PhD student position in organizational psychology at UCLouvain​/IPSY

Organisation/Company Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) Department IPSY Research Field Psychological sciences ‰ Other Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Final date to receive applications 20 Aug 2026 - 17:00 (Europe/Brussels) 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 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Vacant PhD position in organizational psychology at UCLouvain/IPSY

Professor Gaëtane Caesens is looking for a talented and motivated PhD-student for a full-time PhD position at the Psychological Sciences Research Institute (IPSY), UCLouvain. The project seeks to investigate alcohol use among employees:
Organizational, work-related, and individual predictors of drinking motives.

The institute

The Psychological Sciences Research Institute (IPSY) of the UCLouvain is composed of approx. 300 members. It enjoys an outstanding national and international reputation and maintains fruitful scientific collaborations with leading universities around the world. The Institute provides researchers with personalized assistance and support in editing, statistics, ethics, access to a participant pool, budget and project management. More information about the institute is given here:  ;

The project

The PhD will be carried out at UCLouvain (Psychological Sciences Research Institute) under the supervision of Professor Gaëtane Caesens and Professor Pierre Maurage (Psychological Sciences Research Institute). This PhD project aims to deepen the understanding of the factors (i.e., organizational, work-related and individual) influencing alcohol consumption among employees.

Key responsibilities

• Preparation of a dissertation, leading to a PhD degree consisting of a collection of articles.
• Literature search and review
• Hypothesis-driven development and execution of quantitative research (e.g., data collection, conducting cross-sectional or longitudinal surveys)
• Analyze results
• Communication at conferences and publications in international peer-reviewed journals
• Supervision of master thesis projects

Person specifications / Selection criteria

• Master’s degree (120 ECTS) in (preferably work and organizational) psychology; to be completed before the start of the position, and awarded with at least the equivalent of a distinction
• Excellent written (and ideally spoken) English. Proficiency in French is a plus.
• Proficiency in standard software of the social sciences (e.g., SPSS) and strong quantitative data analyses skills
• A strong interest in organizational psychology
• You are committed to ethical, responsible, transparent, and open science.
• You are pro-active and well-organized. You can work independently, but you are also a team player (good collaborative skills).

Desirable also:

• Experience with organizational psychology research
  • Knowledge of advanced statistical techniques and software (e.g., multi-level or longitudinal, structural equation modeling; Mplus)
  • Publication experience

Terms and conditions

• Fulltime employment for 15 months with extension (if evaluated positively) for 2 additional years. The post must lead to completing a PhD thesis in 4 years.
• Stimulating work and learning environment in which you acquire relevant expertise as a researcher
• The bursary follows the standard PhD scholarship rates in Belgium.

Research Field Psychological sciences ‰ Psychology Education Level Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

• Master’s degree (120 ECTS) in (preferably work and organizational) psychology; to be completed before the start of the position, and awarded with at least the equivalent of a distinction
• Excellent written (and ideally spoken) English. Proficiency in French is a plus.
• Proficiency in standard software of the social sciences (e.g., SPSS) and strong quantitative data analyses skills
• A strong interest in organizational psychology
• You are committed to ethical, responsible, transparent, and open science.
• You are pro-active and well-organized. You can work independently, but you are also a…