join us

Open positions and how to join the Software Languages Lab.

SOFT is always looking for talented and motivated people who want to do research on programming languages, software engineering, system software, and databases. We welcome applications from prospective PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, both in response to open positions and spontaneously. If you are interested in doing research at SOFT, contact the professor whose research team best matches your interests, with your CV and a short motivation.

Open positions

There are currently no open positions. Spontaneous applications are always welcome: contact the professor whose research team best matches your interests.

How PhD positions are funded

PhD researchers at the VUB are paid for their research, typically for four years. At SOFT, their positions are funded in one of three ways:

  • research projects: a position on one of the lab’s funded projects, advertised under open positions when available;
  • personal fellowships: most notably the PhD fellowships of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), for which a candidate applies together with a SOFT professor as supervisor, with a yearly deadline in early March; spontaneous applicants usually take this route;
  • teaching assistant positions: a VUB position that combines a PhD with assisting in the department’s teaching.

Postdoctoral researchers can likewise apply with a SOFT professor for fellowships such as the FWO junior postdoctoral fellowship or a Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellowship. More information on doing a PhD at the VUB is available from the university’s page on financing your PhD and from the Doctoral School of Natural Sciences and (Bioscience) Engineering.

Master students

Students of the Software Systems specialisation of the VUB’s Master in Computer Science do their master thesis in one of SOFT’s research teams, students of the Data Management and Analytics specialisation can do so with the SOFT professors who teach in it, and students of the Master of Applied Informatics can do so too; see the teaching page. Several of the lab’s current PhD students started with a master thesis at SOFT.

Contact

For general questions about joining the lab, contact info@soft.vub.ac.be.