You hold a PhD in Linguistics or equivalent and have successfully defended your dissertation at the time of submitting your application. You have a proven expertise in the linguistic aspects of cross-cultural/inter-cultural/multilingual communication and/or professional communication. You have excellent teaching skills and an affinity with designing and delivering multi-faceted university education.
You have a strong and validated, international academic portfolio with highly regarded publications in your field. You also have a clear vision of how your research can develop further in relation to the available research expertise.
You openly and enthusiastically contribute to the Applied Linguistics university study programmes of the future, in a spirit of open collaboration. Organisational skills, leadership qualities and good social skills are a must. Experience with scientific outreach or collaboration with the work field is a plus.
A good knowledge of English (C1) is required. 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, you will be given the opportunity to learn Dutch to the required standard.
The Linguistics Research Unit of the Faculty of Arts at KU Leuven is seeking a full-time tenure-track professor (ZAP) in Applied Linguistics: Intercultural Communication. The professorship will commence on 1 September 2026. KU Leuven is the largest university in Belgium and is consistently ranked within the top 10 universities in Europe. The University belongs to the League of European Research Universities (LERU) and attaches great importance to attracting and appreciating talent. At the Faculty of Arts, research is conducted in the fields of Arabic and Islamic studies, archaeology, art history, Chinese studies, history, Japanese studies, musicology, linguistics, literary and cultural studies and translation and interpretation studies. The Faculty employs over 800 junior and senior researchers, and teaches around 4,500 students in various study programmes at its campuses in Antwerp, Brussels, Kortrijk and Leuven. The Faculty strives to be an open and inclusive environment, with a focus on dialogue, social safety, sustainability and a healthy work-life balance. For this position, KU Leuven Brussels will be your home base. This campus combines the strength of KU Leuven with the closeness of a vibrant academic community and an educational approach that puts people at the heart of its programs. KU Leuven Brussels has a strong applied, international, and interdisciplinary research profile and actively fosters both regional and international collaboration. At KU Leuven Brussels, you will have the opportunity to develop innovative ideas and make a real impact in research and education. We are looking for a motivated lecturer and researcher (m/f/x) to be part of the Linguistics Research Unit and the Faculty of Arts at KU Leuven Brussels. The Linguistics Research Unit, which counts 50 senior and 100 junior researchers, is renowned for its internationally oriented synchronic and diachronic linguistic research across a wide range of languages, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Members of the research unit at the Brussels campus teach in the Bachelor of Applied Linguistics, the Master in Journalism, and the Master of Multilingual Communication: Cross-Cultural Communication Management. The researcher will contribute to the research profile of this latter master’s program, which focuses on the complex interaction between language, culture, and communication in international and multilingual contexts.
We offer a full-time tenure-track professorship (ZAP) in a dynamic faculty with diverse disciplines. You will be part of an intellectually challenging and international environment, with plenty of space and opportunity to grow as a lecturer and researcher, thus making a significant contribution to society. KU Leuven provides support and benefits for starting professors who have a partner and/or family, cf. www.kuleuven.be/english/life-at-ku-leuven/partner-and-family.
You will be appointed as tenure-track professor for a period of five years. After a positive assessment following the five-year term, you will receive a permanent professorship at the level of ‘hoofddocent’ (associate professor). Within this function promotions to higher academic degrees are possible. All academic degrees have the ius promovendi.
You will work in Brussels, the capital of Belgium and the European Union, twenty minutes from Leuven, the heart of KU Leuven, and less than two hours from Paris, London and Amsterdam.
The start date for this position is 1 September 2026. To facilitate scientific integration and the start-up of research, KU Leuven provides start-up funding of 110,000 euros for new professors.
KU Leuven is well equipped to welcome foreign professors and their families and offers practical support with immigration and administration, housing, childcare and career coaching for the partner.