* Apply until 09/01/2026 (DD/MM/YYYY) 23:59 (Brussels time)
* Discipline: Sustainable circular technology
* 100% Assistant professor tenure track
* Reference number: 202511/BW24/ZAP/004
ABOUT GHENT UNIVERSITY
Ghent University is a world-class, open, pluralistic and socially engaged university. Our credo is 'Dare to Think': we are a haven for courageous thinkers.
With one of the most progressive career models for academics in the world, Ghent University evaluates its scholars not only by the length of their publication list but also by the impact they pursue, what they achieve and how they collaborate.
Are you a good 'fit' with our university? Discover here our vision on education and research.
ASSIGNMENT
In response to various environmental problems, nowadays adequate technologies are available aimed at both reducing harmful emissions and preventing pollution as much as possible through a source-oriented approach. Clean-up technology and clean technology are complementary in protecting the natural environment and safeguarding valuable raw materials for future generations. These technologies play a vital role in our society today. They are being further developed, and innovative approaches are being sought, both in industry and at research institutions and universities.
Circular technology is the next evolution in environmental technology, necessary to prevent the irreversible loss of valuable raw materials at all stages of the lifecycle as much as possible, while also drastically increasing the resource efficiency of our activities.
Valuable raw materials are not exclusively primary; due to the rapid increase in raw material use in our society, secondary raw materials are rapidly gaining importance. With the European Circular Economy Action Plan (2016 and 2020) and Circular Flanders (2020), policy places circular innovation high on the agenda. We currently face many "transition challenges" in the areas of sustainable energy and food supply, mobility, housing, and so on. Circular material flows are essential to achieving these transitions. Moreover, many innovative technologies utilize so-called critical materials, which put pressure on the resilience of new value chains in resource-poor regions.
Because circular technology is not necessarily equivalent to sustainable technology, we need a thorough sustainability assessment of the various circular strategies and the entire product life cycle. Measuring circularity is a scientific challenge; it is currently measured and evaluated in a wide variety of ways, leading to confusion and unfair comparisons. Classic sustainability assessment methods such as life cycle assessment (LCA) were conceived in the era of the linear economy and are therefore not necessarily adequate in a circular economy.
The position, funded by the Special Research Fund, is granted the privilege of focusing primarily on research for a period of 5 years. During that period the teaching load will be limited to no more than 8 ECTS credits per semester on average over a period of 3 years.
For the further development of the academic career, please see 'Appointment information' below.
Academic research
You conduct innovative and internationally recognized research in the field of Sustainable circular technology.
Profile text
This BOF-TT mandate focuses on sustainable circular technology and the (preferably quantitative) evaluation of (environmental) sustainability in relation to the circularity of materials, such as plastics and bio-based materials. The mission is to research and further develop sustainability evaluation methods and concepts for sustainable materials management in a circular economy, with applications in various key sectors such as food, bioeconomy, chemistry, and renewable energy, to support policymakers, businesses, and consumers.
Key research themes:
* Studying and quantifying (circular) material flows throughout the technosphere
* Studying the use of critical materials and their circularity in the context of renewable energy
* Studying trade-offs between circularity and (environmental) sustainability
* Comparing different circularity strategies (reuse, recycling, cascading, etc.) in relation to sustainability
* Researching methods for prospective sustainability assessment of new circular technologies and estimating scale effects
* Quantifying the substitutability of primary and secondary materials
* Investigating circularity and developing indicators to support product design
* Integrating environmental sustainability aspects into a global sustainability framework to support communication and decision-making
Synergy and complementarity:
This BOF-TT mandate on sustainable circular technology offers extensive opportunities for collaboration within the department, the faculty, nationally, and internationally. Within the research field of the Department BW24 - Green Chemistry and Technology, the research for this mandate is primarily product-oriented technological in nature, but analytical and process aspects also play a vital role. The research field therefore aligns primarily with the Sustainable Systems Engineering research group (STEN, Prof. Jo Dewulf). Other, complementary research groups within BW24 are LCPE (Prof. Steven De Meester), which focuses on the development of circular processes to valorise organic and plastic waste, PaInt (Prof. Marjolein Vanoppen), LIWET (Prof. Stijn Van Hulle and Prof. Diederik Rousseau), ReSource (Prof. Erik Meers), TCCB (Prof. Frederik Ronsse) and BioCo (Prof. Eveline Volcke), which work on water reuse and recovery of useful components from water and biomass flows, as well as ECOCHEM (Prof. Gijs Du Laing and Prof. Filip Tack), which focuses on making the value chain of critical raw materials and technology for the extraction and recycling of (critical) metals more sustainable.
At the level of the Faculty of Bioscience engineering, there are opportunities for collaboration with, for example, BW23 (Food Technology, Food Safety and Health) focused on making packaging (Prof. Peter Ragaert) and food process technology (Prof. Imca Sampers and Prof. Katleen Raes) more sustainable.
This mandate can also connect internationally with research institutions focused on sustainable materials management, such as TU Wien, Empa (ETH, Zurich), and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. Sustainable circular technology also aligns with the mission of the CAPTURE research cluster, which aims to accelerate technological innovations in sustainable resource recovery, and the Flemish research support center CE Center, which unites policy-relevant research in the circular economy.
Academic education
You lecture various course units in the discipline of Sustainable circular technology, related to sustainable systems engineering (Sustainable Systems Engineering) and sustainability assessment (Sustainability Assessment). This BOF-TT mandate offers an excellent platform to translate the knowledge gained from research in (environmental) sustainability assessment in a circular economy into education through new or existing courses. This allows for the thorough incorporation of recent trends in environmental sustainability and sustainable materials management in a circular economy into current and future-oriented education. Sustainability assessment is primarily viewed from an environmental perspective, but integration into a global sustainability framework (with socio-economic aspects) is essential. These courses therefore focus on broadening knowledge on the one hand, and on acquiring key methods useful in later professional life on the other, and on connecting students with practical examples.
Institutional and societal engagement
Based on your expertise and experience, you will contribute to the university's operations and/or take on external assignments.
PROFILE
* You have a strong academic CV with international visibility in the requested field:
* Your achievements in the field of research and education contribute to the development of the scientific domain (e.g. publications, presentations, or other academic output);
* You are capable to initiate and supervise educational and research projects and to acquire the necessary funding for this;
* You are didactically skilled to teach university students to develop academic competences;
* Mobility is recommended (e.g. education, research, economic, or societal).
* You work in a collaborative way and integrate smoothly into the department/faculty. You look for opportunities inside and outside the university and actively use your network to do so.
* You show leadership potential/have leadership experience. More information about leadership at Ghent University.
* If you don't know Dutch, you are willing to learn it. This will be assessed during the selection interview. When taking up a teaching assignment, you must master the language of instruction of the course. More information about the language requirements and appropriate language guidance at Ghent University.
APPOINTMENT INFORMATION
(docent – BOF TT)
* We offer you a temporary appointment in a tenure track system for a term of five years. If positively evaluated by the University Board, the term of office will be transferred into a permanent appointment as an associate professor. At that moment the time devoted to research, education and institutional and societal engagement may be altered.
The recruitment is from 1 september 2026.
OUR OFFER
Ghent University has developed a new inspiring career model for professors. Academic freedom and academics' responsibility, talents and ambitions act as a natural drive to advance their careers, as part of teamwork.
Ghent University is specifically committed to guiding international professors in the process of coming to Ghent. At Ghent University, our view is as broad as possible, because internationalisation creates synergies within and outside the institution.
We offer you a wide range of employee benefits. The basic teacher training and courses in 'Dutch' and 'English' for foreign-speaking lecturers are just a few of our wide range of courses and training.
Candidates who are newly appointed at Ghent University with an appointment of at least 50% receive a Starting Grant of € 240,000 to contribute towards the personnel, operating and/or equipment costs. Furthermore, professors who meet the conditions may be eligible for Basic Research Funding.
DIVERSITY
Ghent University pursues an equal opportunities policy and values everyone's talent, regardless of gender, age, philosophy of life, skin color, sexual orientation, migration background or disability. We encourage everyone to apply.
Ghent University strives for a gender balance, whereby a maximum of three-fifths of the doctoral members of the academic staff are of the same sex. As long as this target has not been met at the level of the scientific group, priority will be given to candidates of the under-represented sex for senior academic staff mandates with mainly research assignments in the event of equal qualifications. This precedence is not automatic and unconditional; the personal situation of each candidate is always taken into account when assessing the applications.
Interruptions in research careers and/or atypical career paths (e.g. relevant experience outside the academic sector) will be taken into account when assessing the application.
SELECTION PROCEDURE
The selection committee will carry out an initial, substantive screening of the admissible applications on the file. This assessment takes into consideration both the candidate's merits and potential.
Ghent University emphasizes the qualitative assessment of academic performance. Therefore, candidates are asked in the application form to mention their most important academic or non-academic achievements with the most impact.
For shortlisted candidates, the following steps in the selection procedure shall consist of at least:
* a selection interview in which the vision and planning regarding education, research, and institutional and societal engagement as well as the embedding in the bigger picture are discussed
* a trial lesson on a subject in the relevant field
* a screening of leadership
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
* You hold a thesis-based doctorate or a diploma or certificate that is recognized as equivalent.
* You have at least two years of postdoctoral experience on 1 september 2026. This term of two years is determined by the date mentioned on the required diploma.
* Your application meets the formal requirements (submitted on time, complete: with a completed application form and a copy of the diploma, delivered via e-recruitment).
HOW TO APPLY
Apply online through the e-recruitment system before the application deadline (see above). We do not accept late or incomplete applications, or applications that are not sent through the online system.
Your application must include the following documents:
* In the field 'Application form': the application form + a mandatory appendix in which you explain your vision on research that will be realized during the next term of the mandate of ZAP member with mainly research assignment. Minimum 3 – maximum 5 pages, references not included. All this combined as a one-pdf file.
* In the field 'Diploma': a transcript of your doctoral degree. If you have a foreign diploma in a language other than our national languages (Dutch, French or German) or English, please add a translation in one of the mentioned languages.
* In the field 'Certificate of equivalence': only for diplomas awarded outside the European Union: certificate of equivalence (NARIC) (if already in you possession). For diplomas awarded in the UK before January 31st of 2020, a certificate of equivalence is not required.
Note that the maximum file size for each field is 10 MB.
MORE INFORMATION
For further information regarding this vacancy, please contact Professor Eveline Volcke, at the faculty Bioscience Engineering, department Green Chemistry and Technology.
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