PhD candidate: Perceptions of Threat, Intergroup Relations and Polarization

The Université libre de Bruxelles invites applications for a 3.5-year PhD position within the CeSCuP research group at the Faculty of Psychology, Educational Sciences and Speech Therapy. The project bridges social psychology and political science to examine how authoritarian attitudes, perceived threats, and contextual factors drive political polarization and support for the far-right. The empirical research will heavily focus on Brussels as a diverse urban setting, alongside contributing to voter surveys surrounding the Belgian electoral cycles in 2029 and 2030. The successful candidate will engage in collaborative data collection, theoretical framework development, and interdisciplinary team activities.

• Develop an integrated theoretical framework connecting authoritarian attitudes and perceived threats to political polarization.
• Design and execute empirical studies focusing on threat perceptions and political behavior within diverse urban contexts like Brussels.
• Contribute to joint survey research and data collection efforts surrounding the 2029 and 2030 Belgian electoral cycles.
• Collaborate across interdisciplinary teams combining perspectives from social psychology and political science.
• Analyze quantitative and qualitative data to generate new empirical insights on political intolerance and far-right support.