport and exercise, a range of discounts via Benefits@Work (in  all kinds of shops, on flights, in petrol stations, amusement parks...) and Ecocheques; 
• Nursery near campus, discount on holiday camps; 
• The space to form your job content and to continuously learn through our VUB learning platforms and training courses;
• And finally: great colleagues with a healthy drive.

5 - Interested?

Is this the job you’ve been dreaming of?

Then apply, at the latest on 22/06/2025, via jobs.vub.be, and upload the following documents:

• your CV;
• your motivation letter;
• your master's thesis;
• your diploma (not applicable for VUB alumni).

Selected candidates will be invited for an in-person job interview on 1/7/2025.

Do you have questions about the job content? Contact Bram Spruyt at [email protected] or on 0494472699.

Would you like to know what it’s like to work at the VUB? Go to jobs.vub.be, and find all there is to know about our campuses, benefits, strategic goals and your future colleagues.

Would you like more information about EUTOPIA? Go to eutopia-university.eu, and read more about the role of the VUB in the development of the EUTOPIA alliance.