KU Leuven has a vacancy for a part-time tenure track position as a junior professor (ZAP) in the field of interior architecture. We are looking for candidates with an an exemplary interior architectural practice, with demonstrable teaching competence in interior architectural design (studio) and a strong research and/or practice record in design. If you do not yet hold a doctoral degree, you will be appointed as a visiting professor (50%) in a pre-ZAP trajectory. Your appointment to the independent academic staff (ZAP) will only take effect upon obtaining the PhD.
The structure of KU Leuven combines faculties and research departments in a multi-campus model.
You will contribute to the research of the Department of Architecture at the Sint-Lucas Brussels and Ghent campus within the research unit Architecture & Design. This research unit brings together researchers from both the Faculty of Architecture and the Faculty of Engineering Science. The Department offers an international research environment of excellence. www.architectuur.kuleuven.be
You will contribute to the education of the Faculty of Architecture. The Faculty of Architecture consists of the academic architecture programmes (interior architecture, architecture, urban design and spatial planning and the educational master) on the Sint-Lucas Brussels and Ghent campus. The faculty is driven by a consciously assembled diversity of practices and is renowned for its future-oriented education that cultivates a freedom of exploration. www.arch.kuleuven.be
Website unit
Duties
Research
We look for candidates who are active as an interior architect within an exemplary design practice and who, by their design and practicing, develop a critical position within the field of interior architecture and its actual challenges and international debates.
Design-driven research affiliated with the interior architecture programme at the Faculty of Architecture, Sint-Lucas campus, pairs an interest in a substantive understanding of interior architecture, ‘the interior’ as a spatial entity, with more agentic conceptualizations. Interior Architecture herein is advanced as a practice of ‘interiorizing’; of assembling novel interior ecologies and associated novel habitual patterns, driven by the rapidly shifting paradigms of the present. Hence, the research activity we intend to further strengthen through this vacancy is ‘projective’ in nature, as it projects scenarios of future patterns of habitation through design projects. As a succesful candidate you will advance a clear (design-driven) position in relation to this general orientation of interior ecologies and you will argue for the particular agency of both yourself as practicing interior architect and your current and planned design work in this context.
In this context you develop a research programme (20% of dedicated time within the 50% appointment) with your practice as main driver:
- You will have demonstrable expertise and skills in designing and constructing/materialising design ideas derived from practice, within real-world situations, linked to theoretical frameworks related to the notion of ‘interior ecologies’.
- The research should connect with ongoing research programmes and research projects.
- You set up collaborations within and outside the department.
- You support national and international collaborations of the research group/section and help to promote and develop them. You will also actively participate in the development of future research projects of the group/section.
- You publish and generate scientific output, including ADRO (Artistic and Design-led Research Output) at the relevant scientific level within the field of interior architecture.
- When appointed as ZAP, you acquire resources for fundamental and/or applied research and you build (international) cooperation. You are involved in, facilitate and stimulate PhDs with a design-driven focus, as a supervisor and as a member of the supervisory committee. Your research contributes to the further strengthening and anchoring of design-driven, artistic and practice-based research at the Department of Architecture and is based on the development of a critical academic design practice linked to innovative learning environments.
Teaching
You provide high-quality teaching (max. 30% of dedicated time within the 50% appointment, in balance with the services you provide) within the field of design in interior architecture with a clear commitment to the quality of the educational programme as a whole. You will also contribute to the teaching project of the faculty/university by supervising master's theses.
You will develop your teaching in line with KU Leuven's vision of activating and research-based education and make use of the opportunities for educational professionalisation offered by the faculty and the university.
Your teaching assignment is determined in consultation on the basis of your specific profile. In doing so, the faculty pays due attention to the balance between research, teaching and (internal) service time.
The focus of the teaching is on the design studios in interior architecture (Bachelor/Master). You will further operationalize and transfer insights of your practice and practice-based research in this design studio environment.
Service
- You are prepared to provide scientific, social and internal services.
- You are committed to playing a role in academic management and the further consolidation of design as the core (Key Performance Indicator) of the programmes within the Department/Faculty of Architecture.
- You play an active role in the image and profiling of the department/faculty with regard to current and new students and the broad professional field. This can be done through participation in public performances, information days, introductory moments, etc.
- You will maintain close contact with the international practice of interior architecture. In particular, this is done by further developing your practice as interior architect.
Profile
You hold a master's degree in interior architecture and a practice-based and/or design-driven PhD. If you do not yet hold a doctoral degree, you will be appointed as a visiting professor (50%) until you obtain your doctoral degree at the Faculty of Architecture, with a maximum term of five years (20% of dedicated research time). Your appointment to the independent academic staff will only take effect upon obtaining the PhD, with the degree and under the conditions laid down by the Advisory Committee of the Faculty of Architecture. The exemplar quality of your practice and its possible ground for a research (PhD) trajectory will be a decisive factor. The quality of the practice in relation to the topic of the vacancy is of primary importance.
- You have a strong record in practice in the field of interior architecture, shown through a portfolio of artistic and design-related work that demonstrates your position as interior architect. This work has investigative qualities and has the potential to be developed into ADROs (Artistic and Design-related Research Output). If you hold a PhD, the quality of your research record in the field of interior architecture is demonstrated by the investigative quality of your practice, ADROs (Artistic and Design-related Research Output), publications in leading/international journals, and research experience. You have demonstrable qualities for academic teaching. You have extensive experience in the studio working format as a learning environment.
- You make efforts to disseminate your research results widely and thus contribute to the development of the knowledge society.
- You take on leadership and create growth and collaboration opportunities for your students and colleagues.
- You attach great importance to teamwork and collegiality and you have the necessary organisational skills to do so.
- You choose for development and innovation in education and research, but also in the field of personal insights and growth within collaborative teams.
- You work in a transparent manner and are willing to share knowledge, scientific methods, insights and findings with colleagues and society.
A good command of English is required. KU Leuven provides courses in academic English.
The administrative language of KU Leuven is Dutch. At the start of recruitment, you must have sufficient knowledge of Dutch to be able to take up internal service and teaching assignments within Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes of Interior Architecture. You must therefore master Dutch as the language of instruction at CEFR level C1.
Offer
We offer a part-time employment (50%) in a vibrant and intellectually stimulating design environment. KU Leuven is a research-intensive, internationally oriented university that carries out both fundamental and applied scientific research. Our university is highly focused on interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research and strives for international excellence. In this regard, the university actively works together with research partners in Belgium and abroad and provides its students with an academic education that is based on high-quality practice and scientific research.
As member of the Faculty of Architecture, you will work on the Sint-Lucas campus both in Brussels and in Ghent. Your main workplace will be Brussels or Ghent and is determined by mutual agreement. The Department of Architecture is active at locations in Brussels, Ghent and Leuven.
Since this a vacancy for a junior professor, you are appointed as assistant professor on the tenure track for a period of 5 years; after this period and a positive evaluation, you are permanently appointed (or tenured) as an associate professor.
If you do not yet hold a doctoral degree, you will be appointed as a visiting professor (50%) until you obtain your doctoral degree at the Faculty of Architecture, with a maximum term of five years. Your appointment to the independent academic staff will only take effect upon obtaining the PhD, with the degree and under the conditions laid down by the assessment committee of the Faculty of Architecture.
KU Leuven is well equipped to welcome foreign professors and their families and offers practical support in the areas of immigration and administration, housing, childcare, learning languages, ... To facilitate scientific integration and research in the first phase, start-up funding of 110 000 euro is offered to new professors, who are appointed for at least 50%. A research position equivalent to a doctoral fellowship for 2 years is also being made available.
Interested?
For more information on the content of the position, please contact:
- Prof. dr. Fredie Floré, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, email:
[email protected]- Prof. dr. Rajesh Heynickx, Chair of the Department of Architecture, email:
[email protected]- Prof. dr. Thierry Lagrange, head of the Research Unit Architecture & Design, email:
[email protected]You can apply exclusively via our online application platform. If you encounter any problems when applying online, please mail to
[email protected]Add the following elements to your application (more information can be found on the jobsite KU Leuven):
- a biosketch demonstrating your added value as an academic for the core tasks of research, teaching and service in your past career and for your future activities (maximum 2 pages); It should include the following elements: 1) the crucial elements and their importance/impact from your past career; 2) the main lines of your future vision and the future activities you plan (with an emphasis on the first 5 years); 3) the added value of your activities for KU Leuven and the collaboration within faculty/department/campus;
- a file on your five most important publications, ADRO’s or achievements;
- a comprehensive CV (including a portfolio of your design projects and a full publication list, including ADRO);
- your research plan with focus on the development of your research line and research team in relation with the colleague-researchers of the entity of employment or on the intended doctoral research in case you aren’t a PhD holder yet (maximum 4 pages);
- your vision on academic education and its organisation and how you implement this vision in the curriculum (maximum 2 pages);
- your contribution to service activities (internal representation through membership in councils and governing bodies, contributions to society from designing and practice, teaching and research, outreach and science communication) (maximum 1 page);
- your vision of leadership and how you implement this in your leadership tasks (maximum 1 page).
We ask that all documents be drawn up in English.
KU Leuven attaches great importance to scientific integrity, acting ethically and with integrity and will ask you to sign an integrity statement upon appointment.
On August 26 2026, 12h00-13h00 (Brussels Time) you can follow an online information session. During this session, we explain the specifities of the part-time ZAP profile and the option to apply without a doctoral degree. We provide tips to prepare a good application. Please register for this session via ONEBUTTON: https://icts.kuleuven.be/apps/onebutton/registrations/1505688.
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.
