The Center for Biomedical Ethics and Law (Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven) is seeking an outstanding doctoral student to conduct research on the epistemological and ethical issues in sports medicine in relation to eating disorders in elite athletes. The Center for Biomedical Ethics and Law at KU Leuven is an interdisciplinary research center that investigates the ethical and societal questions raised by contemporary biomedical research and healthcare.

The research is promoted by two leading scholars in their field: Prof. Dr. Silvia Camporesi, research professor (BOFZAP) in Sports Integrity and Ethics in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven; and Prof. Dr. Laurence Claes, full professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of KU Leuven. Together professor Camporesi and Professor Claes form a unique team providing a uniquely robust interdisciplinary supervisory context for this research.

Silvia Camporesi is a leading scholar internationally in the field of sport ethics and philosophy. With a double background in biotechnology and philosophy of medicine, she has published innovative and impactful research at the intersection of bioethics and sport over the last fifteen years. She is Deputy Chair of the British Philosophy of Sport Association and part of the teaching faculty of the Master’s programme in Sports Integrity and Ethics at KU Leuven. Laurence Claes is a leading scholar internationally in the field of clinical psychology, with a specific expertise in eating disorders. Prof. Claes is head of the research group Clinical Psychology at KU Leuven. This research group conducts scientific research in various areas, namely (1) clinical assessment, (2) (developmental) psychopathology, and (3) the treatment of psychological issues. Prof. Claes’ research focuses on the associations between personality/identity and psychopathology (more specific, eating disorder, non-suicidal self-injury, pathological buying). Additionally, she is also working as a licensed behavioral therapist with patients suffering from eating disorders, non-suicidal self-injury and/or personality disorders at PraxisP (KU Leuven).
Unit website

Project
This specific research project in sports medicine and ethics aims to investigate the epistemological and ethical issues in sports medicine in relation to eating disorders in elite athletes.

Eating disorders cannot be understood without reference to the moral values that are internalized by individuals with eating disorders. Among these values are self-control, self-discipline, austerity, commitment, achievement, hard work and purity. Many of these values belong also to the sporting ethos.

Although eating disorders are prevalent and can have debilitating impacts for this population, help-seeking is rare for this population compared to the general population.

This research project aims at investigating the values internalized by elite athletes with eating disorders, and ascertain to what extent if any of these values differ from the values in the general population of individuals with eating disorder. Investigating elite athletes’ perspectives and values will inform the understanding of what factors contribute to eating disorders in elite athletes, and constitute barriers to help-seeking, diagnosis and treatment in this population.

This is a PhD by publication route.

The deliverables in this project are: a) to critically review the non-epistemic values associated with an eating disorder diagnosis from a patient’s perspective; b) to identify the specificities of non-epistemic values associated with an eating disorder diagnosis from the patient’s perspective in an athlete’s population; c) to identify the specificities of non-epistemic values associated with an eating disorder diagnosis from the coaches’ perspective in an athlete’s population, d) to identify the barriers if any to identification in eating disorders from the point of view of coaches and other members of the elite’s athlete entourage, e) to develop an ethical framework in sports medicine for ethically dealing with eating disorders in the context of coach-athlete relationship.

Profile
Essential criteria:

1. You will have completed a Master's degree with distinction overall, or distinction in the dissertation and merit overall in any subject by September 30th, 2024. No restriction are placed on the subject of study.

2. You are enthusiastic, ambitious, dynamic, flexible, and open to challenges and developments.

3. You can work in an international multidisciplinary team.

4. You have excellent oral and written communication skills in English

5. You have good organizational skills and can work independently and make decisions.

Desirable criteria:

1. You have experience with social science research methods, such as qualitative methods (semi-structured interviews, focus groups, etc.)

2. You have experience submitting research ethics application for social sciences research

3. You have experience successfully submitting papers for publication

4. You can speak Dutch

Main tasks and responsibilities associated with the position:

1. You will conduct research (critical literature review, conceptual papers, qualitative research ) in the described research domain.

2. You will be involved in the design, setup, and execution of the research, and you will report on the results in scientific publications.

3. You will contribute to collective activities of the research group (such as mentoring Master’s students, participating in lab meetings, contributing to writing research proposals, etc.).

In order to apply for this position:

Please submit the required documents through the portal. These are:

1. Your official certificate of Master’s degree and grade transcripts. If you have not obtained your Master’s degree yet but expect to obtain it by September 30th, you may submit a letter written from your Program Director stating the expected final outcome of your degree.

2. Your CV, including the names, and email-contacts of two potential academic referees who may be contacted at short notice to write a letter in support of your application.

3. Your cover letter (Word-limit: 2,500 words, references excluded) highlighting: a) how you meet the essential and desirable criteria for the PhD position and b) which ethical issues you expect to encounter while investigating eating disorders in athletes, their coaches and their entourage; c) which challenges you expect to encounter while conducting empirical research and how you expect to overcome them.

Offer
A PhD position within an internationally leading multidisciplinary team with relevant experience and unique expertise across sports medicine and ethics and clinical psychology. The research will take place at KU Leuven in the Department of Public Health and Primary care, under the promotion of Professor Silvia Camporesi and Professor Laurence Claes.

Interviews for this position will be held on Wednesday September 11th.

The start date will be determined in consultation with the candidate (with the ambition to start no later than 1 January 2025).

Interested? For informal inquiries, please contact Prof. Dr. Silvia Camporesi, Email: silvia.camporesi@kuleuven.be or Prof. Dr. Laurence Claes, laurence.claes@kuleuven.be
You can apply for this job no later than August 12, 2024 via the online application tool (link below).

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.