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KU Leuven

Professor in French Linguistics (Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven)

2025-02-13 (Europe/Brussels)
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About the employer

KU Leuven is an autonomous university. It was founded in 1425. It was born of and has grown within the Catholic tradition.

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KU Leuven is the largest university in Belgium and is consistently ranked within the top 10 universities in Europe. The University belongs to the League of European Research Universities (LERU). At the Faculty of Arts, research is conducted in the fields of archaeology, art history, musicology, history, linguistics, literary and cultural studies, Arabic and Islamic studies, Japanese studies, Chinese studies, and translation and interpretation studies. The Faculty employs over 800 junior and senior researchers, and teaches around 4,500 students in various study programmes at its campuses in Antwerp, Brussels, Kortrijk and Leuven. The Faculty strives to be an open and inclusive environment, with a focus on dialogue, social safety, sustainability and a healthy work-life balance.

We are looking for a passionate teacher and researcher to join the staff of the Department (Research Unit) of Linguistics. This research unit, which comprises 50 senior and 100 junior researchers, has a strong international reputation in synchronic and diachronic linguistic research on a wide range of languages through quantitative and qualitative methods. The research unit is active within the Leuven Interdisciplinary Language Institute, founded in 2024. The members of the research unit on the Leuven campus have teaching duties primarily in the Bachelor's and Master's programmes in Language and Literature and in the Master's programme in Linguistics.

Duties

Research

You are a motivated, internationally-oriented researcher in the field of phonetics and/or phonology of French, preferably complemented by research and/or teaching expertise in geographical and/or historical variants of French. You have strong (quantitative and/or qualitative) methodological skills. Your research enhances the profile of the Linguistics Research Group. 
You strive for excellence in your academic research and develop your own research plan. You publish at the highest academic level, initiate national and international collaborations and help promote and develop such agreements.
You succeed in securing competitive funding and attracting and supervising PhD students. The Faculty will help you find suitable funding opportunities and provide advice on applications. The Faculty attaches great importance to qualitative and correct supervision of PhD students. 
You focus on science communication and contribute to public debate whenever possible. 

Teaching

You provide high-quality teaching in the bachelor’s and master's programme(s) in Languages and Literature and in the master’s programme in Linguistics and are committed to the quality of the study programmes as a whole. You develop your teaching activities in line with the teaching philosophy of KU Leuven based on activating, research-based teaching and you use the opportunities provided by the Faculty and the University to further your teaching (for more information: www.kuleuven.be/english/education/education-at-ku-leuven). 
Your teaching assignment comprises 21 to 24 credits and includes the following or similar courses:
- in the BA and MA Language and Literature: 
French linguistics I in BA1 (F0AF8a) (Leuven campus; annual; 6 ECTS; instruction language French)
French linguistics I, sections phonetics & phonology in BA1 (V0AF8A) (Kortrijk campus; annually; 3 ECTS; instruction language French; same content as in the parallel course in Leuven)
Oral language proficiency and pronunciation correction in BA1 and BA2 (F0AG1a/F0AD9a) (Leuven campus; annual; 2 ECTS with assistance; instruction language French) (academic responsibility only: there is assistance for giving sessions; preparing, conducting and correcting exams)
French linguistics III: historical and geographical variants of French in BA3 (F0AI9a) (Leuven campus; annually; 4 ECTS; instruction language French)
Linguistique française: français moderne in MA (F0VI6A) (Leuven campus; annually; 3 ECTS; instruction language French)
- in the MA in Linguistics:
Phonetics and phonology (F0VG5A) (Leuven campus; annually; 6 ECTS; instruction language English)
Your teaching assignment also includes the supervision of bachelor's papers and master's theses. 
Your teaching assignment is initially linked to the Leuven Campus, with limited teaching assignment at the Kortrijk campus, but may include teaching assignments at other Faculty campuses in the future.
Together with the colleagues of your study programme you work on the development and improvement of the curriculum, including shaping learning sequences across individual courses, rethinking academic education in light of future societal challenges, and strengthening relationships with the work field.  

Service

You are willing to take up academic service tasks and positions within the Faculty and contribute to the visibility and promotion of the education and research of the Research Unit or study programme that you are a part of (e.g. through participation in teacher days, information events and student recruitment events). You also actively contribute to the wider academic community, e.g. through services to academic societies and journals. 

Profile

You hold a PhD in linguistics with specialization in French linguistics and have successfully defended your thesis at the time of submitting your application file. You have a proven expertise in phonetics and/or phonology of French, preferably complemented by research and/or teaching expertise in geographical and/or historical variants of French. You have demonstrably strong (quantitative and/or qualitative) methodological skills. You have excellent teaching skills and an affinity with designing and delivering multi-faceted university education. 
You have a strong and validated, international academic portfolio with highly regarded publications in your field. You also have a clear vision of how your research can develop further in relation to the available research expertise. 
You openly and enthusiastically contribute to the Bachelor's and Master's programmes in Language and Literature and the Master's programme in Linguistics university study programmes of the future, in a spirit of open collaboration. Organisational skills, leadership qualities and good social skills are a must. Experience with scientific outreach or collaboration with the work field is a plus.
A good knowledge of English is required. The official administrative 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 administrative meetings. Before teaching courses in Dutch, you will be given the opportunity to learn Dutch to the required standard.

Offer

We offer a full-time/part-time tenure-track professorship (ZAP) in a dynamic faculty with diverse disciplines. You will be part of an intellectually challenging and international environment, with plenty of space and opportunity to grow as a lecturer and researcher, thus making a significant contribution to society. KU Leuven provides support and benefits for starting professors who have a partner and/or family, cf. www.kuleuven.be/english/life-at-ku-leuven/partner-and-family. 
You will be appointed as tenure-track professor for a period of five years. After a positive assessment following the five-year term, you will receive a permanent professorship at the level of ‘hoofddocent’ (associate professor). Within this function promotions to higher academic degrees are possible. All academic degrees have the ius promovendi.  
You will mainly work in Leuven, a historic and lively city in the centre of Belgium, twenty minutes from Brussels, the capital of the European Union, and less than two hours from Paris, London and Amsterdam. 
The start date for this position is 1 September 2025. To facilitate scientific integration and the start-up of research, KU Leuven provides start-up funding of 110,000 euros for new professors, provided they do not have substantial other funding (e.g. ERC) and have an appointment of at least 50%. 
KU Leuven is well equipped to welcome foreign professors and their families and offers practical support with immigration and administration, housing, childcare and career coaching for the partner. 

Interested?

You application includes the following documents:
- a motivation letter
- a biosketch summarising your most important academic achievements (in various fields: teaching, research, services to society, outreach, etc.). You may also mention personal factors that have played a role in your career here (e.g. pregnancy, illness, care) so that these can be taken into account when assessing your submission. (max. 2 pages)
- a curriculum vitae, including a full publication list
- an annotated document describing your five most important publications (or other academic achievements)
- a vision statement on how you want to fulfil your teaching assignment in the future (max. 2 pages)
- a research plan for the next five years (max. 2 pages)
KU Leuven attaches great importance to research integrity and ethical conduct and will therefore ask you to sign an integrity statement upon appointment.
Candidates who are shortlisted by the Faculty Assessment Committee (BeCo) will be invited for an interview and a trial lecture. 
For more information about this vacancy, please contact the Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Dr. Liesbet Heyvaert (tel. +32 56 26 61 45, email: liesbet.heyvaert@kuleuven.be) or the head of the Linguistics Research Unit (tel. +32 16 32 48 16; email: karen.lahousse@kuleuven.be).

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.

Job details

Title
Professor in French Linguistics (Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven)
Employer
Location
Oude Markt 13 Leuven, Belgium
Published
2024-12-20
Application deadline
2025-02-13 23:59 (Europe/Brussels)
2025-02-13 23:59 (CET)
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