Three PhD Positions within the ERC Starting Grant on Media and Wellbeing

The research positions are situated within KU Leuven which is a leading academic institution in Europe. Owing to KU Leuven’s cutting-edge research, KU Leuven is a charter member of LERU, has been ranked as Europe’s most innovative university and it is among the Top 10 of European universities. Within KU Leuven, the School of Mass Communication Research (SMCR, see our website,) represents a pioneering institution for media effects research. SMCR strives to contribute to the most advanced methodological techniques and theoretical insights in communication studies, cognitive and social psychology, sociology, and public health. SMCR adheres to the highest academic standards and publishes its research in top academic journals in various disciplines. SMCR’s ultimate intent is to inspire key players and stakeholders in society as well as individuals and their families with robust evidence on both adverse and beneficial effects of media and with a sound understanding of how media can be employed to achieve goals of social relevance. Issues studied in recent years include alcohol and drug abuse, sexuality and sexism, depression, body image, and sleep. Within this context, Prof. Vandenbosch (co-)supervises 6 PhD students and has developed a center of expertise on the relationships between media ideals and adolescents’ well-being. Along with content analyses, diary studies and experiments, several large-scale panel studies on this topic are currently conducted by her and her team. The team’s work has been recognized with up to 11 awards. Part of the research is embedded within the international network the team has built throughout the years and involves collaborations with, for instance, the U of Michigan, the U of Toronto the U of Vienna, as well as the U of Amsterdam.

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Three PhD Positions within the ERC Starting Grant on Media and Wellbeing