The Department of Medical Informatics is looking for six PhD students to work on cutting-edge health data science topics. This research will be performed in close collaboration with the Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics (OHDSI) initiative, which is a global, multi-stakeholder, interdisciplinary collaborative to bring out the value of health data through large-scale analytics and the EU-sponsored European Health Data and Evidence Network (EHDEN) and eTransafe projects, which develop frameworks to generate reliable real-world evidence.

The PhD students will be responsible for the development and application of novel methods and techniques on data from large Electronic Health Record databases. Research will be performed in natural language processing, feature engineering methods, deep-learning, and other advanced machine-learning methods to support personalized medicine. The PhD students will have the opportunity to develop predictive models and perform validation studies at an unprecedented global scale through the standardization of health data to the OMOP Common Data Model. Impact assessments of these new approaches on patient care are part of the research agenda.

Candidates must have a background in Biomedical Informatics, Bioinformatics, Computer Science, Data Analytics, or (Bio)statistics. Interest in data and/or text mining, machine learning, regression analysis and programming is required. Furthermore, we invite candidates who are working in the regulatory domain or are interested in applying health data science in their clinical setting, to propose research topics. These candidates preferably have a medical background.

The candidates must be highly motivated, willing to learn and demonstrate initiative in assigned tasks. Good written and verbal communication skills are desired for this international project.

Being able to present a certificate of good conduct, a valid proof of identity, diploma's and/ or relevant registration such as BIG/ RGS are conditions for the appointment.

As a PhD student you will have a temporary position of two years (full-time) with a possible extension to four years. The gross monthly salary amounts a maximum of € 4.481,- (scale 10), depending on your level of education and relevant experience and based on a full-time working week of 36 hours. The terms of employment are in accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement for University Medical Centers (CAO UMC).

Erasmus MC

Erasmus MC stands for a healthy population and excellence in healthcare. By conducting groundbreaking work, we aim to push boundaries through leading the way in research, education and healthcare. We have access to the latest equipment and techniques in a state-of-the-art environment.

Our institute is internationally at the forefront of health data science and offers a dynamic, challenging, and cooperative research environment. The Department of Medical Informatics at Erasmus MC is specialized in using routine healthcare data. Currently the department is coordinating and collaborating in several projects that aim at building EU-wide and global federated data networks. The advisors for the PhD students will include Dr. Peter Rijnbeek, Dr. Jan Kors, Dr. Katia Verhamme and Prof. Johan van der Lei.