The department of Oral Cell Biology at ACTA is seeking a PhD student for a combined cell biology and engineering oriented project (MechanoChip), funded by a European Eurostars grant. We seek an enthusiastic and creative team player with an eye for integrating advanced cell biology techniques with engineering. We offer a challenging project within an international, dynamic and multidisciplinary department, where fundamental biologists, engineers and clinicians closely collaborate to solve major challenges in medicine and dentistry.

The MechanoChip project is an innovative organ-on-chip project. ACTA will collaborate with industrial and academic partners from The Netherlands and Sweden. Together the consortium will develop a platform capable of mimicking physical conditions (hydrostatic pressure and shear stress) within  a metastising human tumor in bone suitable for medium throughput evaluation of chemotherapeutic agents.  Youwill be responsible for developing and testing a coating with cellular matrix components mimicking the chemical environment of the tumor and bone cells in vivo, and incorporating this coating together with tumor and bone cell cultures into the microfluidics device, which will be designed by Micronit.

We expect you to have an MSc degree in (medical) biology, bioengineering, or related discipline. Experience with molecular & cell biology is required, experience with bioreactors or microfluidic devices is appreciated. We are looking for a curious  and enthusiastic team player, with excellent communication skills and a good grasp of the English language.

The appointment will be full-time (38 hours a week) for a period of three years (initial employment is 18 months). The salary is in accordance with the university regulations for academic personnel and will range from €2,266 (first year) up to a maximum of €2,897 (last year) before tax per month (scale P) based on a full-time appointment. There are also secondary benefits, such as 8% holiday allowance per year and the end of year allowance of 8,3%. ACTA also offers good (internal) training. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities is applicable.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

http://www.uva.nl/en/home

ACTA

ACTA is a collaborative venture involving the Faculties of Dentistry at the University of Amsterdam and VU University Amsterdam. ACTA conducts scientific research, provides educational programmes, and delivers patient care in the field of dentistry. In international circles, ACTA ranks among the leaders in teaching and research.

https://www.acta.nl/en/