PhD Position at KU Leuven

The following position is vacant in the Faculty of Economics and Business (campus Brussels) of KU Leuven:
PhD student (100%) on the FWO project: ‘The plugged-in employee: all risks and no benefits? Extending our knowledge on work related ICT-use outside work hours’ at the Department for Work and Organisation Studies (WOS), Campus Brussels.

Contract: Full-time
Period: Fixed-term
Place: Brussels
Start: Preferably September 1st, 2019
Apply before: June 5th, 2019

The Department for Work and Organisation Studies (WOS) is an interdisciplinary group of scholars located in Brussels, Leuven and Antwerp. The group’s research unites different theoretical as well as methodological perspectives in studying work-related and organizational topics. See: feb.kuleuven.be/research/wos.

Project
Work-related ICT-use after hours and, relatedly, increased connectedness to work are topical and impactful issues in today’s labor market. Although ICT has made our lives easier in many respects, it has also blurred the lines between work and home, making it harder for many people to disconnect and recover from work outside work hours. This trend has been linked to several risks, such as increased work-home conflict, stress and mental illness. Stimulated by an increased awareness of these risks, several policy makers, including the Belgian government, as well as organizations (e.g., Volkswagen, Puma) are taking measures to limit work-related use of ICT outside work hours (e.g., by shutting down the company network outside work hours).
Yet, these ”limiting” one-size-fits-all solutions are arguably immature as, to date, we know little about personal and/or contextual characteristics which affect the likelihood of these risks nor about potential favorable outcomes of work-related ICT-use outside work hours. Building on Self-Determination Theory, for instance, some people will feel controlled by the work-related ICT-use after hours and feel stressed as they cannot disconnect from work. Others might however value for example the increased flexibility that ICT-tools offer and autonomously use ICT outside work hours to relief stress and get some work done.
In this project, we therefore argue that in order to take effective measures on work-related ICT-use outside work hours, knowledge about both individual and contextual characteristics that affect the likelihood of both positive and negative outcomes is imperative. The aim of this project is to enhance our knowledge on these issues.

Job content
Your job will consist of the following activities:
• Working proactively on the several steps of the project (e.g., executing survey studies)
• Writing scientific papers with the aim of integrating them in a doctoral dissertation;
• Active participation in (international) seminars and conferences;
• Completion of the PhD program of the Faculty of Economics and Business (see: https://feb.kuleuven.be/research/PhD/businesseconomics/Business )
• Provision of teaching support in courses of the academic faculty (e.g., supervision of master's theses, supervising and grading exams).

Profile
• You hold a master’s degree in Applied Economics, Economics, Psychology, Social Sciences, Behavioral Sciences, or a related discipline
• You obtained at least 2 ‘honours’ (e.g., cum laude, distinction) over the course of your higher education
• You are intellectually curious and are interested in the topic of work-related ICT-use after hours
• You have experience with or strong interest in designing and executing quantitative research
• You have good writing skills and are fluent in English
• You are an analytic thinker with a proactive, self-directed approach to work

Offer
We offer employment as a full-time doctoral researcher in a stimulating environment in a group that is actively involved in research at the highest international level (see: feb.kuleuven.be/research/wos) from Sept 1st 2019 (starting date is negotiable) and this for a period of 4 years (pending on positive evaluation after 12 and 24 months). PhD candidates at KU Leuven have a salaried position with social security coverage and earn approximately 26k€ per year.

More information on the terms of employment can be found on: https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/en/working-at-kuleuven 

Interested?

You can apply for this job no later than June 5th, 2019. Your application should contain a CV (with detailed study results) as well as a motivation letter.

If you have any questions concerning this position, you can contact Prof. Dr. Anja Van den Broeck ([email protected]), Prof. Dr. Marijke Verbruggen ([email protected]) or Prof. Dr. Rein De Cooman ([email protected]).

KU Leuven seeks to foster an environment where all talents can flourish, regardless of gender, age, cultural background, nationality or impairments. If you have any questions relating to accessibility or support, please contact us at [email protected].