As a PhD candidate, you will develop new technologies to study mosquitoes. You will also use these tools to understand the internal and external drivers of mosquito behaviors that are relevant to pathogen transmission. Will you join our team?

Mosquito-borne pathogens are transmitted during blood feeding, yet despite its crucial role in pathogen transmission, blood feeding is poorly understood. We leverage biophysics, (molecular) biology, and machine learning approaches to study questions such as: How do pathogen infections change mosquito behavior? How does the skin surface affect biting and blood feeding? What sensory inputs do mosquitoes use to make feeding decisions? By answering such questions, we aim to provide a deep understanding of the (neuro)biology underlying blood feeding, and the effect that pathogen infections and other physiological variables have on this behavior. As an example of our recent work, we developed a transparent skin mimic that allows high-resolution imaging of blood feeding mosquitoes, combined with a computational pipeline to characterize biting behavior in detail. We take inspiration from the field as well as the lab, and anticipate that new biological insights may provide valuable knowledge to combat mosquito-borne diseases.

We are looking for an outstanding and enthusiastic researcher with an interest in mosquito behavior and quantitative experimental approaches. Because our work combines a variety of techniques and approaches, it is important that you have an open and creative mind, a strong affinity for quantitative biology, and a passion for solving problems using unconventional approaches. You are an independent and interdisciplinary individual, with strong interpersonal skills, and you are eager to learn new things. Prior experience with mosquito research is not required, love for the topic of research, and a strong motivation, are.

In addition you possess the profile below:

• A master's degree in (quantitative) Biology, Biophysics, Molecular Life Sciences, Neurobiology, Bioengineering, or a related discipline.
• Strong experimental and data analytical skills (programming skills are desired or will need to be acquired).
• Excellent communication skills and English proficiency.

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

Working at Radboud university medical center means that you are ahead of the curve and working together on the healthcare of the future. And there is more. Our secondary terms of employment are impressive. These are fully tailored to you thanks to our Employment Conditions Selection Model. At Radboud university medical center, you will be given trust, and you will take the responsibility to handle everything together. We provide annual courses, both professional and personal.

• A gross monthly salary between € 2631 and € 3336 (scale 10A) based on full-time employment.
• An annual vacation allowance of 8% and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%.
• If you work irregular hours, you will receive an allowance.
• As a full-time employee (36 hours per week), you are entitled to approximately 168 vacation hours (over 23 days) per year.
• Radboud university medical center pays 70% of the pension premium. You pay the rest of the premium with your gross salary.
• You get a discount on health insurance as well: you can take advantage of two group health insurance plans. UMC Zorgverzekering and CZ collectief.

In addition to our terms of employment, we also offer employees various other attractive facilities, such as childcare and sports facilities. Want to learn more? Take a look at the Cao UMC.

Radboudumc

The Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (RIMLS) and department of Medical Microbiology host a vibrant community of research groups with expertise in the entire spectrum of mosquito and pathogen research, ranging from malaria parasite biology, to mosquito-virus interactions, and field studies. This unique combination of expertise and the excellent resources that include mosquito breeding and infection facilities, FabLab, and microscopy and molecular biology labs enable the study of all aspects of mosquito biology and a range of pathogens. You will join the recently created vector biology team, led by Dr. Felix Hol.

Research Institutes
At the moment there are more than 1,300 PhD candidates at our medical hospital. This number includes PhD candidates on our pay roll as well as external candidates (those employed somewhere else but researching on our premises).

• Radboud Institute for Health Sciences: ± 700
• Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences: ± 400
• Donders Center for Medical Neurosciences: ± 200

Read what it is like to do a PhD at the Radboud University Medical Center.

Radboudumc
Radboud university medical center is a university medical center for patient care, scientific research, and education in Nijmegen. Radboud university medical center strives to be at the forefront of shaping the healthcare of the future. We do this in a person-centered and innovative way, and in close collaboration with our network. We want to have a significant impact on healthcare. We want to improve with each passing day, continuously working towards better healthcare, research, and education. And gaining a better understanding of how diseases arise and how we can prevent, treat, and cure them, day in and day out. This way, every patient always receives the best healthcare, now and in the future. Because that is why we do what we do.

Read more about our strategy and what working at Radboud university medical center means. Our colleagues would be happy to tell you about it. #weareradboudumc