Doctoral fellow

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Doctoral fellow - Department of Political Sciences

Ghent University is one of the top 100 universities in the Dutch language area, with more than 44,000 students and 15,000 staff members.

Department PS03 - Department of Political Sciences

Degree Master's degree in Science & Technology Studies, sociology, philosophy, anthropology, political science, environmental science, or a related field.

Occupancy rate 100%

Vacancy type Research staff

ABOUT GHENT UNIVERSITY

Ghent University is a world of its own. Employing more than 15.000 people, it is actively involved in education and research, management and administration, as well as technical and social service provision on a daily basis. It is one of the largest, most exciting employers in the area and offers great career opportunities.
With its 11 faculties and more than 85 departments offering state-of-the-art study programmes grounded in research in a wide range of academic fields, Ghent University is a logical choice for its staff and students.

YOUR TASKS

The Centre for Sustainability Studies (CDO, www.cdo.ugent.be) is looking for a motivated PhD researcher for a four-year position within PFAROS, a large Horizon Europe project funded under the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) from 2026 to 2031. PFAROS brings together universities, research institutes, civil society organisations and companies from across the healthcare sector and waste industries to accelerate the transition away from PFAS substances in the pharmaceutical and medical technology sectors.

An important task within PFAROS is examining the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework - the European Commission’s reference framework for developing safer and more sustainable chemicals and materials - as it is applied to alternative PFAS options in the healthcare sector. CDO contributes to this task in two ways: (1) map how SSbD is understood, enacted, and negotiated by project partners and stakeholders across this large, industry‑academia consortium, and (2) analyse how you can broaden these actors’ reflexivity with regards to SSbD.

We approach SSbD not as a neutral or fixed instrument, but as a framework that is continuously interpreted, mobilised, and at times contested by actors with different interests, disciplines, and stakes. This PhD is grounded in Science & Technology Studies (STS) and Responsible Innovation (RI) scholarship, and treats reflexivity not as a checklist exercise but as a living, relational process unfolding between science, industry, and policy.

Because this project runs within a large, deadline‑driven European consortium, the position combines a genuinely critical research agenda with the discipline to deliver a set of concrete, pre‑agreed outputs on time (including a report about ‘Recommendations for a SSbD Framework towards replacing PFAS’ and a training tool to broaden SSbD reflexivty). Within these parameters, you will have substantial room to develop your own theoretical angle and empirical focus, and your findings will feed into peer‑reviewed publications and a PhD dissertation.

Your PhD will be embedded in an interdisciplinary and engaged research group that approaches sustainability issues from a critical social science perspective. Within CDO, you will join the Imagination & Responsibility in Science & Innovation research line, while working closely with the wider PFAROS consortium, including natural scientists, engineering scientists, companies, and civil society across several European countries.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• You hold (or will soon obtain) a Master's degre