University of Antwerp, Belgium invites online Application for number of Fully Funded PhD Degree at various Departments. We are providing a list of Fully Funded PhD Programs available at University of Antwerp, Belgium.
Eligible candidate may Apply as soon as possible.
(01) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Doctoral scholarship holder International Relations
- You will actively work on the preparation and defence of a PhD thesis in International Relations. You will be jointly supervised by Professors Marijn Hoijtink and Jorg Kustermans.
- You will conduct independent research on concepts of war and peace in a changing international environment. The candidate should have an affinity for the research agenda of one or ideally both supervisors, focusing on conceptions of peace and war, technology, and their intersections.
- You will collaborate with supervisors on research and international scientific publications, or write them independently.
- You will prepare a research funding proposal, if eligible.
- You will present your research at conferences and workshops and contribute to science communication.
- You will carry out a limited number of teaching and research support tasks for the Department of Political Science and the International Politics research group.
Deadline : 9 July 2026
(02) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Doctoral scholarship holder lobbying and EU public policy
- You will work actively on the preparation and defence of a PhD thesis in the field of Political Science. Your research focuses on interest group mobilization across the EU policy cycle. This PhD project is embedded in a collaborative and internationally oriented research environment with strong expertise in EU politics, interest groups, and public policy analysis. Under the supervision of dr. Frederik Stevens (Politics and Public Governance), Prof. Peter Bursens and Prof. Dirk De Bièvre (International Politics), you will study how interest groups strategise, gain access, and exert influence across different stages of the EU policy process.
- You are expected to gradually develop independence in designing and executing your research while benefiting from close supervision, structured feedback, and integration in ongoing research activities.
- You will publish scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals.
- You will carry out a limited number of teaching and research support tasks for the Department of Political Science.
- You will prepare and submit an FWO PhD fellowship application within the first year of the appointment, in close collaboration with the supervisory team.
Deadline : August 17th 2026
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(03) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Doctoral scholarship holder thermal energy system optimization
- You will actively work on the preparation and defence of a PhD thesis in the field of thermal energy system optimization. The PhD project is part of a larger research project in collaboration with Ghent University and KU Leuven on the implementation of high-temperature heat pumps in industrial chemical batch processes. The focus of this PhD will be on the integration of the heat pump in the industrial process, taking into account the transient heating and cooling demands of different processes. A design and optimization methodology for both the integration architecture (combination of heat pump, thermal energy storage and possibly e-boilers), component sizing and control strategy will be developed.
- You will draw up a research plan and corresponding research methods in consultation with your supervisor(s) and undertake the necessary administration for a smooth PhD process.
- You will conduct the research efficiently and to an appropriate standard, possibly abroad, and compete for funding for general or specific costs.
- You will report progress to your supervisor(s) and committees, and present your research at scientific conferences.
- You will defend your thesis publicly and aim for publication in the scientific press.
- You will make a supporting, scientific contribution to existing research projects or lines of research within beyond your own doctoral research.
- You will compete for internal or external predoctoral funding.
- In addition to project-based research, you will also be responsible for a limited range of support tasks related to teaching and/or research management within the EMIB (Energy and Materials in Infrastructure and Buildings) research group.
Deadline : 9 July 2026
(04) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Doctoral scholarship holder sodium-ion batteries
The research group Applied Electrochemistry and Catalysis (ELCAT) in the Faculty of Applied Engineering is looking for a full time (100%) doctoral scholarship holder in the field of sodium-ion batteries. Batteries will be crucial to transform our society to a sustainable one. As a PhD student you will therefore conduct research to understand how electrode architecture and operating conditions affect performance and study the influence on lifetime.
Within the research group ELCAT you will find yourself in an excellent research environment consisting of more than 50 researchers and equipped with state-of-the-art lab facilities and research equipment. The scope of ELCAT is situated in the field of electrochemistry and electrochemical engineering. Its scientific activities are related to the development of state-of-the-art electrochemical reactors and batteries, striving towards a green and sustainable industry and society.
Deadline : July 08th 2026
(05) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Doctoral scholarship holder in children’s literature studies
- ou will work actively on the preparation and defence of a PhD dissertation on “Scenes of friendship in German and English children’s literature.” Friendship is a central theme in children’s literature, with many famous friends populating both classics and contemporary titles. Despite its omnipresence, a systematic exploration of friendship in children’s books is currently lacking. Starting in sociology, friendship studies has only recently emerged as a vibrant field in cultural studies, with key publications by historian Barbara Caine (2009), philosopher Alexander Nehamas (2010) and literary scholar Andree Michaelis-König (2023). In times of polarization, the abilities to foster meaningful and reciprocal connections with other human beings, to overcome differences and resolve conflicts get particular pedagogical weight. This doctoral project draws on the field of friendship studies to analyse how friendship is practiced in a selection of English and German children’s books. Using narrative analysis, close reading and discourse analysis as its main methods, it seeks answers to the following research questions: How is friendship practiced in children’s literature? Who becomes friends with whom? What is the impact of age, gender, race, class and religion on how friendships are practiced? How are differences between friends negotiated and conflicts resolved? What contextual factors (space, role of adults, historical time period, national context, genre, age range, etc.) influence how fictional friendships are framed and practiced? What function does friendship have for the characters, the plot and the implied reader? The project’s focus on “scenes of friendship” responds to a broader need today to attend more closely to “notions of entanglement, co-dependency, and living networks” (Fuchs & Cosgrove 2024). In doing so, it answers a call to pay more attention to relationality in philosophy, education and literary studies. You will publish peer-reviewed articles and deliver conference papers related to the research project.
- You will carry out a limited number of teaching and research support tasks for the Department of Literature in the areas of English and German Literature.
Deadline : 10 August 2026
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(06) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Doctoral scholarship holder narratives and testimonies about kidnappings carried out in Colombia and the DR of Congo (cultural memory studies and conflict studies)
- You will actively work on the preparation and defence of a PhD thesis on narratives and testimonies of kidnappings perpetrated by armed groups in Colombia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from the perspective of cultural memory studies and conflict studies. The research focuses on the rebel groups FARC-EP in Colombia and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in Congo from the year 2000 onwards. Through a combination of discourse analysis and fieldwork, you will investigate the interaction between written, institutional, and oral narratives surrounding kidnappings. You will also be encouraged to incorporate your own interests and insights into the research project. This research is connected to, but not limited to, disciplines such as linguistics and literary studies, (comparative) literature, political and social sciences, social and cultural anthropology, Latin American studies, and African studies.
- You will independently manage your doctoral research and report regularly on its progress, in collaboration with your supervisors from the Department of Literature and the Institute of Development Policy (IOB).
- You will draw up a research plan and corresponding research methods in consultation with your supervisor(s) and undertake the necessary administration for a smooth PhD process.
- You will conduct the research efficiently and to an appropriate standard, possibly abroad, and compete for funding for general or specific costs.
- You will report progress to your supervisor(s) and committees, and present your research at scientific conferences.
- You will defend your thesis publicly and aim for publication in the scientific press.
- You will participate in the doctoral training programme offered by the Antwerp Doctoral School.
- You will contribute to securing national and international research funding.
- In addition to project-based research, you will also be responsible for a limited range of support tasks related to teaching and/or research management within the Faculty of Arts.
- You will actively contribute to the ongoing research projects and activities of the Faculty of Arts, with particular involvement in the Department of Literature’s research areas.
Deadline : 7 September 2026
(07) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Doctoral scholarship holder Operations Research for warehouse optimisation
- You will actively work on the preparation and defence of a PhD thesis in the field of Operations Research, focusing on the development of algorithms for proactive decision support in non-stationary warehouse environments. This project aims to study warehouse efficiency across interdependent processes – including storage location assignment, order picking, and packing – in today’s highly dynamic context, driven by the rapid growth of e-commerce.
- You will draw up a research plan and corresponding research methods in consultation with your supervisor(s) and undertake the necessary administration for a smooth PhD process.
- You will conduct the research efficiently and to an appropriate standard, possibly abroad, and compete for funding for general or specific costs.
- You will report progress to your supervisor(s) and committees, and present your research at scientific conferences.
- You will defend your thesis publicly and publish in the scientific press.
- You will make a supporting, scientific contribution to existing research projects or lines of research within beyond your own doctoral research.
- You will compete for internal or external predoctoral funding. Preferably, you are eligible for the PhD fellowship fundamental research of the FWO (https://fwo.be/en/support-programmes/all-calls/phd/phd-fellowship-fundamental-research/)
- You will carry out a limited number of teaching (e.g. master thesis supervision) and research support tasks for the Department of Engineering Management.
Deadline : 9 July 2026
(08) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Doctoral scholarship holder built heritage studies
- You will work actively on the preparation and defense of a PhD thesis in the field of built heritage, and in specific, augmented mapping of cocoa heritage in São Tomé and Príncipe or Ghana depending on the candidate’s language skills. The PhD project aims to fill the gap in research by studying the multidimensions and multi narratives of cocoa heritage. It responds to the following research questions:
- What tangible and intangible heritage values are associated with cocoa cultivation, and how can they be systematically documented and integrated into a transferable framework for mapping agricultural systems heritage?
- How can an augmented, multimodal mapping approach be developed to represent cocoa heritage in a holistic, people-centered way?
- You develop scientific knowledge that has the potential to be translated into strategic insight and/or guidelines for understanding and mapping food-related multidimensional heritage in times of climate change.
- You will collaborate with colleagues within the Built Heritage group of Antwerp Cultural Heritage Sciences (ARCHES) and the Architecture and Interior(A+I) research group.
- You will publish scientific articles related to the research project both independently and with your promotors Prof. dr. Yonca Erkan and Prof. dr. Sara Eloy.
- You will carry out a limited number of teaching and research support tasks for ARCHES (Antwerp Cultural Heritage Sciences) Research Group and A+I research group.
Deadline : 3 August 2026
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(09) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD student for clinical and translational research on neuroendocrine neoplasms
As a PhD candidate, you will conduct a doctoral research project focused on improving the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term outcomes of patients with neuroendocrine neoplasms (NEN). You will join NETwerk, an ENETS Centre of Excellence and one of Europe’s leading collaborative networks for NEN care and research. Your research will address clinically relevant questions that arise directly from patient care, including treatment sequencing, optimization of systemic therapies, management of (high-grade) NEN. In addition, you will contribute – from a clinical perspective – to innovative translational research projects aimed at identifying novel biomarkers and developing future immunotherapeutic approaches for NEN.
By integrating clinical data, patient samples, and molecular analyses, you will help translate scientific discoveries into tangible improvements in patient care. The position offers substantial opportunities to develop your own research interests and scientific profile within the rapidly evolving field of neuroendocrine oncology. As part of a university hospital environment and ENETS Center of Excellence for NEN-care, you will remain closely involved in patient care through participation in specialized outpatient clinics, multidisciplinary tumor boards, and clinical studies. This allows you to combine scientific research with direct clinical impact and further develop your skills as a clinician-scientist.
Deadline : Open until filled
(10) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD researcher photoelectrochemistry and nucleic acid biosensing
This PhD project aims to investigate how photosensitizer labelling affects nucleic acid amplification strategies, such as recombinase polymerase amplification, and singlet oxygen-based photoelectrochemical systems. By synthesizing different photosensitizers and coupling them to nucleic acids, the project will study their quenching behaviour, with a focus on singlet oxygen production and suppression in photoelectrochemical sensing applications. This fundamental research project will advance the understanding of photosensitizers in photoelectrochemistry and nucleic acid detection. Ultimately, the project may contribute to the development of novel biosensor technologies for detecting clinically relevant nucleic acids in healthcare applications, such as antimicrobial susceptibility testing.
Deadline : Open until filled
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(11) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Doctoral scholarship holder Analysis and/or Geometry
- You will work actively on the preparation and defence of a PhD thesis in the field of analysis and/or geometry. Your research topic falls within one of the current research lines of the senior members of the Analysis Team (D. Eelbode, S. Hohloch, T. Mestdag), see here. A non-exhaustive list of topics includes, for example, symplectic geometry, (non-)integrable Hamiltonian systems, Floer homology, analysis and applications of Dirac operators, symmetries of differential equations, geometric mechanics, Finsler geometry, ….
- You will organise your own PhD research and report on your progress regularly.
- You will participate in the doctoral study programme at the Antwerp Doctoral School to support your PhD pathway.
- You will present the findings of your PhD research at academic conferences and you will publish them in scientific journals.
Deadline : 13 August 2026
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(12) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Doctoral scholarship holder in experimental particle physics
- You will actively work towards the preparation and defence of a PhD thesis in experimental particle physics.
- You will join an inter-university research team working on the measurement of the Higgs–charm Yukawa coupling with the CMS experiment at CERN. The research programme includes the development and validation of advanced flavour-tagging and lepton-identification techniques, as well as analyses of Higgs production and decay channels that are sensitive to this coupling and to possible physics beyond the Standard Model.
- You will work closely with your supervisor, postdoctoral researchers and other PhD students at UAntwerp. Your responsibilities may also include contributing to the guidance and supervision of Master’s and Bachelor’s thesis students.
- As a member of the CMS Collaboration, you will contribute to CMS Experiment Physics Responsibilities (EPR), in accordance with the collaboration’s authorship requirements.
- The position is based in Antwerp. Funding is available for travel to CERN and to national and international collaboration meetings.
- You will also contribute to the general educational tasks of the Physics Department.
Deadline : 21 July 2026
(13) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Doctoral scholarship holder in geometry and/or dynamics
- You will work actively on the preparation and defence of a PhD thesis in the field of geometry and/or dynamics. Your research topic will fall in the intersection of the current research lines of Prof Sonja Hohloch and Prof Tom Mestdag, see here for their webpages. A non-exhaustive list of topics includes, for example, symplectic geometry, (non-)integrable Hamiltonian systems, Floer homology, symmetries of differential equations, geometric mechanics, Finsler geometry, …. The precise topic will be decided, in consultation with the selected candidate, at the start of the scholarship.
- You will organise your own PhD research and report on your progress regularly.
- You will participate in the doctoral study programme at the Antwerp Doctoral School to support your PhD pathway.
- You will present the findings of your PhD research at academic conferences and you will publish them in scientific journals.
Deadline : July 9, 2026
(14) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Doctoral scholarship holder Artificial Intelligence and Software Engineering
- You will actively work on the preparation and defence of a PhD thesis in the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Software Engineering. In your PhD project you will investigate how both disciplines can reinforce one another.
- You will apply for a PhD fellowship to the research foundation in Flanders (FWO) in the academic year 2026-2027. Applications for other internal or external predoctoral funding programmes are encouraged.
- You will defend your thesis publicly and aim for publication in the scientific venues.
- You will support existing research lines within ADREM Data Lab (Artificial Intelligence) and AnSyMo (Software Engineering).
Deadline : August 13, 2026
(15) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Doctoral scholarship holder low-noise readout electronics for next-generation gravitational wave detectors
- You will actively work on the preparation and defence of a PhD thesis in the field of field of gravitational wave instrumentation.
You will join the group’s research on sensors & actuators, seismic attenuation and controls. Seismic noise is a dominant low-frequency limitation for ground-based gravitational wave detectors, and is mitigated by multi-stage attenuation systems combining inverted pendulums and Geometric Anti-Spring (GAS) filters, equipped with high-precision Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT) position sensors and voice-coil actuators for monitoring and active damping.
The UAntwerp group operates a dedicated LVDT characterization setup, has developed a prototype “Corecoil LVDT”, and has recently received a MIGA-derived GAS filter that will be developed into a complete local suspension system at UAntwerp to serve as an in-house platform for sensor and control development. - The PhD project will focus on (i) the development of improved LVDT sensor designs that extend the current Virgo/ETpathfinder baselines; (ii) the commissioning of the MIGA-based local suspension system; and (iii) contributions to the commissioning of ETpathfinder suspensions, including the setup and tuning of active control algorithms. The most successful sensor prototypes are foreseen to be deployed in ETpathfinder seismic filters and could potentially be used for the stable recycling-cavity suspensions of Advanced Virgo+ Phase 2.
- You will work alongside postdoctoral researchers and senior academic staff at UAntwerp, and will engage with international partners in the Virgo and ETpathfinder collaborations. The position involves regular on-site work at ETpathfinder (Maastricht, NL), and research visits to Virgo (Cascina, IT).
- You will draw up a research plan and corresponding research methods in consultation with your supervisor(s) and undertake the necessary administration for a smooth PhD process.
- You will conduct the research efficiently and to an appropriate standard, possibly abroad, and compete for funding for general or specific costs.
- You will report progress to your supervisor(s) and committees, and present your research at scientific conferences.
- You will defend your thesis publicly and aim for publication in the scientific press.
- You will make a supporting, scientific contribution to existing research projects or lines of research within beyond your own doctoral research.
- You will compete for internal or external predoctoral funding.
- In addition to project-based research, You will carry out a limited number of teaching and research support tasks for the Particle Physics group.
- The position is based in Antwerp, with funding available for travel to ETpathfinder, Virgo, and collaboration meetings.
Deadline : 30 July 2026
(16) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Doctoral scholarship holder plant ecophysiology
- You will work actively on the preparation and defence of a PhD thesis in the field of plant ecophysiology. The PhD project investigates how hydrodynamic forcing shapes root development in submerged water plants (macrophytes) at the morphological and physiological level and makes use of plant physiology and biochemistry approaches next to the use of an artificial river, the Mesodrome (www.uantwerpen.be/en/research-groups/ecosphere/research/technology/mesodrome/).
- You will publish scientific articles related to the research project.
- You will carry out a limited number of teaching and research support tasks in the department of Biology.
Deadline : 31 August 2026
About University of Antwerp, Belgium –Official Website
The University of Antwerp (Dutch: Universiteit Antwerpen) is a major Belgian university located in the city of Antwerp. The official abbreviation is UAntwerp. The University of Antwerp has about 20,000 students, which makes it the third-largest university in Flanders. The University of Antwerp is characterised by its high standards in education, internationally competitive research and entrepreneurial approach. It was founded in 2003 after the merger of three smaller universities.
The university’s roots go back to Sint-Ignatius Handelshogeschool (Saint-Ignatius School for Higher Education in Commerce) founded by the Jesuits (Society of Jesus) in Antwerp in 1852. This was one of the first European business schools to offer formal university degrees. It later opened a Faculty of Literature and Philosophy (including Law) and a Faculty of Political and Social Sciences. It was renamed Universitaire Faculteiten Sint-Ignatius Antwerpen (UFSIA) in the 1960s when the Belgian government granted it university status. In the early 1970s UFSIA joined into a confederation with “Rijksuniversitair Centrum Antwerpen” (RUCA) and “Universitaire Instelling Antwerpen” (UIA), public institutions.
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