HELIOS-VUB Chair on Mental Wellbeing at Work

A five-year VUB research chair, led by Prof. Dr. Deborah De Moortel, on how Belgian work affects mental wellbeing and which evidence-based interventions can change that

Partner

Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)

Lead

Prof. Dr. Deborah De Moortel (project manager)

Duration

January 2026 – December 2030 (60 months)

Funded by

Helios Foundation

Why this matters

Mental wellbeing at work is one of the Helios Foundation’s two strategic priorities. Most workplace interventions target the individual; this chair starts from a different premise: that the work itself often needs to change. It combines large-scale data, intervention studies in real companies, and new models of burnout and leadership.

About the project

The chair launched on 1 January 2026, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Deborah De Moortel (project manager), Prof. Dr. Christophe Vanroelen, and Prof. Dr. Joeri Hofmans, with a five-person project team and a five-member consortium.

The career panel. A longitudinal panel reconstructing the careers of 250,000 Belgian workers from 2005 to 2024, drawing on administrative microdata from the Crossroads Bank for Social Security (KSZ), with a 25,000-person baseline survey and yearly follow-ups.

Interventions. A study of primary mental-health interventions at work: a methodological framework for co-creative interventions, pre- and post-implementation phases in participating Belgian companies, and a closing meta-evaluation.

Burnout. A new conceptual framework treating burnout as a network of interconnected symptoms. PhD researcher Robbe Buyle starts 1 August 2026.

Leadership. Research on toxic leadership and, more specifically, how leadership dynamics drive or reduce workplace mental health, focusing on the momentary and situational triggers of dark personality traits in managers (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy). PhD researcher Evi Anckaert started 1 May 2026.

Current status of the project

Team

Coordinators, five-person project team, and five-member consortium in place; monthly team meetings and quarterly consortium meetings; first consortium meeting held 27 March 2026; joint meeting with the sister HELIOS-ULB Chair planned for 11 May 2026.

Career panel

KSZ data request in preparation: relevant administrative sources inventoried and variable selection underway.

Interventions, burnout & leadership

Literature reviews and protocols started for the intervention work packages; the burnout framework and the theoretical work on leadership and dark traits are underway.

Early outputs

A publication in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (2026), a second article under review at the Journal of Research in Personality, four media appearances (Knack, ABVV, VRT NWS), and lectures in Ghent and London.

A timeline of the project developments

1 Jan 2026

Chair launches

27 Mar 2026

First consortium meeting

1 May 2026

First wave of junior researchers starts, including PhD Evi Anckaert (planned)

11 May 2026

Joint meeting with the sister HELIOS-ULB Chair (planned)

1 Jul 2026

Second wave of junior researchers; website and LinkedIn group operational

1 Aug 2026

PhD researcher Robbe Buyle starts (burnout)

2026

Build phase: protocols, literature reviews, methodological frameworks

Late 2026-2028

Baseline data collection, company recruitment, intervention phases

End 2030

Final deliverables, including the synthesis report on leadership dynamics and interventions

Expected impact

Data

A 20-year career and mental-health panel covering 250,000 Belgian workers, with annual follow-up surveys for 25,000.

Method

A validated framework for designing and evaluating workplace mental-health interventions, with pre- and post-evaluation evidence from Belgian companies.

Science

A new model of burnout as a network of symptoms, and empirical evidence on how leadership shapes mental health at work.

Public debate

Continued media presence and engagement with unions and employers.

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