KU Leuven, Belgium Opens 50+ PhD, Postdoctoral & Faculty Positions for 2026

KU Leuven (Belgium) has announced 50+ full-time and part-time academic and research job openings for 2026 across engineering, artificial intelligence, machine learning, health sciences, biomedical research, mathematics, linguistics, social sciences, philosophy, and sustainability. The vacancies include PhD scholarships, postdoctoral research positions, tenure-track and professor roles, research managers, and interdisciplinary projects in areas such as AI in healthcare, biomarker discovery, robotics, coastal engineering, wireless networks, material science, biomechanics, and human–AI collaboration. These positions are spread across Leuven, Brugge, Gent, Brussels, Kortrijk, Genk, and Diepenbeek, with application deadlines ranging from early January to July 2026.

Biomarker discovery for ALS

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 30/01/2026

AI-assisted CAD-to-CAM Optimization for Machining Processes

Full-time – Brugge , Apply until 22/01/2026

Postdoctoral researcher

Full-time – Genk, Apply until 30/01/2026

PLUS-ALS

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 30/01/2026

Tenure-track professor in Applied Linguistics with a focus on Journalism (Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven, Brussels)

Full-time – Brussel, Apply until 19/02/2026

Uncertainty-Aware Machine Learning for Risk Mitigation in Safety-Critical Systems

Full-time – Brugge, Apply until 22/01/2026

Postdoctoral position on innovative strategies for triploid breeding in banana

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 20/01/2026

Tenure-track professor in Applied Linguistics with a focus on Journalism (Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven, Brussels)

Full-time – Brussel, Apply until 19/02/2026

Two AI postdoc or machine learning engineer positions for oncology research

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 30/01/2026

Postdoctoral position to provide scientific and educational support within the domain of human movement biomechanics.

Part-time – Leuven, Apply until 29/01/2026

Elastic (non-)linear metamaterial concepts for efficient mitigation of low frequency transient vibrations in high precision systems

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 28/02/2026

PhD Position in Coastal Engineering: Modeling Dune Resilience to Wave Overwash

Full-time – Brugge, Apply until 12/01/2026

Psychosocial Healthcare in Primary Care

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 16/03/2026

Cellular mechanics and trafficking during the initial phases of thrombus formation

Full-time – Kortrijk, Apply until 12/03/2026

Professor in blootstellingswetenschappen en toxicologie

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 16/03/2026

PhD position for project in mathematical statistics

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 16/02/2026

Postdoctoral research position in mathematical statistics

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 16/02/2026

Professor in Formulation of Biologicals

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 09/03/2026

Interdisciplinary PhD: User-Centric Wireless Networks and Urban Co-Creation

Full-time – Gent, Apply until 27/03/2026

PhD Scholarship: Laser spectroscopy and mass spectrometry of metal and carbon hybrid clusters

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 31/01/2026

Development of novel implant types to avoid stress shielding in orthopaedic implants

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 12/02/2026

Tenuretrack professor in Cultural and Societal Storytelling (Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven)

Full-time – Kortrijk, Apply until 19/02/2026

Generating soft matter structures using direct ink writing 3D printing

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 16/01/2026

Mechatronic design of smart robotic tooling and systems

Full-time – Diepenbeek, Apply until 16/01/2026

PhD vacancy in Assessing Urban Gully Erosion and its impacts

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 20/01/2026

PhD or Postdoc Research Position: Web-Search Enabled LLMs for a Circular Economy

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 15/02/2026

Development of agentic CAE based mechanical design methods

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 30/01/2026

Diastolic function and ventriculo-arterial coupling in borderline small and hypoplastic left ventricles

 Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 05/01/2026

PhD in Health Monitoring of Aircraft Structures and Systems

Full-time – Gent, Apply until 31/03/2026

Development of novel methods for shock testing of space hardware

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 30/01/2026

Postdoctoral Position in Philosophy of Biology or Physics at KU Leuven, Belgium (two years fully funded)

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 16/02/2026

Quasi-static and dynamic behaviour of low density and high density additively manufactured lattice structures under multi-axial loading

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 05/02/2026

Research manager Sustainable Animal Production

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 15/01/2026

Researcher in mathematics learning, teaching and anxiety

Full-time – Kortrijk, Apply until 21/01/2026

Open PhD and postdoc positions in Human-AI Collaboration

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 04/01/2026

Chemodesign of polysaccharide-based microgels

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 30/01/2026

Data-Driven Digital Twins for Flexible Demanufacturing Systems

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 07/01/2026

Part-time / full-time Professor in Youth Health Care

Full-time or part-time employment possible – Leuven, Apply until 15/01/2026

PHD POSITION: JUST AND TRUSTWORTHY FOUNDATION MODELS FOR RHEUMATIC HEART DISEASE DETECTION

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 30/01/2026

PhD Positions in Wireless Spectrum Data Research – SpecX MSCA DN

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 30/01/2026

PhD Position: Deep learning for human movement and behaviour analysis

Full-time – Leuven,Apply until 30/01/2026

PhD Position in Machine Learning and Process Optimization for Sustainable Water

Full-time – Diepenbeek, Apply until 15/01/2026

Ph.D. position: Surface finishing of porous shoulder implants produced by additive manufacturing

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 02/02/2026

Marie Curie PhD Fellowship in Mechanical Metamaterials

Full-time – Gent, Apply until 31/07/2026

PhD Scholarship: Mechanobiology of Early Human Development

Full-time – Leuven, Apply until 29/01/2026