Professor in Biopharmaceutics

Biopharmaceutics aims to relate the physicochemical properties of a drug substance and/or the characteristics of the dosage form to the disposition in the body after drug product administration, which can be orally, pulmonary, transdermal, intravenous, etc. The main goal of biopharmaceutics is to explore whether sufficient concentrations are reached at the site of action in order to elicit a clinically relevant effect. To minimize attrition during clinical studies, biopharmaceutics has also become an integral part of the drug discovery and drug development pipeline. Various tools can be used to achieve this goal, including in vitro, in/ex vivo, in situ and in silico models.

The position will be embedded within the Drug Delivery and Disposition research unit of the Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences.

Website unit

Duties

Research

• You will initiate and perform research in the field of biopharmaceutics, taking advantage of existing expertise in biopharmaceutics and infrastructure of the Drug Delivery and Disposition research unit.
• You have a particular research focus on the development and exploration of emerging technologies in the field of biopharmaceutics.
• You will publish your results in high impact peer reviewed international journals and attract competitive research funds.
• You will engage in the international biopharmaceutics research community.
• You will interact in the multidisciplinary research environment of the Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences and the Biomedical Sciences Group.
• You will attract and supervise Master students and PhD researchers.
• You can identify and pursue potential valorization of your research results, in collaboration with the technology transfer unit Leuven Research and Development according to the applicable procedures of the KU Leuven.

Teaching

• Your teaching assignment will be determined in consultation based on your specific profile and will include lectures as well as other teaching approaches (tutorials, interactive workshops, internship supervision, etc.), particularly within the Bachelor and Master programs of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Examples include 'Formulation and Preparation of Drugs' and 'Drug Compounding'. Teaching duties for other degree programs of the Biomedical Sciences Group or the Science and Technology Group are also possible.
• You will contribute to the educational project of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, other faculties and the KU Leuven by supervising master theses and as a promoter of PhD students.
• You will develop your teaching duties in accordance with KU Leuven's vision through activating and research-based education and you make use of the opportunities for educational professionalization offered by the faculties and the university.
• The teaching assignment load will gradually increase, depending on your qualifications. In your further academic career, due attention will be given to maintain an optimal equilibrium between research and teaching.

Service

You will take responsibility in management tasks of the Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences and the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and in scientific and/or social communities. The very high density of pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies in Flanders provides unique opportunities for industry collaboration.

Profile

• You have a PhD in either Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, (Bio)chemistry, Biology, (Bio)science engineering, or equivalent.
• You combine an in-depth pharmaceutical expertise with a technical expertise in the field of biopharmaceutics.
• Upon appointment, you have at least 3 years of postdoctoral experience and expertise with biopharmaceutics programs in an academic and/or industry context.
• You have a strong research record and excellent teaching and training skills, allowing you to contribute to the research output of the department and to the quality of the educational program.
• The high quality of your research track is evidenced by high-impact first and/or last author publications in international peer-reviewed journals and by successful grant applications. International research experience is required.
• You have good organizational skills and you have a team-player attitude. You have leadership capacity within the university context.
• Proficiency in English is required.  
• 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 meetings and to comply with the decree requirements. Before teaching courses in Dutch or English, you will be given the opportunity to learn Dutch, respectively English, to the required standard.

Offer

We are offering a full-time employment in an intellectually challenging environment. KU Leuven is a research-intensive, internationally oriented university that carries out both fundamental and applied scientific research. It is highly inter- and multidisciplinarily focused and strives for international excellence. In this regard, it actively works together with research partners in Belgium and abroad. It provides its students with an academic education that is based on high-quality scientific research.

You will work in Leuven, a historic, dynamic and lively city located in the heart of Belgium, within 20 minutes from Brussels, the capital of the European Union, and less than two hours from Paris, London and Amsterdam.

Depending on your record and qualifications, 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 researchers 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 (or tenured) as an associate professor.

KU Leuven is well set to welcome foreign professors and their family and provides practical support with regard to immigration & administration, housing, childcare, learning Dutch, partner career coaching, … 
To facilitate scientific onboarding and accelerate research in the first phase a starting grant of 110.000 euro is offered to new professors without substantial other funding, appointed for at least 50%.

KU Leuven places great importance on research integrity and ethical conduct and will therefore ask you to sign an integrity statement upon appointment.

Interested?

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.