Doctoral fellow

About the project

The ERC research project “MIGJUST: Global Migration Justice: Beyond conflicting approaches to migration in international human rights law” (ERC-AdG-2023- 101141743) is seeking to fill three PhD positions. This document concerns the vacancy for research on the UN committees overseeing the main UN human rights treaties.

The key hypothesis of MIGJUST is that there is a fundamental conflict in human rights case law on migration between the human rights approach, adopted by the Inter-American Court and Commission of Human Rights and the African Court and Commission of Human and Peoples’ Rights, and on the other hand the sovereignty approach of the European Court of Human Rights. The difference is also at work in the case law of the UN human rights bodies. The two approaches are reflected in, and are in turn reinforced by, political theory on migration justice. In academic studies, the conflict has not been noted because the case law of the European Court of Human Rights is considered to constitute the most developed version of international human rights law. The conflict between the two approaches is problematic because it goes against the international character of international law and hinders international cooperation. MIGJUST will address this problem by:

• analysing the under-studied case law of the Inter-American, African and UN human rights bodies;
• carrying out a comparative analysis of the European, Inter-American, African and UN case law in the field of migration;
• relating the varying positions to political theory on migration justice; and
• developing methodologies to resolve the doctrinal conflict.

For more information on the overall project see the MIGJUST research plan.

The PhD candidate will become a member of the Migration Law Research Group at the Faculty of Law and Criminology. English will be the main language of work.

Your tasks

• You will conduct academic research with the goal of obtaining a doctoral degree, in the form of academic articles or of a monograph.
• Your research will address the migration case law of the UN committees overseeing the main UN human rights treaties.
• Your research will contribute to a comparative analysis of the migration case law of the three regional human rights systems and the UN committees; and to analysing alternatives to the conflicting approaches that are currently available.
• You will present your research at international conferences, and engage in other forms of valorisation and communication.
• You will take an active part in the work of the MIGJUST research team, as well as in the Migration Law Research Group of which this teams forms a part.

What we are looking for

Your degree, knowledge and experience:

• You hold a master’s degree in law that qualifies you to conduct PhD research at Ghent University; a master’s degree in related fields such as political science/political theory may be sufficient if you have demonstrable qualities in legal analysis.
• You have demonstrable expertise and interest in international human rights law. Preferably you have expertise and interest in the UN human rights system.
• You have expertise and interest in migration law, or you are motivated to familiarise yourself with it.
• You have expertise and interest in post- and decolonial approaches to (human rights) law, or you are motivated to familiarise yourself with them.

Your skills and attitude:

• You are fluent in English as this is the primary working and publication language of the MIGJUST project. Fluency in Spanish or French is most welcome.
• You are willing to live in or near Ghent.
• You are able to work both independently and as part of a multi-disciplinary and international team.
• You possess excellent academic writing and presentation skills.
• You are meticulous, have good organisation skills and can work with deadlines.

What we can offer you

• You will become a member of an international team that values both team work and individual development.
• You will work under the supervision of prof. Thomas Spijkerboer and another staff member.
• You will be part of a stimulating environment allowing you to explore various approaches to your work.
• We value a healthy balance between work and private life. We value on-site interaction between colleagues on a daily basis.
• We offer a full-time position as a doctoral fellow, consisting of an initial period of 12 months, which - after a positive evaluation - will be extended to a total maximum of 48 months.
• Your contract will ideally start on 1 April 2025.
• The fellowship amount is 100% of the net salary of an AAP member in equal family circumstances. The individual fellowship amount is determined by the Department of Personnel and Organisation based on family status and seniority. A grant that meets the conditions and criteria of the regulations for doctoral fellowships is considered free of personal income tax.
• All Ghent University staff members enjoy a number of benefits, such as a wide range of training and education opportunities, 36 days of holiday leave (on an annual basis for a full-time job) supplemented by annual fixed bridge days, bicycle allowance and eco vouchers.

How to apply

Apply by emailing your application to MIGJUST@UGent.be. Make sure to mention MIGJUST PhD 3 in the subject heading. The deadline for applications is 12 January 2025. 

Your application must include the following documents:

• your CV and an overview of your study results (merged into one pdf file)
• your application letter in pdf format
• a transcript of the required degree (if already in your possession). If you have a foreign diploma in a language other than our national languages (Dutch, French or German) or English, please add a translation in one of the mentioned languages.
• the email and telephone of two people whom we can contact for academic references
• a writing sample in English, ideally an academic text (such as a master’s thesis) on a topic related to MIGJUST (10,000 words maximum).

We plan to have a first round of online interviews in the week of 3 February 2025.

As Ghent University maintains an equal opportunities and diversity policy, everyone is encouraged to apply for this position.

More information

For more information about this vacancy, please contact Professor Thomas Spijkerboer via MIGJUST@ugent.be.