Full-time doctoral student School of Public Health

Job description In the context of the ‘Brussels Environmental Exposome Project’ (BEE-project), the research centers on ‘Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Clinical Research’ and ‘Environmental Health’ are recruiting a full-time doctoral student. The overall objective of the transdisciplinary and interuniversity BEE-project is to apply an exposomic approach to examine non-communicable diseases in the Brussels Capital Region. Within this project, the appointed doctoral student will focus on the identification of population subgroups that are exposed to multiple unfavorable environmental conditions (e.g., high levels of air and noise pollution and poor access to green space). This will involve the analysis of existing datasets as well as novel data collection involving continuous individual environmental data monitoring. As part of the role, the doctoral student will participate in regular interactions with the project consortium and maintain effective communication with local stakeholders. The doctoral student will collaborate closely with researchers from the Unit for Health Impact Assessment of Sciensano and will prepare a joint PhD thesis ULB - Sciensano. Within the BEE-project, funding is currently foreseen to appoint a doctoral student for a period of three years. Search for funding for a 4th year is ongoing. Qualifications • Master's degree in public health, environmental health, epidemiology or a related field (with a minimum overall average of 14/20) • Advanced quantitative research skills and experience with statistical software packages such as R, Stata®, or SAS® • Experience in laboratory procedures for processing and analyzing data collected from participant-worn environmental sensors. • Strong interest in health inequalities in Environmental Health and motivation to conduct high-quality research in this domain • Excellent written and spoken English skills • For communication with local stakeholders and for data collection: fluency in French or Dutch; bilingualism is an asset • Strong collaborative, communication and organizational skills • Strong sense of integrity, transparency and responsibility Responsibilities • Contribute to the development of a comprehensive dataset including environmental, health and socioeconomic information • Develop and preregister research protocols • Collect, process and analyze continuous individual environmental data from a sample of Brussels Capital Region residents • Apply advanced statistical analysis to the data • Prepare and publish scientific articles in international peer-reviewed scientific journals • Communicate and collaborate with the consortium partners and local stakeholders Interested? Application files should be sent by email to jelle.van.cauwenberg@ulb.be by 08/02/2026 using the following email title: ‘BEE project identifying subgroups – NAME OF APPLICANT’. Application files should include: • A motivation letter (1 page) • A curriculum vitae Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an online interview on 19 or 20 February 2026. Prior to the interview, they will be required to submit a research protocol. During the interview, candidates will present this proposal in English, followed by a discussion. Additional information can be obtained from Prof. Jelle Van Cauwenberg (jelle.van.cauwenberg@ulb.be)