The Clinical Data Science group at Maastricht University and Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek / Statistics Netherlands (CBS) have a vacancy for a joint PhD student. At the Clinical Data Science group, we work on three main research areas: building global data sharing infrastructures; applying machine learning to build models from these data; and, using these models to improve healthcare. CBS is the Dutch national statistical office, and provides reliable statistical information and data to produce insight into social issues, thus supporting the public debate, policy development and decision-making while contributing to prosperity, well-being and democracy.

The successful candidate will dive into the thriving research field of federated learning, that studies how to train models from decentralised datasets. Federated learning has attracted the attention of major AI players like Google and Nvidia because it provides a workaround to the growing ethical and legal barriers to data sharing. Federated learning has the potential to play a key role in the next few years in the evolution of privacy-conscious, data-hungry AI, as shown by the fact that major AI conferences (e.g. Neurips, ICML) are already holding workshops dedicated to it.

This position is embedded in the CARRIER project, funded by the NWO’s Commit2Data round for Big Data & Health. The CARRIER project targets primary and secondary prevention of coronary artery disease (CAD) with a regional alliance of clinicians, citizens, legal experts, and data scientists. In CARRIER, patients will co-create a personalised health plan in collaboration with clinicians, adherence to which will be supported by an electronic lifestyle coach (eCoach). We will combine clinical data from different sources with socio-economic data, such as CBS, to build predictive and prognostic models that will detect people at risk of CAD and drive the behaviour of the eCoach.

In this project, the successful candidate will be responsible for developing the federated learning solutions for horizontally and vertically partitioned data, necessary to build the prediction models that will drive the intervention from different data sources. In doing so, they will face multiple challenges arising from the complexities inherent to privacy-preserving federated computing and the analysis of distributed heterogeneous data. The PhD project will lead to practical applications in the official statistical domain and the candidate will undertake research on how a national statistics office such as CBS can help improve healthcare.

This joint PhD position is also linked to the interfaculty institute BISS (Brightlands Institute for Smart Society) team consisting of a multidisciplinary team of researchers. One of the focuses of BISS is developing privacy-preserving techniques to connect distributed data and creating value by increasing the use of existing data.

Specific:

You have a master’s degree in computer science, data science, artificial intelligence, machine learning or equivalent and programming skills (ideally in python or R).
Experience with software development, software containerisation (e.g. Docker) clinical data standards (e.g. CDISC, FHIR), machine learning, semantic web and ontologies are a plus.

Generic:

You are a motivated, independent, result-oriented researcher with ownership who is able to take initiative and takes pride in their work. You are fluent in English, both in speech and writing. We are looking for a researcher with a special interest in developing technology to improve health care and motivated to build a scientific career in the area of basic and translational research. You will closely collaborate with other members of the Clinical Data Science group and CBS.

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

The full-time position is offered for four years (1+3), with a yearly evaluation. Your salary would be € 2.395,- gross per month in the first year up to € 3.061,- gross per month in the fourth year according to the PhD-candidate salary scale. On top of this, there is an 8% holiday and an 8.3% year-end allowance.

The terms of employment of Maastricht University are set out in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO). Furthermore, local UM provisions also apply. For more information look at the website www.maastrichtuniversity.nl > Support > UM employees.

Maastricht Univeristy

Maastricht University is renowned for its unique, innovative, problem-based learning system, which is characterized by a small-scale and student-oriented approach. Research at UM is characterized by a multidisciplinary and thematic approach, and is concentrated in research institutes and schools. Maastricht University has around 18,000 students and 4,400 employees. Reflecting the university's strong international profile, a fair amount of both students and staff are from abroad. The university hosts 6 faculties: Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Faculty of Law, School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience.

Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS) is a Dutch governmental institution that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands. CBS was established in 1899 in response to the need for independent and reliable information that advances the understanding of social issues. This is still the main role of CBS. Through time, CBS has grown into an innovative knowledge institution, with continuous adoption of new technologies and developments in order to safeguard the quality of its data and its independent position.

GROW- School for Oncology and Developmental Biology

The School for Oncology & Developmental Biology (GROW) focuses on research and teaching of genetic and cellular mechanisms, as well as environmental and life-style factors that underlie normal (embryonic and fetal) and abnormal (cancer) development. The emphasis is on basic and translational research, aiming at innovative approaches for individualizing prevention, patient diagnosis, and treatment for genetically determined diseases and cancer.
https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/research/school-oncology-and-developmental-biology

Clinical Data Science group

The Clinical Data Science group is a computer science focused department embedded within a clinical environment (MAASTRO Clinic and Maastricht UMC). The Clinical Data Science group focuses on three main research areas: building global data sharing infrastructures; applying machine learning to build models from these data; and, using these models to improve healthcare.