Early Career Group Leader Position in Cancer Immunobiology

Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB); Belgique; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Mentoring program

Group Leader coaching track

Healthcare benefits

Relocation support

Language training

Job summary

Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB) invites applications for a group leader/professor in Cancer Biology focusing on tumor–microenvironment cross-talk. The role is a joint appointment with KU Leuven’s Department of Oncology, aiming to integrate VIB and KU Leuven research strengths in cancer biology and translational science.

The candidate will lead a translational program, collaborate across centers, and develop innovative omics-based approaches, including 3D tumoroid and in vivo models,

Qualifications

• PhD in (Bio-)Medical Sciences or equivalent.
• Strong publication record in international journals and conferences.
• Interest in outreach and contributing to an international scientific environment.
• Interdisciplinary mindset with collaboration across centers and university.
• Leadership capacities and organizational skills.
• International research experience.
• Must be selected as assistant professor at KU Leuven department of Oncology.
• Proficiency in English; Dutch language training provided if needed.

Responsibilities

• Lead a ground-breaking cancer biology program addressing basic questions with translational potential.
• Build bridges between VIB and KU Leuven groups and with industry.
• Focus on omics technologies with oncology relevance and patient-centered tests.
• Develop reductionist models (3D tumoroids) and in vivo models to gain mechanistic insights.
• Contribute to clinical relevance using human samples and pursue metastasis-related investigations.

Skills

PhD in Biomedical Sciences

Leadership experience

Interdisciplinary collaboration

International research experience

English proficiency

Strong publication record

Education

PhD in (Bio-)Medical Sciences

Job description

Application deadline: November 15, 2026

Innovative research focusing on the cross-talk between tumor and immune cells.

The VIB Center for Cancer Biology (VIB CCB) and the Department of Oncology, KU Leuven are recruiting a group leader/professor in Cancer Biology with a research focus on the cross talk between cancer cells and their tumor microenvironment.

VIB is an entrepreneurial and vibrant non-profit research institute in Flanders-Belgium with a clear focus on groundbreaking research in life sciences. More than 1500 scientists and technologists from over 60 countries are working in 9 thematic research centers located at 4 Flemish Universities (Ghent, Leuven, Antwerp & Brussels) and are studying the broad spectrum of molecular mechanisms that regulate the functions of the human body. VIB encourages and supports risk taking, and enables collaborations with top scientists and institutes world-wide. By maintaining the highest standards of research, VIB creates an innovative atmosphere and provides a supportive and collegial environment that allows the scientists to launch novel and ambitious research programs and encourages them to translate results into novel therapeutics, diagnostics, applications and technologies. The VIB Center for Cancer Biology (CCB) currently hosts more than 200 scientists in 13 independent research groups and units who work on various hallmarks of tumors and their microenvironment including angiogenesis, inflammation, metabolism, genetic, epigenetic regulating circuits and cancer immunology. Together we share the ambition to contribute to the better understanding of the biology that underlies cancer initiation, progression and metastatic dissemination with the ultimate goal to develop more effective and specific anti-cancer (combination) therapies.

KU Leuven is the largest and oldest university in Belgium (founded in 1425). It is a leading academic institution in Europe and its mission is to achieve excellent academic education and research. The KU Leuven department of Oncology unites basic and clinical cancer researchers at KU Leuven and the University Hospitals Leuven (UZ Leuven), one of the largest hospitals in Belgium. By creating a strong link between "bed" and "bench", our researchers aim at unraveling crucial mechanisms that underlie cancer initiation, progression and at developing innovative cancer treatments. In particular, we ambition to contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying intratumor heterogeneity, its dynamics during progression & therapy response and its complex interaction with the tumor microenvironment. The Department of Oncology is also engaging into education and fulfills a crucial role in the training of clinicians and cancer researchers. The research facilities are located on Campus Gasthuisberg, which is the home of the health science faculties of the KU Leuven, and the academic hospital (UZ Leuven). UZ Leuven is the largest hospital in Belgium and one of the largest in Europe, and is strongly committed to excellence in clinical care and medical research. The campus offers researchers an excellent environment for fundamental and translational research. To complete our already broad range of expertise, we now wish to recruit an additional expert in Cancer Biology.

Candidate selection is done by both the VIB Center Cancer Biology (CCB) and the department of Oncology, KU Leuven. Thus, the successful candidate must be ranked favorably by both CCB and Oncology.

Research

You will lead a ground-breaking scientific program addressing basic research questions with a pronounced translational potential. You have a collaborative mindset that will allow you to build bridges between existing research groups at VIB and KU Leuven, as well as with other academic centers and the industry. You will focus on novel omics technologies with a research-specific focus on oncology and an unmet patient need.

We are particularly interested in researchers working on the cross-talk between tumors and the innate and adaptive immune system. Ideally, the candidate will develop innovative reductionist (i.e. 3D tumoroid models) approaches and unique in vivo models (i.e. mouse genetics, in vivo lineage tracing, PDXs,…) to gain novel mechanistic insights and directly test the clinical relevance of the findings using human clinical samples.

A dedicated focus on a specific cancer indication and/or underlying biological process (metastatic dissemination, lymph node involvement, circulating tumor cells or specific tumor & micro-environment interactions, etc. is considered a plus.

Your profile

• You have obtained a PhD degree in the field of the (Bio-) Medical Sciences or another field that provides excellent preparation for the requested research program.
• You have a strong research profile within the aforementioned research domains and the quality of your research is proven by publications in international leading journals and conferences.
• You have an interest in outreach and broadly contributing to an exciting scientific environment.
• Interdisciplinary mindset and keen on collaborating broadly in the center, the department, and the university.
• You possess organizational skills and have a collaborative attitude. You also possess leadership capacities.
• You have international research experience.
• The successful candidate must also be selected as assistant professor at the KUL department of Oncology.
• Proficiency in English is required.
• The official language used at KU Leuven is Dutch. If you do not speak Dutch (or do not speak it well) at the start of employment, KU Leuven will provide language training to enable you to take part in meetings. Before teaching courses in Dutch or English, you will be given the opportunity to learn Dutch, respectively English, to the required standard.

We offer

• A challenging position as a VIB group leader in a supportive and international research environment with committed peers (this includes a mentoring program and a Group Leader coaching track).
• An employment package that is internationally attractive and that is independent of research funding and grants, with excellent healthcare benefits.
• Access to excellent and staffed core facilities at CCB, at VIB and at KU Leuven.
• Broad administrative support in finance, HR, logistics, operations & regulatory affairs.
• Collaborative atmosphere with clinicians from the University Hospital UZ Leuven located on the same campus.
• Assistance with daily life issues such as relocation including visa application (if necessary), move & housing, school & day care.
• This position is linked to an assistant professor position at the KU Leuven department of Oncology. Applying candidates will also need to pass the KUL selection procedure.
• A professorship at KU Leuven implies that you obtain a CEFR level B2 certificate in the Dutch language within the first five years of your employment. KU Leuven and VIB provide language training facilities that will support you with this.