1 - Working at the VUB
For more than 50 years, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has stood for freedom, equality and solidarity, and this is very much alive on our campuses among students and staff alike.
At the VUB, you will find a diverse collection of personalities: innovators pur sang, but above all people who are 100% their authentic selves. With some 4,000 employees, we are the largest Dutch-speaking employer, in the private sector, in Brussels; an international city with which we are only too happy to connect and where (around) our 4 campuses are located.
Add to this our principle of free research - in which self-reflection, a critical attitude and an open, creative mind around scientific and social issues are central - and you have a university that is fundamentally groundbreaking and pioneering in education and research. In short: the VUB all over again.
Moreover, the VUB is a member of EUTOPIA, an alliance of like-minded European universities, all ready to reinvent themselves.
2 - Position description
The Faculteit Letteren en Wijsbegeerte, Department History, Archeology, Arts, Philosophy and Ethics, Research Group Archaeology, Environmental changes and GeoChemistry is looking for a postdoctoral researcher with a grant.
More concretely your work package, for the validation of your doctoral research, contains:
Join the VUB AMGC team (Archaeology, Environmental changes and Geo-Chemistry) and the FLAIR research group (Federated Labs AI and Robotics) for the ARCHAI project, which explores the crossover between artificial intelligence and Archaeological Prospection.
Archaeological prospection faces an unusual combination of challenges: data are sparse and unevenly distributed, observations are uncertain, and decisions about where to survey unfold sequentially under significant time and cost constraints. Existing predictive models provide useful but incomplete support because they cannot fully capture the complexity and heterogeneity of archaeological data. This underscores the need for approaches that explicitly capture uncertainty, adapt dynamically to new information, and sequentially optimise survey strategies in a transparent and robust manner.
ARCHAI, a new fully funded interdisciplinary research project of the VUB, introduces a new research framework that treats archaeological prospection as a sequential decision-making process explored through computational simulation and deep multi-objective reinforcement learning. The project will investigate a simulation platform that reproduces the structure of real prospection activities by integrating multiple, heterogeneous geospatial and archaeological data layers. Within this environment, we will design and evaluate new reinforcement learning algorithms capable of operating in large, partially observed spatial domains to infer efficient, interpretable strategies for estimating archaeological potential, that capture distinct criteria including scientific yield and cost effectiveness. These strategies will then be tested in real field settings (e.g. Turkey, Cyprus and Flanders) to assess how well simulation-trained decision policies transfer to practical archaeological contexts.
The initiative combines the AMGC group's extensive expertise in archaeological prospection with the FLAIR's strengths in developing new multi-objective deep reinforcement learning algorithms, to support decision makers under uncertainty.
VUB team: Prof. dr. Ralf Vandam (AMGC), Prof. dr. Pieter Libin (FLAIR)
Within the ARCHAI project, you will coordinate the collaboration between the archaeological (AMGC) and AI (FLAIR) teams, contributing to the development of a simulator of real-world archaeological search processes and to the AI methods that learn effective discovery strategies within it. You will combine archaeological and landscape data (maps, satellite imagery, archaeological datasets) with machine learning approaches to build a system that highlights promising locations for archaeological research. You are also expected to play an active role in project coordination and in writing follow-up grant applications to expand the research.
Your key responsibilities:
- Co-coordinate the ARCHAI project, ensuring close collaboration between the AMGC and FLAIR teams
- Contribute to the development of machine learning methods for archaeological predictive modelling / site discovery
- Contribute to the design of the archaeological search-process simulator used to train and evaluate AI methods
- Write grant applications to extend and expand this line of research
- Take an active part in AMGC and FLAIR activities (attend regular meetings) and work closely with all members of both teams (PIs, PhDs, and postdocs)
- (Help with) supervising MSc and BSc theses related to the project
- Synthesize and publish results in peer-reviewed journal articles and computer science conferences
- Present results to academic and policy audiences at meetings, forums, workshops and conferences
- Promote and communicate the project's results through outreach activities aimed at the general public
For this function, our Brussels Humanities, Sciences & Engineering Campus (Elsene) will serve as your home base.
3 - Profile
What do we expect from you?
- A PhD in archaeology or computer science/AI, or a related discipline
- Experience with computing, preferably machine learning; candidates from an archaeological background with a strong willingness to develop AI/ML skills are also encouraged to apply, and vice versa
- Highly motivated to cross the boundaries between humanities and sciences and to work within a multidisciplinary team
- Strong scientific track record in relation to your seniority
- Experience writing or contributing to successful research grant proposals
- Excellent digital data management skills (e.g. database creation, spatial analysis/GIS)
- Team spirit and excellent communication skills
- Strong proficiency in English (oral and written)
- You stayed abroad for at least 12 months of the 3 years preceding the start date, and during this period you did not work or study in Belgium. However, during these 12 months, short-term stays in Belgium are allowed such as holidays, participation in conferences or a short stay to prepare your stay as a postdoctoral researcher.
- As a (non-)EEA national, meet the conditions for obtaining a valid permit for VUB and comply with the VUB residence requirements. More info here.
The VUB wants to be a reflection of the society where everyone's talent is valued, regardless of gender, age, religion, skin color, migration background, disability and neurodiversity.
4 - Offer
Are you going to be our new colleague?
You’ll be offered a full-time postdoctoral scholarship, for 12 months (extendable up to max. 36 months, on condition of the positive evaluation of the research activities), with planned starting date 01/01/2027.
You’ll receive a grant linked to one of the scales set by the government.
At the VUB, you’re guaranteed an open, involved and diverse workplace where you are offered opportunities to (further) build on your career.
As well as this, you will also enjoy various other benefits:
- Extensive homeworking options, a telework allowance of 50 euros per month OR an internet fee of 20 euros per month;
- An open and informal working environment where attention is paid to work-life balance, and exceptional holiday arrangements with 35 days of leave (based on a fulltime contract), closure between Christmas and New Year and 3 extra leave days;
- Cost-free hospitalisation insurance;
- Full reimbursement of your home-to-work commute with public transport according to VUB-policy, and/or compensation if you come by bike;
- A wide selection of meals in our campus restaurants at attractive prices;
- Excellent and affordable facilities for sport and exercise, a range of discounts via Benefits@Work (in all kinds of shops, on flights, in petrol stations, amusement parks...) and Ecocheques;
- Nursery near campus, discount on holiday camps;
- The space to form your job content and to continuously learn through our VUB learning platforms and training courses;
- And finally: great colleagues with a healthy drive.
5 - Interested?
Is this the job you’ve been dreaming of?
Then apply, at the latest on 14/09/2026, via jobs.vub.be, and upload the following documents:
- your CV (including the contact details of two referees);
- your motivation letter (max. 2 pages) explaining why this topic is of interest to you and how your prior experience and skills are relevant to this research;
- your diploma (not applicable for VUB alumni).
Our application process is as follows (subject to change):
- step 1: an initial selection based on your application file;
- step 2: a job interview.
Do you have questions about the job content? Contact Ralf Vandam at [email protected] or on +32 472542208.
Would you like to know what it’s like to work at the VUB? Go to jobs.vub.be, and find all there is to know about our campuses, benefits, strategic goals and your future colleagues.
Would you like more information about EUTOPIA? Go to eutopia-university.eu, and read more about the role of the VUB in the development of the EUTOPIA alliance.
