The Faculty of Canon Law has a strong national and international reputation in teaching, research, and scientific services in the field of Canon Law and aims for leadership in each of these activities at the national, European, international and ecclesiastical levels.
The Faculty of Canon Law currently has more than 120 students from the five continents. Based on its extensive research expertise, teaching is offered in Dutch and English, both at master's and advanced master's level.
The Faculty distinguishes itself by emphasizing the ecclesiastical and Church-political role of Canon Law. Well-formed canon lawyers with a solid legal basis are vital for the Church and for the dialogue between the Church and society at a time of increasing secularization, religious fundamentalism and sometimes religiously legitimized violence. The Faculty of Canon Law has, based on its intrinsic mission and services, an important task and responsibility in this as the only Faculty in the world where people are trained in this discipline in Dutch and as one of the four in the world where this is possible in English. This requires sufficient analytical skills and originality in research and teaching, as well as attention to the juridical, the theological and philosophical foundations of Canon Law.
Duties
Research
The candidate strives for excellence in research. The candidate is able to develop and implement a broad research programme which is aligned with and complements the existing research programmes and the profile of the Faculty of Canon Law and which has a strong international dimension and outreach.
The candidate is expected to:
- conduct independent research on an international forum, build an international competitive research programme and strive for excellent scientific results;
- have a strong methodological research profile and be open for interdisciplinary research;
- promote national and international research cooperation;
- attract external funds for research;
- (co)supervises master’s and PhD students.
Teaching
Teaching assignments will include the education in Dutch and English in Canon Law. As a full member of the Faculty, the teaching assignments will be related to the research domain as much as possible, while members of the academic staff are also expected to contribute more broadly to the Faculty’s teaching portfolio. Furthermore, the candidate will organize seminars for smaller groups, provide individual supervision of master’s theses and reserve sufficient time for the supervision of PhD students.
Service
Service provision includes both internal service, such as service to the university or the Faculty and participation in councils and/or academic activities, as well as external service, i.e. service to the Church, to society or to the professional field in a broader sense.
Profile
You hold a doctoral degree in Canon Law with dissertation (JCD). An additional master's degree in law and/or theology (STL) counts as an added value.
You have demonstrable expertise, both at national and international level, in:
- basic concepts of Canon Law and/or;
- general norms of Canon Law and/or;
- history of Canon Law and/or;
- theology of Canon Law and/or;
- law of religious communities and/or;
- the law of the Oriental Churches and/or;
- marriage law in the Church and the law of matrimonial procedures and/or;
- the hierarchical organization of the Church (the universal and particular Church) and/or;
- ecclesiastical procedural law and/or;
- ecclesiastical penal law and/or;
- the law of the sacraments and/or;
- temporal goods of the Church and/or;
- the teaching office of the Church and/or;
- the rights and obligations of Christian faithful and/or;
- the relations between Church and State and ecclesiastical diplomacy.
RESEARCH
You conduct excellent research related to several of these areas of Canon Law, as evidenced by internationally reviewed scientific publications, the development of your own research projects and/or the successful supervision of PhD students. You are prepared to engage in inter- and multidisciplinary collaboration with other researchers and research units in the Faculty of Canon Law and beyond, more specifically in the disciplines of Law and Theology.
You are also part of international networks in the academic world. Your publications and/or other research results demonstrate originality, a deep level of abstraction and openness to intra- or interdisciplinary research, as well as the ability to understand and clearly explain the technical nature of Canon Law.
You show the ability to acquire research funding and you demonstrate a willingness to strengthen the position of the research unit through your continued efforts in this area.
TEACHING
You have a solid vision on academic research based teaching, and the ability to provide it. You have demonstrable didactical skills enabling you to contribute to the high quality of the teaching assignments of the Faculty of Canon Law and of the university. You have the necessary skills to teach students from various disciplines so as to allow them to acquire knowledge and skills relating to Canon Law. Commitment to the quality of the educational programs in general is considered self-evident.
If available, please attach any evaluations of prior teaching experience to your file.
SERVICE PROVISION AND LEADERSHIP
You have the necessary social and professional skills to work and collaborate in a flexible way in a team in the Faculty of Canon Law. You are capable of taking up or growing in various leadership positions, at the level of both the Faculty and the university.
KU Leuven has an equal opportunity and diversity policy.
REQUIRED LANGUAGE SKILLS
Proficiency in English is required.
Mastery of the Dutch language at CEFR level C1 is required at the start of employment, in order to be able to teach in Dutch immediately.
Offer
We are offering full-time employment in an intellectually stimulating environment. KU Leuven is a research-intensive, internationally oriented university that carries out both fundamental and applied scientific research. It is a highly inter- and multidisciplinary institution which strives for international excellence. In this regard, it actively works together with research or network partners in Belgium and abroad. It provides its students with an academic teaching that is based on high-quality scientific research.
Depending on your record and qualifications, you will be appointed to or tenured in one of the grades of the senior academic staff: assistant professor, associate professor, professor or full professor.
To facilitate scientific integration and research in the initial phase of appointment, an initial funding of EUR 110,000 is offered to new professors who have no substantial other funding and who are appointed for at least 50%.
KU Leuven is well equipped to welcome international professors and their families and offers practical support with immigration and administration, housing, childcare and career coaching for partners.
Interested?
You can apply for this job via KU Leuven’s online application platform. To enable review by international experts, we kindly ask you to submit your application in English.
KU Leuven attaches great importance to research integrity and ethical conduct and will therefore ask you to sign an integrity statement upon appointment.
For more information about the content of the position or vacancy, please contact: Prof. dr. Hildegard Warnink (dean of the Faculty of Canon Law), e-mail: [email protected], tel.: +32-16/32.51.58.
Do you have a question about the online application system? Please email us at [email protected].
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.
