Funded by the European Commission through the Marie Sklodowska-Curie program, the MSCA Doctoral Network 'MyoTreat', offers a PhD training position at Erasmus MC. The theme of the network is ‘Myopia - from genes and environment to cellular responses and treatment’. The PhD student at Erasmus MC will investigate the role of light and different wavelengths of light on the choroidal thickness in humans. The position will provide state-of the art training in vision research.

Myopia is the most common eye disorder in developed countries. The prevalence of myopia has increased over the last decades. Over 80% of the university students in East Asia are currently myopic; in Europe about 50% of the young adults are developing myopia. Myopia develops during childhood and is influenced by genetic factors and environmental factors, and has high risk of visual impairment in adult life. The choroid is the vascular structure underneath the retina and can facilitate signaling between the retina and the sclera to induce axial length growth and myopia.

We are looking an enthusiastic PhD student with lots of natural intellectual curiosity to work on a project addressing the role of the choroid on the development of myopia by studying different wavelengths of light on the choroidal thickness by OCT measurements. The project aim is to improve the diagnostic and prognostic methods and treatment options for myopia. The candidate will benefit from networking with, and secondment to, other project partners within the MyoTreat network in order to gain understanding and access knowledge from others and implement this into your own research.

The candidate will utilize cutting-edge techniques:

• non-invasive optical measurement techniques for measurement (optical coherence tomography) in humans
• Light sources emitting specific wavelength of light
• Artificial intelligence to automatically segment retinal layers

• A Master`s degree in life sciences (medicine, biology, optometry, neurobiology, computer science or closely related fields).
• Excellence in oral and written English, with good presentation skills.
• High motivation with an interest in myopia research and good organizational skills.
• Work effectively both independently and as part of a team in a multidisciplinary research environment

The following skills are desirable:

• Knowledge of eye biology, physiology, optics and/or neuroscience.
• Statistics/computer science skills

• The gross monthly salary amounts a maximum of € 5.292,- (scale 10) depending on your level of education and relevant experience, based on a full-time working week of 36 hours.
• You will receive a contract for 3,5 years.
• Excellent fringe benefits, such as a 13th month that is already paid out in November and an individual travel expense package.
• Pension insurance with ABP, we take care of approximately 2/3 of the monthly contribution.
• Special benefits, such as an incompany physiotherapist and bicycle repairer. There is also a gym where you can work on your fitness after work.

Erasmus MC

You will join and work within our Eye-Epi research group headed by Prof.dr. Caroline C.W. Klaver at Depts. Ophthalmology & Epidemiology of Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The Erasmus MC is the largest academic hospital in Netherlands. We are a team of scientists, clinicians, engineers, and artificial intelligence experts, experienced in investigating causes and risk profiles of eye diseases, and develop innovative, automated, and technologically advanced solutions for eye health through integration of predictive models and analytical insight. We have large experience in studying myopia with studies with children, adults, animal studies, intervention studies and clinical trials. We have one of Europe’s largest and most comprehensive datasets on eye diseases which includes multimodal imaging, genetics, lifestyle factors, and blood biomarkers, and have close collaboration with international consortia.

The MyoTreat Doctoral Network offers several PhD student projects in other European countries. More information on these individual projects can be found on EURAXESS (https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/search) in the individual job offer postings; to find them please enter the keyword 'MyoTreat' into the search option.