PhD Research Fellowship in Conflict Prediction and Early Warning (100%)

**PhD Research Fellowship in Conflict Prediction and Early Warning (100%)** --------------------------------------------------------------------------- *(ref. BAP-2026-667)* *Laatst aangepast: 13/11/26* The Centre for Research on Peace and Development (CRPD) is a multidisciplinary research centre within the Faculty of Social Sciences at KU Leuven. Its research focuses on understanding the causes and dynamics of violent conflict, social cohesion, governance, and the challenges of building sustainable peace. CRPD brings together researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds, including political science, sociology, public management, anthropology and communication studies. The successful candidate will be based at CRPD and will work in close collaboration with the Augment research group, which brings expertise in developing AI systems that are transparent, explainable and useful to human analysts. This collaboration offers a unique environment in which insights from political and social science are combined with state-of-the-art computational approaches. ##### **Project** KU Leuven is looking for a doctoral researcher to join COMPASS (Conflict Onset Monitoring through Predictive Analysis of Societal Stress), an interdisciplinary research collaboration between the Centre for Research on Peace and Development (CRPD) at the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Augment research group at the Department of Computer Science. The project is funded by the Belgian Defence-related Research Action (DEFRA) and combines expertise in conflict and peace research with expertise in human-centred explainable artificial intelligence (XAI). The COMPASS project aims to develop an innovative early warning system that enables defence and intelligence analysts to monitor, understand and predict societal trajectories, including processes of conflict escalation and de-escalation. Recognising that violent conflict rarely emerges without underlying societal tensions, the project seeks to identify and analyse the conditions and processes that contribute to societal instability, mobilisation and, potentially, violent conflict, as well as those that facilitate de-escalation and sustainable peace. As part of this interdisciplinary research project, the successful candidate will contribute to the conceptual and empirical development of COMPASS. The position offers an opportunity to engage with different disciplinary perspectives and to explore how insights from political and social science can be combined with innovative computational and AI-based approaches to advance our understanding of conflict dynamics. We welcome applicants with a strong interest in conflict and peace research, societal resilience, political instability and the application of innovative analytical approaches to understanding societal trajectories. ##### **Profile** * The applicant should have completed a Master's degree in political science, international relations, sociology, development s