While it is normal to have some fat in the liver, hepatic steatosis refers to the excessive accumulation of lipid in the liver and is clinically defined as fat content exceeding 5% of the liver weight. Hepatic steatosis is widely prevalent in the world; it is present in ~20-40% of adults, in up to ~70% of the overweight population and in more than 90% of morbidly obese individuals. Cross-sectional studies showed that an increase in liver fat content is the strongest predictor of whole body insulin resistance and predisposes towards chronic metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. 

It is well-known that proteins secreted from the liver play important roles in regulating whole-body metabolism. It has previously been found in mice that protein secretion is different in livers with hepatic steatosis compared to healthy livers and that secretion products from the fatty liver induce insulin resistance and protein breakdown in cultured myotubes. This PhD project will use analytical tools in R to investigate the link between the liver fat and protein secretion with muscle insulin resistance and muscle atrophy in more detail. The project is funded by an Aspasia grant. The Aspasia was set up by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Association of Universities in the Netherlands and NWO, and intends to encourage females in research. Therefore, female candidates are stongly encouraged to apply. 

The PhD-candidate will:

• study liver metabolism in relation to the development of obesity and diabetes;
• perform analyses on large human datasets in the statistical programming language.

The PhD-candidate is responsible for:

• staying abreast of developments in the scientific discipline by keeping up with the scientific literature in his field and visiting scientific meetings and project consortium meetings;
• generating ideas within the scope of the defined subject;
• supervising of research assistants and students, where appropriate;
• delivering results in line with the project plan milestones and deliverables;
• keeping up with the latest scientific developments and integrating these in the project;
• converting data and results of the sub-project into overview reports;
• writing high-quality research papers about the results obtained and getting  these published in high-impact scientific journals;
• completing a thesis after 4 years.

MSc in biomedical sciences, biomedical engineering, bioinformatics/systems biology or equivalent, with proven interest in the biochemical and functional aspects of nutrition and metabolism, and with experience in statistical data analysis  (preferably in R, but programming or scripting experience in any language is sufficient). Fluency in English writing and communication. Good communication and organisational skills are a requirement, as well as the qualities to work within a team. 

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

Temporary employment for 4 years. The first year will be a probation period, after a positive assessment the position will be extended for another 3 years, which happens in the vast majority of cases.

Your salary would be € 2.443,- gross per month in the first year up to € 3.122,- gross per month in the fourth year according to the PhD-candidate salary scale. An 8% holiday and an 8.3% year-end allowance is also provided. Each year an evaluation will take place.

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 > About UM > Working at UM.

Maastricht University

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 20,000 students and 4,700 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. For more information, visit www.maastrichtuniversity.nl

NUTRIM - Department of Human Biology

The Department of Human Biology is part of NUTRIM, School for Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, within the Faculty of Health Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML) of Maastricht University. The central research theme of the Department of Human Biology is Healthy Living with Obesity, Sarcopenia, Energy metabolism and Cardiometabolic Health as spearheads.