KU Leuven - Brussel, Ghent, Belgium
apply before October 31, 2023
Tasks: Administration, Communication, Education, Research
Topics: Community Engagement, Empower & Participate, Policies and Cooperation, Rural Development, Urban Transformation
Type: Full-time
Experience required: Intermediate
Language: English is sufficient
Envisioning the right to housing as a fundamental 21st century urban agenda, this research project hypothesizes that grassroots movements and humanitarian organizations are often at the forefront of alternative housing paradigms, and by doing so, prefigure more just models of urbanism and urban planning. The project rests on a vocation to action-research, and cherishes transdisciplinary exchange between diverse academic and non-academic fields of knowledge. Provisional objectives target a critical unpacking of the theoretical nexus of justice and urbanism, in-depth analysis of grassroots housing struggles, and transdisciplinary methods combining social and spatial inquiry, for instance through fieldwork, cartography and drawing. The approach can integrate historical, contemporary and future-oriented (design) interrogations. Relevant case-studies should be determined in Brussels and/or other Belgian cities, but can include additional comparative case-studies from any global context.
- following the doctoral training program at the Arenberg Doctoral School of the KU Leuven and at the Faculty of Architecture;
- making a clearly defined contribution to teaching at the Faculty, including thesis guidance, and course assistance;
- publishing your research in academic journals and books, presenting at international seminars and conferences, while aiming to disseminate your work also on non-academic platforms;
- engaging in general services for the Department of Architecture (including for example surveillance of exams, assisting the organization of events, etc.);
- organizing activities related to your research topic (e.g. international research meetings, conferences, exhibitions);
- participating in the writing of additional funding applications related to your research.