Two PhD researcher positions; doctoral fellowships banality of sports fraud

Organisation/Company Ghent University Department Sport management Research Field Management sciences Psychological sciences Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Final date to receive applications 9 Feb 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Brussels) Country Belgium Type of Contract Permanent Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 38 Offer Starting Date 1 Mar 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Vacancy Announcement:
Two PhD Fellowships on "The Banality of Sports Fraud"

The Ghent University Sport Management Research Group and the Social Psychology Research Lab are jointly recruiting two full-time doctoral fellows (PhD researchers). These positions are part of the FWO-funded project (2026–2029) titled "The banality of sports fraud".

Project Overview and Position Details

This interdisciplinary project investigates how variations in values at the individual, team (toxic leadership), and organizational (ethics culture) level, lead bystanders to facilitate, ignore, or exit a fraud-inducing context. The research considers the sports context as a fraud-inductive social context where fraud can be experienced as "banal".

Although the two researchers will work jointly on the project,
the vacancies represent two distinct profiles embedded in different faculties:

• Position 1:Based at the Department of Movement and Sports Sciences (Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences).
• Position 2:Based at the Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology (Faculty of Psychology).

Both candidates will respectively work under the supervision of Prof. Annick Willem and Prof. Alain Van Hiel. Successful completion of this project results in a joint doctoral degree
:
PhD in Health Sciences and PhD in Psychology.

Selected candidates will execute research at the intersection of sport management and psychology. Core tasks include:

• Conducting lab studies, managing a large-scale survey, and testing interventions (moral identity workshops).
• Presenting results at international conferences and publishing in scientific journals.
• Engaging in science communication with broader audiences.

Limited educational tasks, such as guest lectures or guiding master's students.

We are looking for team players with excellent grades and a genuine interest in sports fraud, sport management, and/or social psychology.

• Education: You hold (or will graduate in 2026 with) a master’s degree in a relevant domain such as (social) psychology, sociology, criminology, business, applied economics, communication sciences, sport (management) sciences, or others.
• Language: Fluency in English (speaking and writing) is required. Fluency in Dutch is considered advantageous for field research activities.
• Skills: Strong analytical skills and competence in methodological research (e.g. data collection, experimental research, surveys, interviews).

• Contract Type:Full-time position (100%) for a limited duration of 1 year, extendable by 3 years upon positive evaluation (1 + 3 years).
• Start Date:Flexible start date between March 1st, 2026, and October 1st, 2026.
• Benefits:The grant is free of personal income tax and includes benefits such as holiday leave, bicycle allowance, and training.
• Required Documents:Please bundle the following into one PDF document
  :
• Personal motivation letter.
• Copy of diploma and course scores.
• Contact details of up to three references (optional).

Selected candidates will be contacted for an on-site interview in February.