项目介绍

2026年5月25日

KU Leuven is offering two fully funded, full-time PhD positions within an ambitious FWO project at the intersection of neonatology, developmental psychology, and neuroscience.
The project is led by Prof. Gunnar Naulaers (NICU, UZ/KU Leuven) and Prof. Bart Boets (Center for Developmental Psychiatry, KU Leuven), in close collaboration with a strong interdisciplinary team across Neonatology (An Eerdekens, Bieke Bollen, Anne Debeer, Katrien Jansen, Anneleen Dereymaeker) and Obstetrics (Kristel Van Calsteren).

Unit website

Project

Early in life, infants develop both self-regulation and social connectedness, processes that rely on parent–infant synchrony and co-regulation. In very preterm infants admitted to the NICU, these processes are often disrupted. This project investigates how early non-separation and immediate kangaroo care (skin-to-skin contact) may support development. We hypothesize that early contact enhances biobehavioural synchrony, enabling parents to scaffold infant self-regulation. Using a randomized controlled trial and longitudinal follow-up (NICU, 6 and 14 months), we combine behavioural, physiological (EEG, ECG), and hormonal (oxytocin, cortisol) measures to better understand developmental mechanisms and inform future NICU practices.

Profile

We offer two complementary PhD trajectories
PhD 1 – NICU / medical focus

• You will work on the implementation of non-separation and immediate kangaroo care, and conduct data collection in the NICU setting.
• Background: Master’s degree in Medicine, Obstetrics, Midwifery, or related
• Flexibility and experience is required to support preterm deliveries.

PhD 2 – Developmental / analytical focus

• You will lead the follow-up measurements at 6 and 14 months and contribute strongly to data analysis and modelling.
• Background: Psychology, Neuroscience, Biomedical Sciences, Medicine, or related, with a passion for infant research.
• Experience with, or a strong motivation to learn, psychophysiological methods, programming (R, Python, Matlab) and advanced statistics is valued.

What you will doYou will engage in hands-on, interdisciplinary research, including:

• Parent–infant dual measurements (“hyperscanning”) of EEG, ECG, hormones and behaviour during kangaroo care at NICU, and during play interactions at 6 and 14 months
• Longitudinal follow-up of very preterm infants and full-term controls
• Analysis of self-regulation, co-regulation, and synchrony dynamics
• Publishing in international journals and presenting at conferences

ProfileWe are looking for motivated candidates who:

• Have a strong interest in infant development, mental health and physiology
• Enjoy combining clinical data collection and analysis
• Work well both independently and in a team
• Have strong English academic writing skills
• Have sufficient Dutch proficiency for interaction with families

Offer

We offer a fulltime PhD position for an initial year, renewable for up to 4 years. Salary is competitive and in accordance with university standards. Starting date is September 2026 or flexibly afterwards.

Center for Developmental Psychiatry KU Leuven
Neonatologie UZ Leuven

Interested?

For more information please contact Prof. dr. Bart Boets, mail: bart.boets@kuleuven.be or Prof. dr. Gunnar Naulaers, mail: gunnar.naulaers@kuleuven.be.For more information, contact Bart Boets (+32 16 37 35 62, bart.boets@kuleuven.be) or Gunnar Naulaers (+32 16 34 32 13, gunnar.naulaers@uzleuven.be), or any of the abovementioned collaborators.Applications should be submitted before July 1st via email at bart.boets@kuleuven.be and through the electronic application system of KU Leuven, providing a motivation letter, full CV (including detailed university study results), and contact information of at least two referents. Job interviews are planned on July 6 or 7, and results will be communicated shortly afterwards.You can apply for this job no later than July 01, 2026 via the online application tool