Theme1 - Advancing Military-Relevant Research on (Mild) Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI)
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) represents one of the most prevalent yet under-recognized health challenges in modern military operations, with blast exposure and blunt head trauma identified as major contributors in recent conflicts. Defence forces face a growing need to accurately detect, monitor, and manage mTBI sustained during training, deployment, or combat-related activities, including repeated low-level blast exposures and combined mechanisms of injury. Despite increasing awareness and multiple NATO initiatives, significant capability gaps persist in rapid field assessment, early detection of subclinical injury, objective recovery monitoring, and personalised rehabilitation pathways. Addressing these gaps requires interdisciplinary research and this call seeks 4-years PhD research projects that respond to these unmet needs while maintaining a clear trajectory towards operational application.
Theme 2 – Eradication of Staphylococcal Skin Colonisation with Phages
Public safety personnel (PSP), including military personnel, police officers, firefighters, paramedics and veterans, are repeatedly exposed to potentially traumatic events such as violence, serious injury, or death in the line of duty. This sustained exposure contributes to a markedly elevated risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related operational stress injuries. Despite the existence of well-validated trauma-focused psychotherapies, PSP often face organisational, cultural, and logistical barriers to accessing or completing standard outpatient treatments. As a result, untreated or chronic trauma related disorders continues to impact operational effectiveness, workforce retention, and overall well-being. Importantly, the spectrum of operational and trauma-related mental health difficulties extends well beyond PTSD (e.g. depression, anxiety, moral injury, or substance use). Addressing this broader clinical reality calls for a transdiagnostic perspective, which targets shared psychological mechanisms across disorders rather than focusing narrowly on PTSD alone.
This theme addresses a growing need to evaluate intensive treatment pathways for PSP in Belgium, aligning with both national mental health priorities and Defence-related efforts to support trauma-affected operational personnel. It brings together expertise from clinical psychology, psychiatry, occupational health, implementation science, and public safety organisations to generate actionable evidence for system-level improvement. This call invites 4-year PhD research proposals focused on designing, implementing, and evaluating innovative, evidence-based models for intensive treatment adapted to PSP needs.
