As Laboratory Manager you play a crucial role in the management and the research performed in our laboratory. In this position you will perform research projects that revolve around cloning, expressing, and purifying proteins to provide better fluorescent sensors. Hereby you will improve expression and purification conditions for challenging proteins involved in disease.

In addition, you participate in laboratory organization, safety, and management of consumables and equipment in cooperation with your colleagues.

Part of the position involves teaching, where you teach students in the laboratory and practical courses and introduce new members to techniques and equipment. Throughout, you have opportunities to develop yourself further and learn new soft and technical skills and participate in publishing research.

Your main responsibilities will be to:

• perform experiments using molecular biology and biochemistry techniques, i.e., cloning, protein expression, purification, and characterization;
• be involved in regular upkeep of the lab, reagents and equipment;
• educate undergraduate and PhD students on techniques and new equipment.

We are looking for candidates with optimally:

• a BSc (Hogeschool), MSc, or PhD degree in Biochemistry or a related field;
• a strong scientific drive and affinity for our research;
• the ability to work independently and in a team;
• and a good command of the English language.

• A position for 1 year, with possible extension to a permanent position;
• A full-time gross salary ranging from € 3,266 to € 5,090 in scale 10;
• 8% holiday bonus and 8.3% end-of-year bonus;
• A pension scheme, partially paid parental leave, and flexible employment conditions based on the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities.

In addition to the employment conditions from the CAO for Dutch Universities, Utrecht University has a number of its own arrangements. These include agreements on professional development, leave arrangements, sports and cultural schemes and you get discounts on software and other IT products. We also give you the opportunity to expand your terms of employment through the Employment Conditions Selection Model. This is how we encourage you to grow.

For more information, please visit working at Utrecht University.

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University, the various disciplines collaborate intensively towards major strategic themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Pathways to Sustainability. Shaping science, sharing tomorrow.

At the Faculty of Science, there are 6 departments to make a fundamental connection with: Biology, Chemistry, Information and Computing Sciences, Mathematics, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Physics. Each of these is made up of distinct institutes that work together to focus on answering some of humanity’s most pressing problems. More fundamental still are the individual research groups – the building blocks of our ambitious scientific projects. Find out more about us on YouTube.

The Cellular Protein Chemistry section is part of the Bijvoet Centre for Biomolecular Research and the Department of Chemistry at Utrecht University. The research in Cellular Protein Chemistry is dedicated to the origins of protein failure diseases and the regulation and mechanisms of our natural defense systems. Maintaining the natural shape of proteins is essential for life. Failure to do so may cause incurable diseases such as Cystic Fibrosis, Alzheimer, Parkinson, or cancer. Common to those diseases are fatal distortions in protein shape. Human life therefore depends on a defense system that maintains the shape of our proteins: the strongly regulated network of chaperones and folding enzymes.

The position will be embedded in the laboratory of Arnold Boersma. The laboratory has been very successful in acquiring external funding and runs with state-of-the-art equipment for molecular biology, protein purification, biophysics, mammalian cell culture, protein expression, microscopy, and microfluidics. The group regularly publishes high-impact research. We aim to investigate the role of macromolecular crowding in protein failure diseases, and especially protein aggregation. Novel sensors are developed that allow monitoring crowding, chaperones, and aggregating proteins, providing detailed insight into how crowding affects aggregation in vivo and in vitro. More information can be found at www.boersmalab.com, and cellular-protein-chemistry.nl/.