Exciting research over the last 15 years has been on mathematical models of human health and disease, the so-called Human Digital Twin. These research activities showed that in many cases there was sufficient fundamental knowledge to build accurate models of health and disease, that not only lead to deeper insight in human physiology but are also used in clinically relevant applications.

A new development over the last years are 'In-Silico Trials': the use of modelling & simulation for the development and derisking of new medical products. Your research will be embedded in the recently started European Project InSilicoWorld, aimed at accelerating the uptake of In-Silico Trials for the development and regulatory assessment of medicines and medical devices. Several tracks withing this project are identified, including the development of better models for use in the reduction, refinement or replacement of clinical trials required for the certification of new medical products, and validation collections addressing the issue of the lack of widely available collections of curated medical data specifically designed for the development and the validation of In Silico Trials technologies. Your research is mainly aimed at development of better models, and then specifically models for thrombosis that may occur on medical implants such as coronary artery stents.

There is a collaborative effort between the Erasmus Medical Center (dr Gijsen), Eindhoven University of Technology (prof. Van de Vosse), and the University of Amsterdam (prof. Hoekstra) to explore coronary applications for the InSilicoWorld project. We will focus on the clinical problems related to coronary artery disease with a main focus on in-stent restenosis and thrombosis. We will further develop numerical models to describe these processes, curate and mine clinical imaging databases that can be used to validate these models and generate platforms to apply these models in an in-silico clinical trial setting. A truly exciting opportunity for highly motivated candidates wanting to expand their knowledge on and contribute to this rapidly evolving and extremely exiting research field on the boundaries between computational modelling, imaging and clinical science. Furthermore, working in this project can instantly position you in the center of the European in-silico trials collaborations.

What are you going to do?

In close collaboration with the groups in Rotterdam and Eindhoven, you will develop in silico models of late thrombosis in the context of coronary artery stenting. You will validate your models relying on existing data and on new experiments to be carried out in other groups. You will apply your models in the context of In-Silico Trials of coronary artery stenting, as they are also developed within the In Silico World project.

You will publish your results in peer reviewed scientific journals and present you work during international conferences. As the In Silico World project has partners not only in the Netherlands, but throughout Europe, you will also be presenting your work in several European laboratories as part of the biannual project meetings.

You will also be guiding a few Master and Bachelor students in their graduation projects and be assisting in one course in our educational programs.

To apply for this position you must have:

• a Master degree in either Computational Science, Computational (bio)Physics, Computational Biomedicine, biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, medical technology or related disciplines;
• a strong drive to acquire deep knowledge of biomedicine, if that is lacking;
• knowledge on numerical techniques to solve differential equations';
• experience in modelling and simulation, with good knowledge of modern computing environments such as Python;
• experience with programming, preferably in C++;
• experience with high performance computing is preferred;
• the ability to collaborate with researchers working on other topics, thus forming a bridge between their own domain and collaborators with the larger European project;
• the ability to work in an international multidisciplinary team and be willing to travel to partner labs in Europe;
• a creative and pro-active attitude with good analytical skills, the ability to combine creativity with a sound academic attitude;
• excellent communication skills in English, both in writing and speaking, and the attitude of a good team player.

Our offer

A temporary contract for 38 hours per week for the duration of 4 years (the initial contract will be for a period of 18 months and after satisfactory evaluation it will be extended for a total duration of 4 years). This should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). We will draft an educational plan that includes attendance of courses and (international) meetings. We also expect you to assist in teaching undergraduates and master students.

The salary will be €2,395 to €3,061 (scale P) gross per month, based on a full-time contract of 38 hours a week. This is exclusive 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus. A favourable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.

Are you curious about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits like our excellent opportunities for study and development? Take a look here.

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.

Faculty of Science – Informatics Institute

The Faculty of Science has a student body of around 7,000, as well as 1,600 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 mission of the Informatics Institute is to perform curiosity-driven and use-inspired fundamental research in Computer Science. The main research themes are Artificial Intelligence, Computational Science and Systems and Network Engineering. Our research involves complex information systems at large, with a focus on collaborative, data driven, computational and intelligent systems, all with a strong interactive component. You will be part of the Computational Science Lab, one of the research groups of the Informatics Institute.