Institute for the Law of Obligations – PhD scholarship holder (100%)

The Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) has awarded a senior research project to Prof. Petra FOUBERT (Hasselt University), Prof. Ilse SAMOY and Prof. Elise Muir (KU Leuven) and Prof. Wannes Vandenbussche (Ghent University), allowing them to hire 2 full-time PhD students (4 years each) and 1 postdoc researcher, for doing research on Tackling Systemic Discrimination (TASYDIS) in European antidiscrimination law.
EU antidiscrimination law has been mainly conceived to address individual situations of discrimination through a complaint-based bilateral model allowing a specific victim to obtain redress in court from a specific discriminator. However, social science and social psychology research has shown that discrimination not only results from individual and deliberate discriminatory acts but also from systemic factors operating at societal level or within specific organisations like companies. In the US and Canada, the concept of systemic discrimination gave rise to legal scholarship and/or has even been accepted by case law. In the EU, important questions remain as the existing (antidiscrimination) legal framework is not adapted to tackle this collective or ‘systemic’ form of discrimination. However, the need to address systemic discrimination has become even more urgent with the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI), as algorithmic technologies pose a potential threat to perpetuate and reinforce systemic inequalities. This project seeks to investigate how the legal framework – both at EU and national levels (3 case studies, Belgium, France and Ireland) – could be reformed to respond to the challenges arising from systemic discrimination in terms of enforcement (e.g. remedies, proof, procedural challenges, dispute resolution method). The project combines legal analysis with insights from social science and social psychology.
The central research objective of the TASYDIS project is to investigate how the existing antidiscrimination framework (EU, Belgium, France, Ireland) can be used and, if necessary, should be transformed to respond to the challenges that systemic discrimination poses in terms of enforcement (both in and out-of-court procedures). Our twofold hypothesis is: the current legal framework already provides tools to tackle systemic discrimination but these tools are currently underused (H1); even if better exploited, these tools do not allow to fully address the challenges, thus requiring further development of the (antidiscrimination) legal framework (H2). As shown by US and Canadian experiences, the key problem is the fact that the relevant legal framework is largely based on a bilateral complaint-based enforcement model, with judicial proceedings at its heart. Some classic features of this model appear ill-suited to the specificities of systemic discrimination. The project thus investigates if, how and to what extent the enforcement framework should be rethought in the context of systemic discrimination.
The PhD student joins the Institute for the Law of Obligations, founded in 1999 and run by Prof. Sophie Stijns and Prof. Ilse Samoy. This Institute is part of the Research Unit Private Law. The members of the Institute teach the basic and advanced courses of the law of obligations in both Leuven and Hasselt, including lectures, exercises, seminars and the supervision of bachelor and master’s theses. Apart from education, the Institute features a strong focus on research, with several successful research projects completed.
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Project
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This PhD position fits within the TASYDIS project and focuses on ‘Systemic remedies: towards proactive and collective solutions’, i.e. the challenges that emerge in EU, Belgian, French and Irish law when applying available individual and responsible remedies to instances of systemic discrimination. The researcher is based at KU Leuven and works under the supervision of Prof. Ilse Samoy (KU Leuven, promoter) and Prof. Wannes Vandenbussche (UGent, promoter). Given the interuniversity and intradisciplinary character of the TASYDIS-project, the researcher closely collaborates with the other PhD student, based at Ghent University and the postdoctoral researcher, based at UHasselt.
The PhD student based at KU Leuven aims:
To find out which systemic remedies are or should be available in the individual enforcement model to address the root causes of systemic discrimination.  This requires moving beyond monetary damages and studying alternative responsive remedies such as orders to set up equality plans, taking into account the remedial authority of Belgian, French and Irish courts;
To further study proactive models, as these may remedy many of the shortcomings of an individual enforcement model by shifting responsibility to persons who are better placed to achieve equality.
If you are also interested in the joint PhD position at Ghent University, which focuses on assessing the potential and limits of procedural tools and means of evidence in EU, Belgian, French, and Irish law, you may include this in your application.

Profile
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You have a Master’s degree in Law, with excellent results. Students who will graduate in 2025 and candidates who worked previously at a law firm are also encouraged to apply.
You have an interest in both tort and antidiscrimination law and would like to be part of an innovative project to explore whether and how the legal framework – both at EU and national level (3 case studies, Belgium, France and Ireland) – could be reformed to respond to the challenges posed by systemic discrimination in terms of enforcement.
You are fluent in English and in Dutch or French. Knowledge of other languages is an asset.
You have strong writing skills and can draft legal texts in a clear and comprehensive manner.
You are prepared to carry out research in libraries and archives.
You handle deadlines well.
You have excellent communication skills, are creative, cooperative and open to intradisciplinary research, given the team-based character of the project.
You are ambitious and driven, but you are also sociable and committed. You are a pleasant colleague and are open to suggestions and substantiated criticism.

Offer
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We offer you a PhD position. The fellowship provides for a scholarship as well as social and health benefits, office space and a bench fee for research expenses.
Subject to positive evaluation after the first year and the second year, the scholarship has a total duration of 48 months (1+1+2).
The start date of the doctoral position is negotiable, but should not be later than 1 September 2025.

Interested?
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For more information please contact Prof. Dr. Ilse Samoy, tel: +32 16 32 53 89, mail: [email protected].
In case you have any problems using the online application tool, please send an email to [email protected].
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