Are you passionate about toxicology? Do you want to develop non-animal tests to guide the safe use of chemicals into the twenty-first century? Are you motivated to work in an interdisciplinary team of scientists embedded in an ambitious Dutch research consortium in which toxicologists work together with social scientists? We have a vacant PhD position on advanced immunocompetent liver models for toxicity testing. Are you the PhD student we are looking for?

Your job
You will mainly perform in vitro studies in our laboratory at the chair group of Toxicology of Wageningen University, and interact via citizens juries with societal stakeholders. To be successful you will:

• study responses of stem cell derived hepatocytes and Kupffer cells upon exposure to food borne chemicals;
• use transcriptomic and proteomics approaches to benchmark the in vitro responses to data obtained from ex vivo experiments;
• implement your excellent cell culturing skills and exploit molecular assays (i.e., cell biology, biochemical measurements, and confocal microscopy) in your mechanistic studies.

You will be embedded in the chair group of Toxicology of Wageningen University and collaborate with the chair group Cell biology and Immunology of Wageningen University, and Translational biopharmaceutics of University of Groningen. As part of the chair group, you will also be involved in training MSc and BSc students. Your co-supervisors are Dr. ir. Hans Bouwmeester (WU-TOX) and Dr. Coen Govers (WU-CBI).

About the project:
This project is part of the ZonMW funded project Valuing Testing, which is a collaboration between toxicologists and social scientists with the ambition to increase the acceptance of non-animal tests by societal stakeholders involved in the field to chemical risk assessment. To do so, we will develop incrementally complex in vitro models to analyse toxicity of dedicated food and drug related chemicals and, in close collaboration with sociologists, relay results to a citizens jury to value the test models.

You are an enthusiastic toxicologist, biologist or biomedical scientist with an affinity for cell culture, immunology, molecular biology, and human physiology.

You have:

• an MSc degree (or equivalent) in toxicology, biology or biomedical sciences;
• experience with induced pluripotent or adult stem cell-derived (liver) models, confocal microscope, flow cytometry and molecular biology techniques will be considered a pre;
• the ability to work well independently in the lab as well as enjoy working in a team;
• a strong desire and ability to quickly master new (laboratory) techniques to effectively tackle complex, multidisciplinary scientific queries;
• an excellent English language proficiency (a minimum of CEFR C2 level), and the ability to reach-out to non-experts is important for a successful execution of the project. For more information about this proficiency level, please visit our special language page.

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• study leave and partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• the option to accrue additional compensation / holiday hours by working more, up to 40 hours per week;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed December bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will receive a fully funded PhD position and you will be offered a course program tailored to your needs and the research team.

The gross salary for the first year is € 2.541,- per month rising to € 3.247,- in the fourth year in according to the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale P). This is based on a full-time working week of 38 hours. We offer a temporary contract for 18 months which will be extended for the duration of the project if you perform well.

There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.

You are going to work at the greenest and most innovative campus in Holland, and at a university that has been chosen as the " Best University " in the Netherlands for the 17th consecutive time.

Coming from abroad
Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees. Applicants from abroad moving to the Netherlands may qualify for a special tax relief, known as the 30% ruling. Our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.

Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research's International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees and students coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, we can assist you with any additional advice and information about helping your partner to find a job, housing, schooling, and other issues.

Wageningen University & Research

The mission of Wageningen University & Research is "To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life". Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment. With its roughly 30 branches, 7,200 employees (6,400 fte) and 13,200 students and over 150.000 participants to WUR's Life Long Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.

Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch this video to get an idea of our green campus!

We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.