The Research Group Health Psychology (https://ppw.kuleuven.be/ogp) at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven aims at unravelling how psychological and somatic variables interact in health and disease from a biopsychosocial perspective. Both fundamental and applied research is being conducted to understand how interoceptive sensations are modulated by cognitive, emotional, social, neural and learning processes, thereby contributing to the initiation and maintenance of chronic somatic symptoms, illness and disability. Key words in our group are “dyspnea (breathlessness)”, “pain”, “psychophysiology”, “stress”, “interoception” and “symptom perception”. The prevailing research paradigm is the controlled experiment. Measurements typically include a combination of self-reports, psychophysiological/neural responses, clinical outcome measures and/or behavioural data. The ultimate goal is to apply the gathered knowledge in the assessment and early identification of those people at risk, and in the development of customized cognitive-behavioural interventions in the pursuit of prevention and treatment of chronic somatic complaints. Much of the research is conducted in a collaborative, interdisciplinary context. The group has strong connections with other international research groups and with clinical partners such as the University Hospital Leuven.
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Project
The prevalence of people experiencing persistent aversive bodily sensations such as dyspnea and pain is substantial. Yet, it remains unclear how acute aversive bodily sensations become persistent and increasingly unrelated to bodily dysfunctions that might have initially caused them. The current project studies habituation and sensitization, two simple forms of learning known to be modulated by individual and/or contextual factors in humans, in relation to aversive bodily and auditory sensations. The PhD student shall work on the project’s work package that aims to scrutinize stress-related arousal as a potential key modulator of habituation to stimuli in respiratory, pain and auditory modalities. The PhD student will carry out several studies testing whether a laboratory stress induction procedure reduces habituation, and whether a single or multiple week mindfulness / slow breathing intervention fosters habituation to these stimuli. Studied outcomes will include both self-reports and neural (EEG) & peripheral psychophysiological responses to the stimuli. Apart from the acquisition and statistical analysis of the data, the PhD student will also be responsible for the scientific reporting of the results in international peer-reviewed journals and at scientific conferences. The conducted line of experimental studies will result in a PhD thesis that will be defended by the end of the research project.
Profile
- You obtained a Master’s Degree in psychology, neuroscience, biomedical science, movement- and rehabilitation science or related field (or will obtain such degree no later than 15/09/2025)
- You obtained good grades during your study trajectory
- You have a strong affinity with research on stress, stress reduction interventions, and/or symptom perception.
- You have a strong interest and/or background in psychophysiology and experimental studies
- You possess excellent data analytic skills
- You have excellent communicative skills in English (both verbally and academic writing)
- You are a team player who can also work independently
- You have strong organizational skills, are flexible and proactive
- You are not afraid of challenges
- You think critically and have a curious mind
Offer
- Full-time PhD position in a 4-year research project
- Duration of contract: 1-year fulltime PhD position, extendable to 4 years (upon positive evaluation after 1 year)
- Excellent working conditions: https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/phd/phd-informatie
- Professional development via the KU Leuven doctoral school program and YouReCa (https://research.kuleuven.be/en/career/youreca), participation in (inter)national conferences, workshops, teaching, and working in a creative, interdisciplinary environment where cross-fertilization between clinical practice and science is highly valued
Interested?
For more information please contact Prof. dr. Ilse Van Diest, tel.: +32 16 32 60 29, mail: [email protected].
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