The Biotechnology Student Research Hub is a new location where Bachelor's students from different life sciences disciplines work on biotechnology projects. In direct contact with principal investigators and other staff, you will be guiding and supporting these students. In addition, you will be involved in a European research project to support the researchers in the molecular cloning and recombinant production of proteins, including nanobodies.

Wat ga je doen?
As technician of the Biotechnology Student Research Hub, you will be working with interdisciplinary groups of life science students that will learn lab skills and research skills that cover the entire research cycle: from concept/hypothesis, design and planning to lab work and collection of data, analysis, and reporting. You will assist the students in the laboratory, teaching them how to develop and refine their biotechnology laboratory skills. You will guide them in writing their lab journal and lab report. You will assist them in designing experiments, analysing, and interpreting their data.

Furthermore, you will contribute to the Nano-Engine project, which is an EU-funded project aiming to establish proof-of-concept for the first- and best-in-class in vivo cell programming platform. For this project, your activities will mostly be in cloning of different plasmid constructs for expression and purification of nanobodies, among other proteins of interest.

We are looking for an enthusiastic colleague who enjoys teaching and contributing to students' development. Additionally:

• You have good biotechnology skills and experience with laboratory techniques.
• You have experience with DNA/RNA isolation and molecular cloning.
• You have experience with phage, yeast and/or ribosomal display.
• You have experience with recombinant protein production and purification (affinity chromatography, ion exchange chromatography).
• You have good knowledge of chemistry used for modification of proteins.

• a position for two years;
• a working week of 40 hours and a gross monthly salary between €3,072 and €4,103 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale 8 under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU);
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.

In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University has a number of schemes and facilities of its own for employees. This includes schemes facilitating professional development, leave schemes and schemes for sports and cultural activities, as well as discounts on software and other IT products. We also offer access to additional employee benefits through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage our employees to continue to invest in their growth. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

Universiteit Utrecht

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. Sharing science, shaping 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 challenges. More fundamental still are the individual research groups – the building blocks of our ambitious scientific projects.

The department of Pharmaceutical Sciences provides innovative education in the field of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences and conducts high-quality scientific research in, or adjacent to, the field of pharmaceutical sciences. The department is inspired by questions from society. The facilities available to the department ensure that we can train students for their future roles in pharmaceutical healthcare and pharmaceutical research.

The Student Research Hub is a new interdisciplinary education hub for students at the Faculty of Science for biotechnology student research projects. You will work on development of innovative therapeutics which can be produced by biotechnology techniques. You will join the team working on the development of nanobodies and applications of these in various domains. This is an international team, eager to bring nanobodies further into applications that can create impact in society. The biotech hub is dedicated to Bachelor's students who are fascinated by research and want to experience working as a team in a state-of-the-art biotechnology laboratory, experiencing research in the most realistic format, from brainstorming, drafting research questions, developing ideas, and making plans, to conducting experiments, analysing data, and writing an article. Bachelor's students from Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy enroll for their Bachelor's internship with the coordinators of their own programmes.