Phd as part of an interdisciplinary project investigating how social identity processes influen

Psychological sciences » Behavioural sciences

Organisation/Company KU LEUVEN Research Field Medical sciences » Medicine Psychological sciences » Behavioural sciences Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Final date to receive applications 14 Aug 2026 - 23:59 (UTC) Country Belgium 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

RUN2

GETHER explores how collective running, one of the world’s most popular physical activities, can help build healthier citizens and more sustainable cities. Bringing together insights from biomechanics, from social and sport psychology, and from structural engineering stimulated by recent developments in machine learning, the project investigates how runners’ shared social identity can influence their movement synchrony, physical load, and interaction with the running infrastructures.

Using cutting-edge computer vision, wearable sensors, and citizen science, RUN2

GETHER will capture large-scale, real-world data during running events and group runs. These data will advance our understanding of how human collectives move together and how this can affect the performance and resilience of both individuals and of urban infrastructures such as bridges and running tracks. By engaging citizens as active contributors to science and running surface health monitoring, the project aims to transform running events into living laboratories for innovation in health, social cohesion, and sustainable city design.

There will be three PhD closely working together in this research project. This main topic of this specific PhD will be to identify social identity processes that influence synchrony and individual biomechanical load during group running and to determine how citizen science approaches can support running surface health monitoring while simultaneously enhancing their social identification with the (running) community.

• You have a Master's degree in Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences, Psychology or a related field with relevance to the subject of the PhD research.
• You have a good knowledge of and/or strong interest in social and sport psychology. Preferably, you have also knowledge and interest in biomechanics and human movement analysis.
• You have a multidisciplinary mindset. You are creative, take initiative, and can work independently. You are also a team player and are looking forward to work closely with other researchers from different disciplines (engineering and computer science)
• You have an excellent CV and are willing to write a personal funding application with the assistance of the supervisors.
• You have communication skills and a sense of responsibility.
• You are willing to take up some teaching tasks.

(Candidates who have not yet graduated but have a strong curriculum vitae by the Final date to receive applications are encouraged to apply.)

• Conducting scientific research in the field of social identity and running behaviour.
• Supervising master thesis projects in this research domain.
• Providing teaching assistance in courses depending on the candidate's profile.
• Providing administrative and technical support for activities within the Department of Movement Sciences, and the faculty.
• Conducting scientific research in the field of social identity and running behaviour.
• Supervising master thesis projects in this research domain.
• Providing teaching assistance in courses depending on the candidate's profile.
• Providing administrative and technical support for activities within the Department of Movement Sciences, and the faculty.

• You have a Master's degree in Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences, Psychology or a related field with relevance to the subject of the PhD research.
• You have a good knowledge of and/or strong interest in social and sport psychology. Preferably, you have also knowledge and interest in biomechanics and human movement analysis.
• You have a multidisciplinary mindset. You are creative, take initiative, and can work independently. You are also a team player and are looking forward to work closely with other researchers from different disciplines (engineering and computer science)
• You have an excellent CV and are willing to write a personal funding application with the assistance of the supervisors.
• You have communication skills and a sense of responsibility.
• You are willing to take up some teaching tasks.

(Candidates who have not yet graduated but have a strong curriculum vitae by the Final date to receive applications are encouraged to apply.)

Selection process