Are you a passionate Research Engineer who can contribute to bridging the gap between health research and health care? This position presents a unique opportunity to contribute to several projects in our health AI team.

Job Description
This position is offered by the Institute of Data Science, a research unit within the Department of Advanced Computing Sciences at Maastricht University.

Position Overview:
We are seeking a talented Research Software Engineer to join our team. In this role, you will play a pivotal role working primarily on two large international projects: The iCARE4CVD project to improve cardiovascular care through federated health research data platform and the NIH-funded Biomedical Data Translator project to enable biomedical research through large scale data and service integration.

The projects are undertaken collaboratively with partners across Europe and USA, and involves research and development covering data description, data transformation,and FAIR data generation. You will collaborate closely with interdisciplinary teams to further design and maintain front-end and back-end solutions that enable seamless navigation and integration of clinical and biomedical data.

Your tasks will include:

• Work with interdisciplinary teams (healthcare professionals, data scientists, data privacy experts ect) to code proof-of-concept and operational systems that integrate large scale heterogeneous datasets.
• Develop and maintain several elements of a research infrastructure. Some concrete task examples include: Development and maintenance of iCARE4CVD's Cohort Explorer and Translator's OpenPredict platform.
• Implement security measures to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of health data on the platform. Concrete tasks include the creation of a log-in authentication for data owners, encrypt data on storage and in transmission.
• Implement ETL processes, including data acquisition, data integration, data quality testing, data indexing and query answering.
• Design and implement pipelines for predictive analytics, including training, testing, and reporting on model performance.
• Migrate successful proof-of-concept projects into production environments.
• Participation in project meetings and contribution to scientific reporting, as well as possible travels across Europe and US for the implementation of the project and participation in conferences.
• Document design decisions, code, and workflows.

Requirements

• Degree in computer science, or related discipline with strong software engineering components.
• 3+ years’ experience with coding, especially platform development
• Experience with database technologies (RDBMS, NoSQL, RDF triple stores)
• Knowledge of semantic technologies (RDF, OWL, SPARQL, etc.) and knowledge graphs.
• Working knowledge of machine learning, deep learning, and large language models.
• Knowledge of programming languages, primarily Python, but also relevant are Java, HTML5, JavaScript and CSS.
• Strong verbal and written communications skills in English.
• High coding quality standards including commitment to fully documenting code.
• Bring a versatile toolbox with you. Know how to select and apply the best and most efficient tool for the job ahead.
• Experience of and pleasure in working with collaborative multidisciplinary teams.
• Ability to consistently deliver accurate effort estimates for work.
• Broad interest in scientific research and in the research process
• Willingness to acquire new skills and propose new approaches

Preferred Qualifications

• Past experience of leading development teams (small ones), working collaboratively to deliver operational products.
• Participation in open source projects (reporting bugs, proposing features and ideas and constructive criticism, providing bug-fixes and new implementations)
• Knowledge of and experience in machine learning/deep learning technologies

What we offer
As Research Software Engineer in Health Data Science at Faculty of Science & Engineering, you will be employed by the most international university in the Netherlands, located in the beautiful city of Maastricht. In addition, we offer you:

• Good employment conditions. The position is graded in scale 10 - 11 according to UFO profile ICT Developer, with corresponding salary based on experience ranging from €3226,00 and €5929,00 gross per month (based on a full-time employment of 38 hours per week). In addition to the monthly salary, an 8.0% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year-end bonus apply.
• An employment contract for a period of 12 months with a scope of 1,0 FTE. Upon proven suitability, the employment contract will be converted to an indefinite contract.
• At Maastricht University, the well-being of our employees is of utmost importance, we offer flexible working hours and the possibility to work partly from home if the nature of your position allows it. You will receive a monthly commuting and internet allowance for this. If you work full-time, you will be entitled to 29 vacation days and 4 additional public holidays per year, namely carnival Monday, carnival Tuesday, Good Friday, and Liberation Day. If you choose to accumulate compensation hours, an additional 12 days will be added. Furthermore, you can personalize your employment conditions through a collective labor agreement (CAO) choice model.
• As Maastricht University, we offer various other excellent secondary employment conditions. These include a good pension scheme with the ABP and the opportunity for UM employees to participate in company fitness and make use of the extensive sports facilities that we also offer to our students.
• Last but certainly not least, we provide the space and facilities for your personal and professional development. We facilitate this by offering a wide range of training programs and supporting various well-established initiatives such as 'acknowledge and appreciate'.

The terms of employment at Maastricht University are largely set out in the collective labor agreement of Dutch Universities. In addition, local provisions specific to UM apply. For more information, click here.

Maastricht University
Why work at Maastricht University?
At Maastricht University (UM), everything revolves around the future. The future of our students, as we work to equip them with a solid, broad-based foundation for the rest of their lives. And the future of society, as we seek solutions through our research to issues from all around the world. Our six faculties combined provide a comprehensive package of study programmes and research.

In our teaching, we use the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) method. Students work in small groups, looking for solutions to problems themselves. By discussing issues and working together to draw conclusions, formulate answers and present them to their peers, students develop essential skills for their future careers.

With over 22,300 students and more than 5,000 employees from all over the world, UM is home to a vibrant and inspiring international community.

Are you drawn to an international setting focused on education, science and scholarship? Are you keen to contribute however your skills and qualities allow? Our door is open to you! As a young European university, we value your talent and look forward to creating the future together.

Click here for more information about UM.

Faculty of Science and Engineering
At the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE), we focus on themes such as circularity and sustainability, future farming, digitisation and (scientific) instrument development. FSE's leading projects, like the Einstein Telescope Pathfinder, are sure to grab anyone's attention. The faculty is a vibrant hub of education and research in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS). At FSE, over 450 staff members and 3700 students gather to explore e exciting interdisciplinary research and educational programmes. Feel welcome, be part of our team and put your brilliant mind to work!

FSE at the Brightlands Campuses
Maastricht, Sittard-Geleen, Heerlen, and Venlo, the home of four creative Brightlands campuses, are bustling with 30,000 entrepreneurs, researchers, and students working diligently to solve global challenges. The Faculty of Science and Engineering is active on all four Brightlands campuses, and this is where our impact reaches its peak. To give you an idea of what is happening at each campus: Sittard-Geleen is home to the largest chemical site in the Euregion, while Venlo is a large hub for agri-food innovation. Maastricht is the site of the Health Campus, and Heerlen is the place to be for Smart Services.

Institute of Data Science performs applied research in data science and artificial intelligence by collaborating across disciplines, institutions, and sectors. The goal of our research is to accelerate scientific discovery, improve clinical care and well-being, and to strengthen communities. We specialise in machine learning, decentralised applications related to biomedical data, as well as promoting the FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable) principles. IDS is part of the Department of Advanced Computing Sciences.
https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/research/institute-data-science

The Department of Advanced Computing Sciences is Maastricht University’s largest and oldest department broadly covering the fields of artificial intelligence, data science, computer science, mathematics and robotics. Over 100 researchers work and study in the Department of Advanced Computing Sciences, whose roots trace back to 1987. The department’s staff teaches approximately 1200 bachelor’s and master’s students in 4 specialized study programmes in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.
https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/dacs

Curious?
Are you interested in this exciting position but still have questions? Feel free to contact Michel Dumontier (Distinguished University Professor via michel.dumontier@maastrichtuniversity.nl or Visara Urovi (Associate Professor) via v.urovi@maastrichtuniversity.nl for more information.

Applying?
Or are you already convinced and ready to become our new Research Software Engineer in Health Data Science? Apply now, no later than May 12th, 2024 for this position.

Depending on your current location, you may be invited for an interview via MS Teams or in person. To apply for the position, submit the following documents:

• cover letter (1 page max), which includes a motivation of your interest in the vacancy and an explanation of why you would fit well in this position;
• a detailed curriculum vitae;
• a course list of your Masters and Bachelor programs (including grades);
• results of a recent English language test, or other evidence of your English language capabilities
• name and contact information of two references

The vacancy is open for internal and external candidates. In case of equal qualifications, internal candidates will be prioritized.

The preferred starting date is July 1st, 2024.

Maastricht University is committed to promoting and nurturing a diverse and inclusive community. We believe that diversity in our staff and student population contributes to the quality of research and education at UM, and strive to enable this through inclusive policies and innovative projects led by teams of staff and students. We encourage you to apply for this position.