PhD tick-borne diseases

1 Mar 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

Ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport (VWS)

Research Field

Physics
Medical sciences

Researcher Profile

Recognised Researcher (R2)
First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Netherlands

Application Deadline

12 Mar 2024 - 22:59 (UTC)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Not Applicable

Hours Per Week

36.0

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

The PhD project

Our goal in this research project is to assess the contribution of tick-borne pathogen (TBP) infections to acute and long-term symptoms in patients with or without Lyme borreliosis (LB) in the Netherlands. The human disease burden of these pathogens in the Netherlands is not well known and the pathogenicity after infection and influence on the course of LB has not been fully demonstrated.

Ticks transmit Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the cause of LB, and tick-borne encephalitis virus. There is proof of ticks transmitting Borrelia miyamotoi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia microti and other tick-borne pathogens. Serology is crucial to understand the occurrence and exposure to TBPs in animals and humans. The current serological tests are time consuming, insensitive and non-specific, thus many TBP-infections remain undetected. By screening existing cohorts with the novel multiplex immunoassay, we will facilitate early detection and treatment of TBP cases.

Your role

You will be the driving force behind the development and implementation of microarrays and the highly sensitive and specific serological multiplex immunoassay. By using whole genome sequencing, bioinformatics and microarrays you are going to search for suitable antigens for the development of a highly sensitive and specific serological multiplex immunoassay. You will use this to screen different population cohorts to gain insight into the sero-reactivity and disease burden caused by tick-borne pathogens.

You will do this by:

• First learning about whole genome sequencing of various tick-borne pathogens;
• Then you will perform in-silico data analyses for the search for antigenic peptide regions in TBP proteins;
• Then you will develop and implement a serological multiplex immunoassay;
• And eventually you will publish and share your research results in scientific publications and conferences.

Why choose this PhD project

This PhD project is an excellent stepping stone for a career in microbiology and public health in the Netherlands and internationally. You will contribute to joint efforts to gain more insight into sero-reactivity and the burden of disease caused by tick-borne diseases. And you can profit from the knowledge and experience of a multidisciplinary team of researchers from different institutions such as the Amsterdam UMC and Radboudumc. Their areas of expertise include diagnostics, epidemiology and zoonoses.

Furthermore, the research and analytical skills learned in this project are highly transferable to other areas of infectious disease research. You will also learn and contribute to the development of new lab techniques.

Your working environment

This position is based at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). The project will be performed in a consortium of different institutes (RIVM, Amsterdam UMC and Radboudumc) and between 4 different units at RIVM, therefore you will be frequently working in these different working environments. You will be part of the Graduate School of the University of Amsterdam, this is where you are expected to obtain your PhD. And last but not least you will be able to attend national and international congresses.

This is a project that will run from May 2024 to May 2028. Your contract is for the duration of the project. Initially, this is for 12 months and after a positive evaluation, it is extended for another 36 months. Because this is a promotion program, there will be a salary increase after the first year, and your salary will increase annually to the maximum pay in the fourth year of the project.

Requirements
Specific Requirements

Requirements

As you are researching, we are looking for someone who has a strong scientific and analytical mindset. And because we work in a multidisciplinary team from different institutions you need to be able to work and communicate well within these different locations and a flexible mindset is needed.

Further, we ask:

• That you obtained a MSc degree in the area of biomedical science or biotechnology;
• A strong interest in bacterial, viral and parasitic tick-borne diseases and in serology;
• An interest in bioinformatics. We use R-software and various alignment (Jalview, Mega) tools;
• Being able to communicate and write scientifically in English.

Additional Information
Benefits

The salary corresponds to the OIO salary scale according to the working conditions. You will be employed on the basis of a 36-hour week. The appointment is temporary for the duration of 4 years. Your salary € 2.945,77 gross per month (based on 36 hours a week) in the first year, ascending to € 3.662,77 gross per month in the fourth year.

In addition the RIVM has many attractive employee-conditions, such as personal development, study facilities, an individual employee conditions choice system (IKB) and a commuter’s allowance (based on public transport).

Selection process

We would like to receive your letter and CV in a Word or PDF file via the digital application form. If you claim a priority position, please also enclose a copy of that notification.

We are curious about your motivation for this position and would like to see an explanation of this in your application letter. In addition, we ask you to describe your activities in detail in your CV, so that we can make a correct assessment of your experience.

After the closing date, March 13th 2024, the vacancy text will no longer be visible online. We therefore recommend that you download and save the text after you have applied.

Additional comments

More information

Are you excited about this position, but first have some questions? For content-related questions about the project, please contact RIVM colleague Karen Kerkhof (+31 6 31142377). For any other questions, please reach out to RIVM department head Maaike van den Beld (+31 6 31115570).

We would like to receive your letter and CV in a Word or PDF file via the digital application form. If you claim a priority position, please also enclose a copy of that notification.

We are curious about your motivation for this position and would like to see an explanation of this in your application letter. In addition, we ask you to describe your activities in detail in your CV, so that we can make a correct assessment of your experience.

After the closing date, March 13th 2024, the vacancy text will no longer be visible online. We therefore recommend that you download and save the text after you have applied.

Website for additional job details

https://www.academictransfer.com/338409/

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport (VWS)

Country

Netherlands

City

Bilthoven

Postal Code

3721 MA

Street

Antonie van Leeuwenhoeklaan 9

Geofield

Where to apply

Website

https://www.academictransfer.com/en/338409/phd-tick-borne-diseases/apply/#apply

Contact

City

Den Haag

Website

https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/ministeries/ministerie-van-volksgezondheid-welzijn-en-sport

Street

Parnassusplein 5

Postal Code

2511VX

STATUS: EXPIRED