Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) hold great promise for regenerative medicine and in vitro disease modelling because of their capacity to differentiate to any cell type of the human body. We have recently shown differentiation of hPSC to cardiac progenitors and cardiac subtypes, including atrial, ventricular and pacemaker cardiomyocytes. However, one of the key challenges is to obtain mature cardiac subtypes, comparable to the adult heart. This ambitious project will focus on hPSC differentiated to the cardiac lineage using advanced 2D and 3D cultures to study chromatin state and the gene regulatory interactions underlying cellular identity and maturity.

As a PhD Candidate you will differentiate hPSC to the cardiac progenitors and subtypes and generate 3D cardiac tissues using state-of-the-art tissue engineering technologies. You will use single-cell transcriptome analysis (single-cell RNA-seq) to distinguish subpopulations of cells with different identities and potentials, and you will compare these transcriptomes to those of mature human cardiac cells. You will also obtain chromatin accessibility and epigenetic data (ATAC-seq, ChIP-seq) to examine gene-regulatory elements and to infer gene-regulatory networks. You will use these data to predict and test key regulatory interactions with the aim of improving the maturation of differentiated stem cells. Moreover, you will use CRISPR-Cas gene-editing methods to create specific lineage reporter lines or target key molecular pathways in hPSC. You will have the opportunity to develop novel ideas and work on an independent project that aligns with our research interests.

- a Master’s degree in molecular or cellular biology, molecular life sciences or a related field;
- experience in one or more of the following areas: molecular biology techniques, generation and analysis of next-generation sequencing, single-cell approaches, genomics and gene regulation, or computational analysis;
- an interest in and affinity with stem-cell culture and tissue engineering;
- excellent communication skills in written and spoken English;
- strong analytical skills, a problem-solving and result-oriented attitude;
- the ability to work and interact with others in an energetic and supportive research environment.

you will be appointed for an initial period of 18 months, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 2.5 years
- you will be classified as a PhD Candidate in the Dutch university job-ranking system (UFO)
the gross starting salary amounts to €2,222 per month, and will increase to €2,840 in the fourth year (P scale)
The University of Twente and Radboud University’s Faculty of Science are equal opportunity employers, committed to building a culturally diverse intellectual community, and as such encourage applications from women and minorities.

Radboud University

Strategically located in Europe, Radboud University is one of the leading academic communities in the Netherlands. A place with a personal touch, where top-flight education and research take place on a beautiful green campus in modern buildings with state-of-art facilities.

http://www.ru.nl

Faculty of Science

We are looking for two highly motivated and ambitious experimental biologists to work on a collaborative project funded by ZonMW (Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development).

One PhD Candidate will be part of the research team in the Department of Applied Stem Cell Technologies at the TechMed Centre of the University of Twente. The Department has extensive experience in cardiovascular differentiation of hPSC, advanced tissue engineering and microfluidic organ-on-chip models using molecular (genetically modified by CRISPR-Cas) and functional readouts for disease modelling and drug testing.

The other PhD Candidate will join our research team in the Department of Molecular Developmental Biology at the Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (RIMLS), Faculty of Science, Radboud University (Nijmegen, Netherlands). We offer a first-class international research environment for the regulation of gene expression and epigenetics using state-of-the-art genomic and proteomic technologies and bioinformatics. We run next-generation sequencers, single-cell equipment, and mass spectrometers, accommodate a bioinformatics team, and have a local computational infrastructure.

No commercial propositions please.

http://molbio.science.ru.nl/about/molecular-developmental-biology ; http://veenstra.science.ru.nl ; www.utwente.nl/en/tnw/ast/team/scientific-staff/robert-passier/