Assistant/associate professor machine learning in bioinformatics

Your job

As an assistant or associate professor, you will play a pivotal role in advancing both research and education within the Bioinformatics Group at Wageningen University. You will set up and maintain a research line on machine-learning-based method development in bioinformatics, with applications in the green life sciences. You will also help organize and deliver teaching in bioinformatics and data science. Your duties and responsibilities will include:

• performing and supervising research on machine learning/deep learning methodology to solve bioinformatics challenges, preferably in an area adjacent but complementary to current work in the Bioinformatics Group;
• setting up collaborations and attracting funding for PhD candidates and postdocs to support this research line;
• teaching a number of existing courses, and supervising BSc/MSc thesis projects that fit your expertise, innovating courses when needed and setting up new courses, when possible, in collaboration with other group staff members;
• academic service in the organization of the group, in Wageningen University & Research as a whole and in the broader scientific community.

This position offers the opportunity to develop an academic career in bioinformatics and machine learning/deep learning. You will work on the Wageningen Campus in a group highly engaged in bioinformatics education and research, with an open, relaxed atmosphere. If you do not yet have a university teaching qualification (UTQ), you will be supported in obtaining one and be encouraged to seize other opportunities to develop yourself further.

Are you interested in joining our team? We look forward to your application.

Your qualities

You are an academic with an interest in developing or further extending a career in research and education, with a focus on bioinformatics and machine learning/deep learning method development in the green life sciences. You possess:

• a PhD degree and preferably some years of (international) postdoc experience in bioinformatics, computational biology or a closely related field;
• proven expertise in machine learning method development in bioinformatics;
• affinity with applications of your work in -omics data analysis in the green life sciences;
• an interest in teaching algorithm/method development in bioinformatics and data science;
• strong collaboration, communication (English at least C1 level ) and organization skills;
• curiosity, a critical but open attitude, and an interdisciplinary mindset.

We offer you

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment . A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• sabbatical leave, study leave, and partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• the option to accrue additional compensation / holiday hours by working more, up to 40 hours per week;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed December bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will be offered a fixed-term, 7-year contract which, upon positive evaluation based on criteria elaborated in the University's Tenure Track policy, can lead to a permanent employment contract as assistant, associate or personal professor. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive gross salary of between € 4,332.- and € 8,025.- for a full-time working week of 38 hours in accordance with the

Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU)

(scales 11-14).

Wageningen University & Research encourages internal advancement opportunities and mobility with an internal recruitment policy. There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.

You are going to work at the greenest and most innovative campus in Holland, and at a university that has been chosen as the “Best University ” in the Netherlands for the 18th consecutive time.

Coming from abroad
Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees.
Our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.

Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research's International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees and students coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, we can assist you with any additional advice and information about helping your partner to find a job, housing, schooling. For instance under the "30% rule", certain categories of international staff can receive tax exemption on approximately 30% of their gross salary.

You are going to work at the greenest and most innovative campus in Holland, and at a university that has been chosen as the “Best University ” in the Netherlands for the 18th consecutive time.

Do you want more information?

For more information about this position, please contact prof. Dick de Ridder, by telephone (+31 317 484074) or by e-mail: [email protected] .

For more information about the procedure, please contact Noorien Abbas, corporate recruiter, by email: [email protected]

Do you want to apply?
You can apply directly using the apply button on the vacancy page on our website which will let us to process your personal information with your approval.
This vacancy will be listed up to and including Monday January 8, 2024. We hope to schedule the first job interviews soon after the closing date.

Equal opportunities
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) employs a large number of people with very different backgrounds and qualities, who inspire and motivate each other. We want every talent to feel at home in our organisation and be offered the same career opportunities. We therefore especially welcome applications from people who are underrepresented at WUR. A good example of how WUR deals with inclusiveness can be read on the page working at WUR with a functional impairment .

We are

Wageningen University & Research
The mission of Wageningen University & Research is “To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life”. Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment. With its roughly 30 branches, 7,600 employees (6,700 fte) and 13,100 students and over 150,000 participants to WUR’s Life Long Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.

Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch this video to get an idea of our green campus!

You will work here
You will be embedded in the Wageningen University Bioinformatics Group led by prof. Dick de Ridder , which is part of the Genome Biology research unit and located in the Department of Plant Sciences. The mission of the group is to develop and apply methods to obtain biological insights from -omics measurements – (meta)genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics –  in the green life sciences. Current research lines focus on transcriptomics, pangenomics, evolutionary genomics, metagenomics, genome mining for specialized metabolism and computational metabolomics. The group organizes and teaches courses in several study programmes, including a successful MSc programme in Bioinformatics & Systems Biology, and in various graduate school programmes. Currently, the group consists of 5 tenure track researchers, a lecturer, a software engineer, ~5 postdocs, ~25 PhD students and ~20 MSc students.

In this challenging career trajectory:

• you acquire, lead and implement innovative and creative (inter)national research projects on the development and application of machine learning/deep learning methodology in bioinformatics;
• you collaborate with colleagues and supervise PhD students, BSc and MSc theses and you develop and teach courses;
• you contribute to the further development of the Bioinformatics Group.

Wageningen University offers career paths for scientists who pursue to excel in education and research. Currently this is the

Tenure Track

, but a new Academic Career Framework that allows for more diversity and recognizes group work and leadership will be adopted mid-2024. We seek to attract scientific talent and to stimulate and support their development.

We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.