1 - Working at the VUB
For more than 50 years, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has stood for freedom, equality and solidarity, and this is very much alive on our campuses among students and staff alike.
At the VUB, you will find a diverse collection of personalities: innovators pur sang, but above all people who are 100% their authentic selves. With some 4,000 employees, we are the largest Dutch-speaking employer, in the private sector, in Brussels; an international city with which we are only too happy to connect and where (around) our 4 campuses are located.
Add to this our principle of free research - in which self-reflection, a critical attitude and an open, creative mind around scientific and social issues are central - and you have a university that is fundamentally groundbreaking and pioneering in education and research. In short: the VUB all over again.
Moreover, the VUB is a member of EUTOPIA, an alliance of like-minded European universities, all ready to reinvent themselves.
2 - Position description
The Faculteit Psychologie & Educatiewetenschappen, Department Psychologie, Research Group No Large Research Group is looking for a PhD-student with a doctoral grant.
SAMPO (Scalable Approach to Mental Illness and Self-Harm Prevention Online) is a Horizon Europe project coordinated by the expertise center PRISM of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. The project develops and evaluates a scalable, tiered online prevention programme for adolescents and young adults. SAMPO combines e-screening, personalised e-assessment based on network analyses, and modular online risk and resilience toolboxes. We are looking for a motivated PhD Researcher who will contribute to the scientific and operational implementation of the SAMPO project at VUB. The doctoral trajectory will be situated at the intersection of clinical psychology, adolescent mental health, self-harm prevention, digital prevention and personalised assessment. The PhD researcher will work under the supervision of Prof. Martijn Van Heel and Prof. Imke Baetens, and will be embedded in PRISM, the VUB network for Psychology, Research and Innovations for Mental Health, and in close connection with the PSYR research group. The PhD project will focus primarily on the development, validation, and implementation of the Psychological Referral Optimization algorithm (PRO). PRO is a brief digital e-screening tool designed to support early identification, risk stratification, stepped triage, and referral in adolescents and young adults.
A selection of your tasks
- Contribute to the Belgian rollout of the SAMPO cohort and trial infrastructure, including recruitment, liaison with schools and partner organisations, participant follow-up, and data collection.
- Support the implementation, validation, and refinement of the Psychological Referral Optimization algorithm (PRO) as a brief digital e-screening tool for early identification, risk stratification, stepped triage, and referral of adolescents and young adults.
- Conduct quantitative analyses of longitudinal and psychometric data, with possible use of prediction modelling, mediation/moderation analyses, person-centred approaches, network analyses, or other advanced statistical methods depending on the final PhD focus.
- Prepare scientific publications, conference presentations, preregistrations, reports, and project deliverables related to the PhD work, with a particular focus on PRO-based screening, referral optimisation, and youth mental health prevention.
- Contribute to participatory co-design activities with young people and stakeholders, and support dissemination to schools, youth services, clinical services, policy actors, and the wider public.
- Collaborate constructively with international consortium partners, the VUB research team, PhD and master students, technical partners, and relevant clinical and societal stakeholders.
For this function, our Brussels Humanities, Sciences & Engineering Campus (Elsene) will serve as your home base.
3 - Profile
What do we expect from you?
- You hold a master’s degree in clinical psychology, developmental psychology, educational sciences, public health, psychiatry, data science, health sciences, or a closely related discipline, or you will obtain this degree before the start of the appointment.
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- You have a strong interest in adolescent and young adult mental health, prevention, self-harm, suicide prevention, digital mental health, or personalised interventions.
- You have good methodological and quantitative research skills and are willing to further develop your statistical expertise. Experience with R, Mplus, SPSS, Python, or similar software is an asset.
- You are attentive to ethics, safeguarding, confidentiality, and proportionate risk management in research involving adolescents and vulnerable groups.
- You communicate clearly and professionally with participants, schools, youth organisations, clinical partners, and international researchers.
- You have excellent written and oral communication skills in English. A good command of Dutch is important for working with local schools and participants; willingness to further strengthen Dutch language skills is appreciated. Knowledge of French or other consortium languages is an asset.
- You are organised, reliable, proactive, and able to work independently within a collaborative research team.
- Experience with clinical interviewing, youth mental health, school-based research, digital interventions, RCTs, advanced quantitative data-analyses or longitudinal data collection is a plus.
- You have not performed any works in the execution of a mandate as an assistant, paid from operating resources, over a total (cumulated) period of more than 12 months.
- As a (non-)EEA national, meet the conditions for obtaining a valid permit for VUB and comply with the VUB residence requirements. More info here.
The VUB wants to be a reflection of the society where everyone's talent is valued, regardless of gender, age, religion, skin color, migration background, disability and neurodiversity.
4 - Offer
Are you going to be our new colleague?
You’ll be offered a full-time PhD-scholarship, for 12 months (extendable up to max. 48 months, on condition of the positive evaluation of the PhD activities), with planned starting date 01/10/2026.
You’ll receive a grant linked to one of the scales set by the government.
IMPORTANT: The effective result of the doctorate scholarship is subject to the condition precedent of your enrolment as a doctorate student at the university.
At the VUB, you’re guaranteed an open, involved and diverse workplace where you are offered opportunities to (further) build on your career.
As well as this, you will also enjoy various other benefits:
- Extensive homeworking options, a telework allowance of 50 euros per month OR an internet fee of 20 euros per month;
- An open and informal working environment where attention is paid to work-life balance, and exceptional holiday arrangements with 35 days of leave (based on a fulltime contract), closure between Christmas and New Year and 3 extra leave days;
- Cost-free hospitalisation insurance;
- Full reimbursement of your home-to-work commute with public transport according to VUB-policy, and/or compensation if you come by bike;
- A wide selection of meals in our campus restaurants at attractive prices;
- Excellent and affordable facilities for sport and exercise, a range of discounts via Benefits@Work (in all kinds of shops, on flights, in petrol stations, amusement parks...) and Ecocheques;
- Nursery near campus, discount on holiday camps;
- The space to form your job content and to continuously learn through our VUB learning platforms and training courses;
- And finally: great colleagues with a healthy drive.
5 - Interested?
Is this the job you’ve been dreaming of?
Then apply, at the latest on 01/07/2026, via jobs.vub.be, and upload the following documents:
- your CV;
- your motivation letter clearly indicating your interest in the position and how your skills and experience fit the SAMPO project;
- your diploma (not applicable for VUB alumni);
- a writing example such as a master thesis abstract, paper or research report, if available.
Our application process is as follows (subject to change):
- step 1: an initial selection based on your application file;
- step 2: a job interview.
Do you have questions about the job content? Contact Imke Baetens at [email protected] or on 0499303335.
Would you like to know what it’s like to work at the VUB? Go to jobs.vub.be, and find all there is to know about our campuses, benefits, strategic goals and your future colleagues.
Would you like more information about EUTOPIA? Go to eutopia-university.eu, and read more about the role of the VUB in the development of the EUTOPIA alliance.
