Research professor in Virology of DNA viruses (BOFZAP

Organisation/Company KU LEUVEN Research Field Medical sciences » Medicine Researcher Profile Leading Researcher (R4) Established Researcher (R3) Final date to receive applications 1 Sep 2026 - 23:59 (UTC) Country Belgium Type of Contract To be defined Job Status Full-time Offer Starting Date 1 Sep 2027 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Reference Number BZI-2026-7 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

It is part of the assignment of the appointed candidate to develop an international, competitive research program, to pursue excellent scientific results at an international level and to support and promote national and international research partnerships. The candidate must meet a strong research profile or have the potential to do so. In addition, the candidate is expected to have a multidisciplinary attitude and a willingness to cooperate intensively with other researchers and research units at KU Leuven and at the University Hospital (UZ Leuven).

The candidate:

• Is an excellent, internationally oriented researcher and develops a research program at the forefront in the field of human DNA viruses.
• Develops an own research group.
• Publishes at the highest scientific level articles in various leading international journals in the virology domain and/or broader international top journals.
• Focusses closely to the development and exploration of emerging technologies and treatment strategies for various DNA viruses.
• Supervises master students, PhD students and postdocs at a high international level.
• Aims to acquire competitive research funding from national and/or international agencies and submits effective research project proposals for this purpose.
• Establishes both within KU Leuven, national and international partnerships in the context of the research program.
• Strives for excellence in research and provides a contribution to the international research reputation of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Transplantation of the Biomedical Science Group, and KU Leuven.
• Has a pronounced interest in fundamental research on DNA viruses, but also actively seeks to the valorization and applications of these findings, e.g., societal applicability (transfer of the fundamental and clinical research to the relevant patient group) on the one hand and applied research with an industrial finality on the other hand. The candidate can identify and pursue potential valorization of the research results in cooperation with clinicians (societal valorization) or with a valorization manager and the technology transfer unit Leuven Research and Development (industrial finality).

Although the position regards a research professorship at the start of employment, the candidate is expected to gradually contribute to state of the art teaching.

The assignment of the candidate to be appointed also includes a teaching assignment.

He/she will contribute to the overall educational project of KU Leuven by providing high-level training, guidance and supervision of bachelor/master and PhD students in the lab in the framework of their thesis. The candidate also contributes to the pedagogic project of the faculty/university. He/she develops teaching in accordance with KU Leuven’s vision on activating and research‑based education and makes use of the possibilities for the educational professionalization offered by the faculty and the university.

Scientific, societal and internal services (administrative and/or institutional) are also part of the assignment.

• You have a MD/PhD or a PhD in either Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medical or Biomedical Sciences, (Molecular) Biology, Bioscience engineering, or equivalent.
• You have by preference 5 years of postdoctoral experience and expertise with drug discovery programs.
• You have a strong research profile in the field and an indisputable research integrity.
• The quality of your research is proven by publications in prominent/leading international top journals. The high quality of your research should be evidenced by high-impact first and/or last author publications in…