KU Leuven has a full-time academic vacancy in Chemical Engineering at the De Nayer (Sint-Katelijne-Waver) Campus. We are seeking internationally oriented candidates with an excellent interdisciplinary research record and educational competencies in Sustainable Chemical Engineering, fully focused on extending the safe-and-sustainable-by-design (SSbD) paradigm to reactor engineering. The successful applicant will be appointed to the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Faculty of Engineering Technology within the Science, Engineering and Technology Group of KU Leuven.
The Faculty of Engineering Technology has an extensive national and international network, both in the academic and business worlds.
The Chemical and Biochemical Reactor Engineering and Safety section (CREaS) builds upon a solid research infrastructure, an extensive international network, connections with companies and non-profit organisations, a stable offer of highly talented PhD students, and a supportive work environment. The mission of CREaS is to harness the power of biochemical and chemical process technologies to improve the performance, circularity, and safety of societal and/or industrial processes. To this end, CREaS integrates expertise, methodologies, and techniques from different (bio)chemical reactor and process engineering domains, ranging from macro- and microscopic analysis and monitoring of (bio)chemical processes, through modeling and design, to process optimization and control. To accomplish its mission, the current research at CREaS focuses on (bio)reactor engineering, which produces a considerable diversity of products (including fine chemicals and biopharmaceuticals), treatment and valorization of organic waste and wastewater streams using combinations of (physico)chemical, aerobic and anaerobic technologies, human health and care applications (such as biomolecules, drug delivery and regenerative medicine) and the modeling and optimization of these (bio)chemical reactions and processes.
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Duties
Research
- You will strengthen our activities in chemical reactor engineering, with a clear emphasis on experimentally driven research. The research should focus on reactor, process and safety engineering for the production of chemicals that are safe-and-sustainable-by-design (SSbD), within an evolving economic landscape. The research targets, therefore, safe and sustainable molecules while specifically prioritizing safety, circularity, and environmental performance from the earliest stages of reaction, reactor and process engineering.
- The position bridges mechanistic understanding of reaction pathways with the experimental design of innovative reactors and processes. This includes coupling reaction kinetics, catalysis, heat management, and selectivity control to reactor performance, as well as leveraging advanced experimental methods and data-rich workflows, always prioritizing safety and sustainability. The main aim should be selecting and engineering reactors and processes that inherently reduce risk, energy demand, waste, and emissions, while considering their full lifecycle implications.
- Generally, the application domains include innovative, safer, and more sustainable production routes to established commodity or specialty chemicals. Additionally, the development of new synthesis routes to alternative safe and sustainable chemicals with similar functionalities is targeted. This also includes redesigning reaction pathways (e.g., oxidation, reduction, functionalization, or catalytic transformations) to avoid hazardous reagents or solvents and reduce waste. Biorefinery and biomass valorization is not in the scope of this vacancy. The SSbD reaction pathways are the starting point for the research for this vacancy, where selectivity and robustness are critical.
- You conduct targeted scientific research, resulting in PhDs and publications that meet international standards and garner broad recognition.
- You support or initiate a network of companies through the valorisation of research results and by delivering industrial services, aimed at strengthening industrial innovation.
- As part of your research programme, you develop international partnerships, within the academic world as well as with industrial partners.
- You can secure competitive funding, both project-based government funding as well as industrial funding.
- You contribute to the international reputation of the research group and the faculty.
- You pay close attention to technology transfer and to the application of the results of your research in industry/government/society.
Teaching
- You provide high-quality education for both bachelor’s and master’s students in the field of Chemical Engineering, more specific in the domains of Process Design and Engineering, General chemistry and Industrial Processes, both at De Nayer Campus (Sint-Katelijne-Waver) and Group T Campus (Leuven) and with a clear commitment to the quality of the programme as a whole. All professors are expected to teach a few basic undergraduate courses.
- You contribute to the faculty’s and the university’s pedagogical project through the supervision of student projects (for example bachelor’s and master’s theses) and by acting as a supervisor of PhD students.
- You develop your teaching in accordance with KU Leuven’s views on activating and research-based education and make use of the possibilities for educational professionalization offered by the faculty and the university.
- Your teaching duties are determined in agreement and are based on your specific profile. The scope is limited in the first years of your appointment. In your future career, the faculty will also pay close attention to the balance between research and teaching time.
Service
- You are prepared to provide services to the scientific community, to society, and to the university in response to the needs and your personal interests.
- You maintain close contact with the local industry.
- You play an active part in promoting the Faculty of Engineering Technology towards new students and the wider professional field by participating in open days, networking events and fairs, ...
Profile
- You have a degree in chemical engineering, bioscience engineering, chemistry, or an equivalent degree, and a PhD where the subject of your (post)doctoral research relates to the field of the vacancy.
- You have a strong research track record in chemical reaction/reactor engineering and experience in safety and risk considerations for reactor/process design, evidenced by your publications or by your research experience in industry. You have the ambition to contribute to the valorisation of research in industry and in society. International experience is an important advantage.
- You have verifiable qualities related to academic education. Teaching experience is an advantage.
- You possess organisational skills and have a cooperative attitude. You also possess leadership competencies in a university or industry context.
- The official language used at KU Leuven is Dutch. If you do not speak Dutch (or do not speak it well) at the start of employment, KU Leuven will provide language training to enable you to take part in meetings. Before teaching courses in Dutch or English, you will be given the opportunity to learn Dutch, respectively English, to the required standard.
- A good command of English is required. KU Leuven offers courses in Academic English. Before you begin teaching in English, we provide you with the opportunity to acquire the necessary English language skills.
Offer
We offer full time employment in an intellectually challenging environment.
KU Leuven is a research-intensive, internationally oriented university that carries out both fundamental and applied scientific research. Our university is highly focused on interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research and strives for international excellence. In this regard, the university actively collaborates with research partners in Belgium and abroad and provides its students with an academic education grounded in high-quality scientific research.
You will work at the KU Leuven Campus De Nayer, an academic campus located about 45 km from Leuven and centred on technology and industry focused research and education. You also collaborate closely with the colleagues of Group T, Leuven Campus. Other campuses will also be able to make use of your expertise in teaching.
Depending on your record and qualifications, you will be appointed to or tenured in one of the grades of the senior academic staff: assistant professor, associate professor, professor or full professor. In principle, junior researchers are appointed as assistant professor on a tenure-track for 5 years. At the end of this period and a positive evaluation, they are permanently appointed (or tenured) as associate professor.
To facilitate scientific integration and research in the first phase, a 4-year research position equivalent to a PhD fellowship is made available. In addition, you can also apply for a start-up grant of EUR 110,000, on the condition that you are appointed for at least 50%.
KU Leuven is well set to welcome foreign professors and their family and provides practical support with regard to immigration & administration, housing, childcare, learning Dutch, …
Interested?
For more information on the contents of the job, please contact Prof. dr. Christian Clasenn departmental chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering (
[email protected], +32 16 32 23 54) or Prof. dr. ir Toon Van Waterschoot, campus chair of Group T Campus (Leuven) and De Nayer Campus (Sint-Katelijne-Waver) (
[email protected], +32485910616)
You can submit your application, only through our online application system. If you have problems submitting your application online, please email
[email protected]. Provisional dates in the selection procedure are January 11, 2027 for a visit to De Nayer Campus and January 12, 2027 for the selection interview.
Add to your application following documents in English (more information is available on the KU Leuven job site):
- your biosketch in which you indicate your added value as an academic for research, education and service to society of your past career and of your future activities (maximum 2 pages);
- a file on your five most important publications or realizations;
- an extensive cv including a full publication list and if applicable a portfolio of your architectural projects;
- your research plan with focus on the development of your research line and research team in relation with the colleague-researchers of the entity of employment (maximum 4 pages);
- your vision on academic education and how you translate this vision into practice (maximum 2 pages);
- your contribution to society by outreach and public communication on science and technology, internal representation in boards and councils and service activities directly in relation to your developed expertise (maximum 1 page);
- your vision on leadership and how you apply this vision in practice within your managerial tasks (maximum 1 page).
KU Leuven places great importance on research integrity and ethical conduct and will therefore ask you to sign an integrity statement upon appointment.
KU Leuven strives for an inclusive, respectful and socially safe environment. We embrace diversity among individuals and groups as an asset. Open dialogue and differences in perspective are essential for an ambitious research and educational environment. In our commitment to equal opportunity, we recognize the consequences of historical inequalities. We do not accept any form of discrimination based on, but not limited to, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, ethnic or national background, skin colour, religious and philosophical diversity, neurodivergence, employment disability, health, or socioeconomic status. For questions about accessibility or support offered, we are happy to assist you at this email address.
