Postdoc Position in Modelling at Different Scales of Life

Are you passionate about research that tackles health inequalities from the earliest stages of life? Do you enjoy working in an interdisciplinary research setting? The Computational Science Lab is looking for an ambitious Post-Doctoral researcher. Your research will be part of the MetaHealth project.

Join Us!
We are inviting applications for a post-doctoral research position focused on understanding how the microbiome influences early childhood health. This project explores the complex interplay of microbiome, culture, socioeconomics, behaviour, and environment during the first 1000 days of life—and how these factors impact the risk of obesity and dental caries in vulnerable populations. By uncovering these mechanisms, we aim to reduce health disparities from an early age.

This is what you will do
You will develop and validate mathematical models to numerically simulate the interplay between metabolites, lifestyle (behaviour) and sociocultural factors and their effects on oral and metabolic health during the first 1000 days of life. Behavioural, environmental, and sociocultural aspects of microbiome-host developments should be modelled in a mechanistic manner to address intrapopulation variations. The mechanistic models should be used to unravel the perturbations that affect the development of the microbiome during the early stages of life. Further, you will explore how such perturbations in the microbiome modulate the health of a child. The developed mathematical models will be then used to design macro (lifestyle) interventions at oral and gut levels. Multiscale mechanistic and statistical models that connect the microbial dynamics, individual dietary & lifestyle behaviour and collective environmental cues needs to be developed. These individual models should be coupled using a unified simulation framework to develop, simulate and test personalized, risk-based and/or community-based interventions to enhance oral and metabolic health and reduce inequalities.

You will dedicate some 10% of your time to academic teaching, where you will be guiding master and bachelor students in their thesis research and where you will be delivering guest lectures in the Master Computational Science. You are expected to take an active role in departmental activities, ranging from research seminars to board memberships and grant applications. Your ability and willingness to take up substantial administrative tasks are particularly welcome.

What we ask of you
The ideal candidate will have a PhD in computational modelling or a closely related discipline, along with substantial research experience in biomedical or psychobiological, data-driven dietary modelling and related areas.

Your experience and profile:

• committed researcher, demonstrated by publications in international refereed academic journals and academic publishers;
• flexible, readiness to participate in interdisciplinary cooperation and multidisciplinary development (verifiably focused on collaboration with other disciplines).

This is what we offer you
We offer a temporary employment contract for 38 hours per week for a period of 24 months with a probationary period of one month. The preferred starting date is flexible between 1 September, 2025 and 30 January, 2026. The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and dependent on relevant experience, ranges between € 3,378 to € 5,331 (scale 10). In addition, you will receive an 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% year-end allowance. A favourable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Universities of the Netherlands is applicable.

Curious about our extensive secondary benefits package? You can read more about it here.

You will work in this team
The Faculty of Science has a student body of around 8,000, as well as 1,800 members of staff working in education, research or support services. Researchers and students at the Faculty of Science are fascinated by every aspect of how the world works, be it elementary particles, the birth of the universe or the functioning of the brain.

The position is embedded in the Computational Science Lab of the Informatics Institute of the faculty of science of UvA. You will be closely collaborating with scientists at the two biology departments – SILS and IBED of the Faculty of Science. You will thus work with both biology and modelling domain experts. The research is embedded in the MetaHealth project, which is a large Dutch consortium researching health in a microbial, sociocultural and care context in the first 1000 days of life in Amsterdam.

If you feel the profile fits you, and you are interested in the job, we look forward to receiving your application. You can apply online via the button below. We accept applications until and including 31 August 2025.
Applications should include the following information (all files besides your cv should be submitted in one single pdf file):

• a detailed CV including the months (not just years) when referring to your education and work experience;
• a letter of motivation;
• a list of publications;
• the names and email addresses of two references who can provide letters of recommendation.

A knowledge security check can be part of the selection procedure.
(for details: national knowledge security guidelines)

Only complete applications received within the response period via the apply button will be considered.

If you have any questions or do you require additional information? Please contact:
Vivek Sheraton M – v.s.muniraj@uva.nl