Postdoctoral Researcher Bioinformatics/Machine Learning

Genomic surveillance of infectious diseases has been a revolutionary public health success and a critical tool in elucidating pathogen transmission, evolution and source tracking. However, exploiting this data to understand the genomic drivers of pathogen success and virulence and using this data predictively remains underdeveloped.

Your job
We have recently received funding to leverage advances in pan-genomics and deep-learning to build predictive models to help understand why certain microbial variants are successful pathogens and what emerging variants to prioritise.

The focus of this research is to be applied to the realms of pandemic preparedness and antimicrobial resistance. Specifically, we aim to build genomic driven classifiers that can identify what genomic changes are predictive for pandemic spread in terms of both the micro-organism and their resistance cargo. There is a critical need to better predict the differential risk that different strain types pose such that proportional interventions that maximise public safety and minimise economic losses are developed.

The project is a collaboration between Utrecht University and national and international partners and you will be a key member of the project team. You will be responsible for:

1. phylogenetic and phylodynamic and pan-genomic analysis;
2. design and validation of machine learning models for the prediction of spread of antimicrobial resistance.

We offer:

• a position for one year, with an extension for a period of two years upon successful assessment;
• a full-time gross salary between €3,226 and €5,090 depending on skills and experience in scale 10 of the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities (CAO);
• 8% holiday bonus and 8.3% end-of-year bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave, and flexible employment conditions based on the CAO

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.

The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine has a unique position in the Netherlands. Not only is this the only institution where veterinarians are trained, researchers are also working together on innovative scientific research. Furthermore the faculty delivers expert clinical care at the University Animal Hospital. Thanks to this position, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is a point of contact for all veterinary matters, both nationally and increasingly internationally. The faculty employs approximately 900 veterinarians, scientists and support staff and counts 1,500 students. It is is located at the Utrecht Science Park, near the historical city centre of Utrecht.