As a PhD student you will work on research aimed at mapping trends in the occurrence of pathogenic microorganisms causing bloodstream infections (BSI), exhibiting their associated antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and assessing the current diagnostic workflows, outcomes, and gain from blood cultures. The results of this project will be of utmost value for the development of guidelines for empiric therapy of sepsis and for pathogen-specific guidelines, improving the quality of care for patients.

The project will involve integrating data from the clinical microbiology laboratories of University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG) and Klinikum Oldenburg (UOL) over a period of more than 10 years. The project aims to improve the development of guidelines for empiric therapy of sepsis and for pathogen-specific guidelines by analysing data from the UMCG and UOL. The research questions focus on identifying the main pathogens causing BSI, understanding trends in multidrug-resistant bacteria, developing AI models to improve the approach for identifying bacteraemia, and analysing the results of blood culture cultivation devices to improve diagnostic stewardship and patient care. The project also aims to correlate the occurrence and trends of multidrug-resistant bacteria with different infection prevention strategies. Advanced epidemiological evaluations and modelling, including using AI (e.g. machine learning) are intended to generate better trend analysis, treatment decisions and to even predict AMR and increased chances of empiric treatment failure in patients with bloodstream infections.

We are seeking a highly motivated PhD student to join our team.
- a master's degree in medicine, medical biology, bioinformatics / computational sciences, clinical epidemiology or a related field;
- a strong interest in clinical microbiology, antimicrobial resistance and healthcare-associated infections;
- experience in data analysis and modelling;
- programming skills (e.g. R, Python) are highly desirable;
- you must be English in professional level.

The UMCG has a preventive Hepatitis B policy. The UMCG can provide you with the vaccination, should it be required for your position.
In case of specific professions a ‘Certificate of Good Conduct’ is required.

A fulltime PhD position (36 hours a week) at the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG) for the period of 4 years.Your salary will be a minimum of € 2.789,- gross per month in the first year and a maximum of € 3.536,- gross per month (scale PhD) in the final (4th) year, based on a full-time appointment. In addition, the UMCG will offer you 8% holiday pay, and 8.3% end-of-year bonus. The conditions of employment comply with the Collective Labour Agreement for Medical Centres (CAO-UMC).
You will be enrolled in a PhD program at the University of Groningen and the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg. After completion you will be granted the PhD degree at both universities.

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Medische Microbiologie en Infectieprefentie

Medical Microbiology & Infection prevention is responsible for patient-orientated laboratory diagnostics, education and research in the field of virology, bacteriology, mycology and parasitology.

We coordinate and participate in several large national and international as well as Dutch-German cross-border projects comprising microbiological prevalence studies, molecular population structure analysis, novel forms of network-based infection control, and host-virus/bacterium interactions using metagenomics approaches.