Postdoctoral Researcher – Digital Youth Mental Health (SAMPO)

About the role

The Vrije Universiteit Brussel seeks a postdoctoral researcher to lead scientific activities within the Horizon Europe SAMPO project, focusing on digital youth mental health, personalised prevention, and self‑harm. You will work closely with senior professors, doctoral and master students, and international consortium partners.

Key responsibilities

• Take a leading role in scientific implementation of the SAMPO project at VUB, overseeing study design, measurement, intervention evaluation, data quality, analysis, and publication strategy.
• Support coordination of VUB‑led work packages and deliverables, including e‑screening, trial evaluation, statistical analysis, ethics, and policy impact.
• Lead or co‑lead analyses of multi‑country longitudinal cohort and nested RCT data, producing statistical analysis plans, preregistrations, psychometric work, and intervention‑effect analyses.
• Contribute to development, validation, and implementation of the PRO algorithm, PECAN person‑centred assessment, and modular intervention components with consortium partners.
• Oversee Belgian data collection workflows, quality assurance, documentation, recruitment monitoring, and alignment with ethical and safeguarding protocols.
• Prepare high‑quality scientific manuscripts, project reports, conference presentations, grant texts, and translational outputs for stakeholders and policy audiences.

Required profile

• Postdoctoral level researcher with a strong background in psychology, mental health, or related fields.
• Experience in leading scientific projects and coordinating multi‑disciplinary teams.

Required skills

What we offer

• Opportunity to lead cutting‑edge research within a European Horizon project.
• Collaboration with international experts and access to multi‑country data sets.
• Support for high‑impact publications and professional development.