PhD ’ERC Project EXPULSE’ (Barcelona)

Category:  PhD

1 - Working at the VUB

For more than 50 years, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has stood for freedom, equality and solidarity, and this is very much alive on our campuses among students and staff alike. 

 

At the VUB, you will find a diverse collection of personalities: innovators pur sang, but above all people who are 100% their authentic selves. With some 4,000 employees, we are the largest Dutch-speaking employer, in the private sector, in Brussels; an international city with which we are only too happy to connect and where (around) our 4 campuses are located. 

 

Add to this our principle of free research - in which self-reflection, a critical attitude and an open, creative mind around scientific and social issues are central - and you have a university that is fundamentally groundbreaking and pioneering in education and research. In short: the VUB all over again. 

 

Moreover, the VUB is a member of EUTOPIA, an alliance of like-minded European universities, all ready to reinvent themselves.

2 - Position description

The Faculty of Social Sciences and Solvay Business School, Department Sociology, Research Group Brussels Institute for Social and Population Studies is looking for a PhD-student within the ERC-funded project EXPULSE - Urban Expulsion Regimes. 

 

The ERC project EXPULSE investigates how urban expulsion regimes shape housing trajectories among low-income residents, urban citizenship, and socio-spatial inequalities in four European cities: Brussels, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Thessaloniki. 

 

Against the backdrop of deepening housing crises and widening urban inequalities, EXPULSE examines how contemporary forms of expulsion - most notably housing evictions - are produced, governed, and spatially distributed. The project conceptualizes urban expulsion regimes as the dynamic interplay between state policies, housing market regulations, public discourses, and the everyday practices of street-level bureaucrats and private actors involved in eviction processes.

 

Using a comparative mixed-methods approach, the project combines:

• Quantitative analysis of eviction court data;
• Qualitative interviews and ethnographic fieldwork with institutional actors and residents at risk of eviction.

 

You will conduct in-depth research in Barcelona and will actively engage with the project’s comparative framework.

 

More concretely your work packages, for the preparation of a doctorate, contains: 

 

1. Studying urban expulsion regimes "from above"

Analysing state policies, legal frameworks, housing regulations, and public discourses shaping eviction governance.

 

2. Studying urban expulsion regimes "from below" 

Examining how eviction governance is enacted in everyday practices by street-level bureaucrats and private actors (e.g. landlords, welfare offices, judicial courts, police, and bailiffs).

 

3. Exploring lived experiences of housing insecurity

Investigating housing trajectories, notions of home, coping strategies, and access to urban citizenship among residents at risk of eviction.

 

For this function, our Brussels Humanities, Sciences & Engineering Campus (Elsene) will serve as your home base. 

3 - Profile

What do we expect from you?

 

• 
  
  You hold a Master’s degree in sociology, urban studies, geography, anthropology or a related field.
  
  

 

• You conduct independent doctoral research leading to a PhD dissertation;
• You publish in peer-reviewed academic journals;
• You present research at national and international conferences;
• You contribute to the organisation of (inter)national workshops and academic events;
• You engage in the societal dissemination of research findings;
• You demonstrate an excellent academic track record;
• You show a strong motivation, intellectual curiosity, and a rigorous work ethic;
• You are able to work both independently and collaboratively in an interdisciplinary and international research team;
• You are fluent in English;
• You have proficiency in the language of the city under study (Catalan/Spanish);
• You have proven experience with qualitative research methods (e.g. interviews, ethnography, discourse analysis).

 

Assets (not required, but considered an advantage):

• You have experience in researching housing insecurity, vulnerable populations, or street-level bureaucrats;

• You have existing networks with housing movements or urban actors in Barcelona.

 

• You have not performed any works in the execution of a mandate as an assistant, paid from operating resources, over a total (cumulated) period of more than 12 months.

 

• As a (non-)EEA national, meet the conditions for obtaining a valid permit for VUB and comply with the VUB residence requirements. More info here .

 

The VUB wants to be a reflection of the society where everyone’s talent is valued, regardless of gender, age, religion, skin color, migration background, disability and neurodiversity.

4 - Offer

Are you going to be our new colleague?

 

You’ll be offered a full-time PhD-scholarship, for 12 months (extendable up to max. 48 months, on condition of the positive evaluation of the PhD activities), with planned starting date 01/09/2026. 

 

You’ll receive a grant linked to one of the scales set by the government.

 

IMPORTANT: The effective result of the doctorate scholarship is subject to the condition precedent of your enrolment as a doctorate student at the university.

 

At the VUB, you’re guaranteed an open, involved and diverse workplace where you are offered opportunities to (further) build on your career.

 

As well as this, you will also enjoy various other benefits:

• Extensive homeworking options, a telework allowance of 50 euros per month OR an internet fee of 20 euros per month;
• An open and informal working environment where attention is paid to work-life balance, and exceptional holiday arrangements with 35 days of leave (based on a fulltime contract), closure between Christmas and New Year and 3 extra leave days;
• Cost-free hospitalisation insurance;
• Full reimbursement of your home-to-work commute with public transport according to VUB-policy, and/or compensation if you come by bike; 
• A wide selection of meals in our campus restaurants at attractive prices;
• Excellent and affordable facilities for sport and exercise, a range of discounts via BenefitsWork (in  all kinds of shops, on flights, in petrol stations, amusement parks...) and Ecocheques; 
• Nursery near campus, discount on holiday camps; 
• The space to form your job content and to continuously learn through our VUB learning platforms and training courses;
• And finally: great colleagues and a dynamic and stimulating international work environment.

5 - Interested?

Is this the job you’ve been dreaming of?

 

Then apply, at the latest on 15/05/2026, via jobs.vub.be , and upload the following documents:

• your CV (including contact details of two referees);
• your motivation letter;
• a writing sample in English (e.g. master’s thesis, student or academic paper);
• your course transcript and your diploma (not applicable for VUB alumni).

 

Our application process is as follows (subject to change):

• step 1: an initial selection based on your application file; 
• step 2: a job interview.

 

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview (online or in person) in early June 2026. As part of the interview process, they will be asked to present a short draft research proposal aligned with the objectives of the EXPULSE project.

 

Do you have questions about the job content? Contact Prof. Eva Swyngedouw at eva.swyngedouwvub.be or on 0498/148791.

 

Would you like to know what it’s like to work at the VUB? Go to jobs.vub.be , and find all there is to know about our campuses, benefits, strategic goals and your future colleagues.

 

Would you like more information about EUTOPIA? Go to eutopia-university.eu , and read more about the role of the VUB in the development of the EUTOPIA alliance.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS VACANCY?

You can contact the person mentioned in the job description.