RESEARCH PROFESSOR IN STRATEGY (BOFZAP)

(ref. BZP-2020-1)

Last modification : Tuesday, April 7, 2020

The department of Management, Strategy and Innovation of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) at KU Leuven invites scholars to apply for a full‐time research professorship in strategy. This position is funded by the Special Research Fund (BOFZAP), established by the Flemish Government. We are looking for motivated and internationally oriented candidates with an excellent research record and with educational competence in the broad field of strategy. The appointment is expected to start on October 1, 2021. Applications will be evaluated in parallel and independently by 1) the KU Leuven Research Council in a competitive process across academic domains and 2) the faculty advisory committee. During the first 10 years, the teaching obligations as a research professor will be limited. Afterwards, the position will be transformed into a regular professorship. The department of Management, Strategy and Innovation (MSI) of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) is a multidisciplinary research group bundling expertise in the areas of Strategy, Industrial Organization, Political Economy, International Business, Management and Entrepreneurship. Research concerns the organization of institutions, firms, industries and markets in an international context, with a particular focus on innovation and corporate renewal. The department includes faculty members across the three campuses of the FEB located in Leuven, Brussels and Antwerp, and also hosts the Centre for R&D monitoring (ECOOM). The department currently has about 25 faculty members, 30 PhD students and 10 postdocs.
Duties
Research
It is part of the assignment of the appointed candidate to develop, within the domain of strategy an international, competitive research programme, to pursue excellent scientific results at an international level and to support and promote national and international research partnerships. The candidate must meet a strong research profile or have the potential to do so. In addition, the candidate is expected to have a multidisciplinary attitude and a willingness to cooperate intensively with other researchers and research units at KU Leuven, such as the Centre for Economic Studies.
The candidate:
  • Is an excellent, internationally oriented researcher and develops a research programme at the forefront in the broad field of strategy (corporate strategy, strategic management, industrial organization, international business strategy or innovation and IP strategy). A focus on the economics or management of innovation is a plus.
  • Strengthens existing research lines and brings complementary and/or additionally new expertise by working closely with the members of the research unit.
  • Publishes at the highest scientific level, i.e. journals such as Management Science, Strategic Management Journal, the RAND Journal of Economics.
  • Develops an own research group.
  • Supervises master students, PhD students and postdocs at a high international level.
  • Aims to acquire competitive research funding from national and/or international agencies and submits effective research project proposals for this purpose.
  • Establishes both within KU Leuven, national and international partnerships in the context of the research programme.
  • Strives for excellence in research and provides a contribution to the international research reputation of the MSI department, the Faculty of Economics and Business and KU Leuven.
  • Has a pronounced interest in fundamental research, but also pays attention to the valorization and applications of the research, e.g. in terms of policy-relevant consulting or interaction with the business sector.
Education
Although the position regards a research professorship at the start of employment, the candidate is expected to gradually contribute to state of the art teaching.
The candidate also contributes to the pedagogic project of the faculty/university. He/she develops teaching in accordance with KU Leuven’s vision on activating and research‐based education and makes use of the possibilities for the educational professionalization offered by the faculty and the university.
The research position does not include mandatory teaching activities during the first 5 years of the assignment, with the exception of master thesis supervision. During the second five-year period, one course could be taught in the fields of Strategy, Strategic Management, Industrial Organization, Innovation and IP Strategy, or International Business Strategy.
Service

Scientific, societal and internal services (administrative and/or institutional) are also part of the assignment.

Requirements
  • You have a PhD in economics, business economics or business administration. If you have recently obtained your PhD, it is important that you support your research and growth potential with academic references, e.g. demonstrate potential through at least one top publication, academic references, promising research projects and articles in preparation.
  • You have an strong research profile in the field and an indisputable research integrity.
  • The quality of your research is proven by publications in the fields of economics or business, in journals such as Management Science, Strategic Management Journal, the RAND Journal of Economics.
  •  International research experience is considered as an important advantage.
  •  You have demonstrable qualities related to academic education. Teaching experience is a plus.
  • You possess organizational skills and have a cooperative attitude. You also have leadership skills within a university context.
  •  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 or English, you will be given the opportunity to learn Dutch resp. English to the required standard.
Offer
  • We offer full-time employment in an intellectually challenging environment. KU Leuven is an research-intensive, internationally oriented university that carries out both fundamental and applied scientific research. Our university is highly inter- and multidisciplinary focused and strives for international excellence. In this regard, we actively collaborate with research partners in Belgium and abroad. We provide our students with an academic education that is based on high-quality scientific research.
  • Depending on your qualifications and academic experience, you will be appointed to or tenured in one of the grades of the senior academic staff: assistant professor, associate professor, professor or full professor. In principle, junior researches are appointed as assistant professor on the tenure track for a period of 5 years; after this period and a positive evaluation, they are permanently appointed as an associate professor.
  • You will work in Leuven, a historic and dynamic and vibrant city located in the heart of Belgium, within twenty minutes from Brussels, the capital of the European Union, and less than two hours from Paris, London and Amsterdam.
  • KU Leuven is well set to welcome foreign professors and their family and provides practical support with regard to immigration and administration, housing, childcare, learning Dutch, partner career coaching, …
  • In order to facilitate scientific onboarding and accelerate research in the first phase a starting grant of 100.000 euro is offered to new professors without substantial other funding and appointed for at least 50%.
Interested?
More information on the content of the job can be obtained from the academic contact person: Reinhilde Veugelers, chair of the search committee, Faculty of Economics and Business, campus Leuven; e-mail: Reinhilde.veugelers@kuleuven.be.
More information on the guidelines, regulations and application file is available from Ms. Kristin Vermeylen (kristin.vermeylen@kuleuven.be , tel. +32 16 32 09 07) or Ms. Christelle Maeyaert (christelle.maeyaert@kuleuven.be , tel. +32 16 31 41 94).
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 diversiteit.HR@kuleuven.be.

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