The successful candidate will be embedded in two internationally recognized research groups at KU Leuven, providing a unique interdisciplinary training environment at the interface of clinical psychology, developmental science, and behavioural neuroscience.
Learn2Trust Lab – Research Unit Clinical Psychology
The candidate will be affiliated with the Learn2Trust Lab, part of the Research Unit Clinical Psychology within the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at KU Leuven. The Learn2Trust Lab investigates the developmental and learning mechanisms underlying attachment, trust, resilience, and mental health across the lifespan. Combining experimental, longitudinal, clinical, and intervention research, the lab aims to bridge fundamental attachment science with applications that improve the well-being of children, adolescents, adults, and families. The research team has extensive expertise in attachment theory, emotion regulation, family processes, psychotherapy, developmental psychopathology, and translational research, and collaborates with leading international researchers and clinical partners.
Laboratory of Biological Psychology (LBP)
The candidate will also become a member of the Laboratory of Biological Psychology (LBP), one of KU Leuven's leading centres for behavioural neuroscience. LBP investigates the biological mechanisms underlying cognition, emotion, learning, memory, and behaviour through state-of-the-art animal and human research. The laboratory offers outstanding expertise and infrastructure for behavioural phenotyping, genetics, electrophysiology, and translational neuroscience, with a strong focus on mouse models that are closely linked to human psychological research. The candidate will work within the longstanding collaboration between the research groups of Prof. Rudi D'Hooge and Prof. Guy Bosmans, contributing to innovative research that integrates behavioural neuroscience with attachment and resilience research.
An Interdisciplinary PhD Experience
This PhD offers a genuinely interdisciplinary research environment. The candidate will have a workplace in both laboratories, participate in the scientific activities of both research groups, and receive supervision from researchers with complementary expertise in attachment, developmental psychology, behavioural neuroscience, and experimental animal research. This unique dual affiliation provides exceptional opportunities to develop a broad methodological skill set, collaborate across disciplines, and contribute to cutting-edge translational research spanning basic neuroscience and clinical psychology.
Website unit
Project
Why do some individuals remain resilient in the face of adversity, while others experience lasting emotional, cognitive, or physiological consequences of stress? What makes close relationships a powerful source of protection? And how can insights from basic neuroscience inform our understanding of resilience in families?
This PhD project offers a unique opportunity to address these questions within an ambitious translational research programme that bridges animal and human research. The overarching aim is to uncover the mechanisms through which secure attachment promotes resilience and buffers the impact of stress, from controlled experimental models in mice to complex family interactions in humans.
The project consists of two complementary research lines.
The first research line builds on an established collaboration between the laboratories of Prof. Rudi D'Hooge and Prof. Guy Bosmans. Using a mouse model, this programme investigates the cognitive consequences of chemotherapy treatment and the mechanisms that explain why some individuals show greater resilience than others. Building on this ongoing work, the PhD candidate will examine whether attachment-related processes can serve as protective factors that buffer the detrimental effects of stress associated with cancer treatment. This line of research offers a unique opportunity to connect attachment theory with cutting-edge behavioural neuroscience and experimental models of stress resilience.
The second research line focuses on an exceptionally rich human dataset collected in families with school-aged children. The project includes triadic data from mothers, fathers, and children, who participated in a series of individually and jointly administered stress-inducing laboratory tasks. The available dataset integrates multiple levels of analysis, including attachment representations, behavioural observations, psychophysiological responses, hormonal markers, epigenetic measures, emotional functioning, and cognitive processes. Because data collection has been completed, the PhD candidate can immediately focus on developing and testing innovative research questions.
Using these unique data, the candidate will investigate how secure attachment within families contributes to resilience under stress, how parents and children mutually influence each other's responses during stressful situations, and whether resilience is transmitted across generations through attachment-related processes. Particular attention will be paid to triadic family dynamics, moving beyond traditional parent-child dyads to understand how mothers, fathers, and children together create a relational context that either amplifies or buffers stress. The project also offers opportunities to examine biological and psychological pathways linking attachment, stress regulation, and resilience across generations.
Together, these complementary research lines provide an exceptional opportunity to integrate insights from behavioural neuroscience, developmental psychology, attachment theory, family research, and psychobiology. By combining controlled experimental animal research with multimethod family data, the project aims to advance our understanding of one of the most fundamental questions in mental health research: how supportive relationships protect individuals from the harmful effects of stress throughout development.
The successful candidate will join an internationally recognized research environment with strong expertise in attachment, resilience, developmental psychopathology, and translational neuroscience. They will have the opportunity to collaborate with leading researchers across disciplines, publish in high-impact international journals, and contribute to research with clear implications for understanding resilience and informing future interventions.
Profile
We are looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic PhD candidate with a strong interest in attachment, resilience, stress research, and translational science.
The ideal candidate:
- Holds (or will soon obtain) a Master's degree in Psychology, Educational Sciences (Orthopedagogy), Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience, or another relevant discipline.
- Has a strong interest in interdisciplinary research bridging clinical psychology, developmental science, and behavioural neuroscience.
- Is enthusiastic about working with both animal and human research and is willing to actively participate in data collection involving mouse models as well as children and families.
- Is eager to learn and apply a broad range of research methods, including behavioural, psychophysiological, hormonal, and molecular approaches.
- Has an affinity for quantitative research methods and data analysis (experience with statistical software such as R, SPSS, or similar is considered an asset).
- Demonstrates excellent analytical thinking, scientific curiosity, and problem-solving skills.
- Is able to work both independently and collaboratively within an interdisciplinary research team.
- Has excellent organizational skills and is capable of managing multiple research activities simultaneously.
- Has excellent written and oral communication skills in English. Knowledge of Dutch (or willingness to learn Dutch) is an asset, as part of the data collection involves Dutch-speaking children and families.
- Is motivated to publish research in high-quality international scientific journals and to present findings at international conferences.
- Is committed to obtaining a PhD degree within the four-year appointment.
Offer
We offer a unique opportunity to join an ambitious and internationally connected research programme at KU Leuven , one of Europe's leading research universities.
As a PhD candidate, you will become part of two highly collaborative and internationally recognized research groups, where you will receive close supervision from experienced researchers with complementary expertise in clinical psychology, developmental science, and behavioural neuroscience. You will work in a stimulating and supportive research environment that values scientific curiosity, collaboration, and personal development.
This project provides exceptional interdisciplinary training. You will gain hands-on experience with a wide range of state-of-the-art research methods, including behavioural experiments, psychophysiological assessments, hormonal and epigenetic measures, observational coding, advanced statistical analyses, and animal research. You will develop expertise in both human and animal research, offering a rare opportunity to bridge basic and clinical science within a single PhD project.
Throughout your doctoral training, you will be encouraged to publish in leading international journals, present your work at international conferences, collaborate with renowned researchers, and build an international scientific network.
By the end of the project, you will have obtained a PhD that reflects not only scientific excellence but also an exceptionally broad portfolio of methodological, analytical, and interdisciplinary skills. These competencies will prepare you for a wide range of career opportunities, both within academia and beyond, including research institutes, healthcare, industry, policy, and innovation.
In addition, KU Leuven offers a competitive PhD salary and benefits, access to excellent research facilities, extensive training opportunities, and a vibrant international academic community in the historic city of Leuven.
laboratory of Biological Psychology
Interested?
For more information please contact Prof. dr. Guy Bosmans, mail: [email protected] or Prof. dr. Rudi D'Hooge, mail: [email protected].
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.
