Postdoctoral Position in Philosophy of Biology or Physics , Belgium

Organisation/Company KU LEUVEN Research Field Philosophy » Philosophy of science Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Country Belgium Final date to receive applications 16 Feb 2026 - 23:59 (UTC) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Offer Starting Date 1 Oct 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Reference Number BAP
- Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

What is life? This enduring question has captivated thinkers for centuries, inspiring diverse approaches to defining life and distinguishing it from nonlife. Schrödinger famously addressed the issue from the perspective of physics and, more recently, philosophers of biology outlined a variety of approaches to understanding life. These range from capturing life’s essential features to questioning if ’life’ itself is a valid, objective category.

While there is no consensus, most scientists agree that living organisms must have compartmentalised components, need to encode and process information, catalyse reactions, and be able to reproduce. Life emerges from complex interactions among components, yet the boundary between the nonliving and the living remains unclear and deeply intriguing. The challenge of defining life is important not just for understanding life on Earth, but for our search for possible extraterrestrial lifeforms.

It is a topic requiring diverse expertise, including physics, biology, and philosophy of science. This project is led by four PIs, philosopher of biology Grant Ramsey and philosopher of physics Sylvia Wenmackers from the Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science, Bart Smeets from the Department of Biosystems, and Lendert Gelens from the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. It will involve philosophical work on the boundary between living and nonliving matter (especially in active matter systems), empirical work in the Gelens lab using extracts made from Xenopus frog eggs and embryonic cells assembled in controlled environments, and modelling work in the Smeets lab that probes the nature and dynamics of lifelike properties and self‑organising dynamics.

The goal is to rethink the question “what is life?” using this unique combination of skills within the framework of synthetic biology and artificial life research. The post‑doctoral researcher is expected to help develop a framework to understand the nature and objectives of synthetic biology and artificial life research more generally, addressing how the activities and products of these fields contribute to our comprehension of life.

This framework will guide subsequent in‑silico and in‑vitro experiments and will use the results to rethink how we should characterise life in general. Moreover, the post‑doctoral researcher will aid in developing an accessible web‑based tool to enable users to explore the emergence of life from its components, based on findings from this project. This initiative aims to engage the public and gather insights into their perceptions of artificial life and its boundaries.

The successful candidate will join the project “Boundaries of Life:

The Role of Self‑Organization in the Transition from Non‑Living to Living Systems” and will be housed in the Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science in the Institute of Philosophy at KU Leuven, Belgium. As part of this project, the postdoc will be expected to write and publish journal articles, present their work at conferences, aid in designing our interactive web‑based platform, and organise one or more workshops.

While the postdoc will be embedded within the Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science, they will also be expected to collaborate with the labs of Bart Smeets and Lendert Gelens. There will be some additional responsibilities linked to the Institute and Centre, including some teaching duties (1–2 courses per year). The candidate must have a PhD degree in a relevant subject.

The PhD can be in Philosophy of Science; applicants with a PhD in Biology or in Physics, but who have experience in the philosophy of biology or the philosophy of physics, will…