Are you fascinated by the by the possibility to produce medicines in plants? Do you enjoy engineering a system wherein tailor-made glycans are synthesized on proteins that can be used as biopharmaceutical drugs? Would you like to work in an interdisciplinary team of international scientists to develop vaccines against parasitic worms?

Parasitic worms infect over 1.5 billion people and continuously threaten livestock worldwide. Chronic helminth infections may cause serious health problems ranging from malnutrition, anemia, diarrhoea, liver damage to blindness. Control of these parasitic worms currently relies on periodic mass administration of anthelmintic drugs, however, resistance against these drugs is rapidly emerging and spreading in parasites of livestock. Vaccination is a more effective control measure, but the development of effective vaccines against parasitic worms has proven difficult. Recently, we have developed a plant-based expression system for recombinant proteins from parasitic worms in which we can engineer tailor-made sugar decorations on these proteins. We believe that the natural sugar composition of putative anti-worm vaccines is key for their efficacy.

In this project you will be responsible for the production and purification of several selected vaccine candidates against parasites of cattle and sheep in our plant-based expression system. Simultaneously, you will modify the sugar composition of these vaccine candidates by engineering the glycosylation pathway of the plant. Your daily lab work will involve molecular cloning, plant transformations, protein isolation, purification and analysis, as wells glycan analysis. The ultimate goal is to deliver proof-of-concept that the natural sugar decoration is key for the development of protective vaccines against parasitic worms.

You will be part of the Laboratory of Nematology of Wageningen University working in close collaboration with partners in The Netherlands, Belgium, and United Kingdom. These partners have expertise in glycobiology, vaccine development and vaccination studies.

We are looking for a highly-motivated, supportive and independent Technical assistant who has:

• Professional BSc degree (HBO) in plantbiotechnology or biotechnology;
• Independent working skills;
• Responsibility for the progress and quality of this project;
• Experience with techniques in molecular biology, protein expression and purification;
• Experience in analysing glycans using mass spectrometry is considered an added advantage;
• Affinity with plants;
• Good-to-excellent communication skills in both spoken and written English;
• Capacity to support other lab members with the supervision of BSc and MSc students.

The Laboratory of Nematology offers you an interesting and challenging research environment with interactions between researchers and students. We offer you a full-time temporary position for a period of 12 months with the possibility of a one-year extension after successful evaluation. Further: depending on your experience, a competitive salary from a minimum of €2329,- to a maximum of €3144,- for a full working week of 38 hours in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement Dutch Universities (scale 7).

In addition, we offer:

• 8% holiday allowance;
• a structural year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent training opportunities and secondary employment conditions;
• flexible working hours and holidays can possibly be determined in consultation so that an optimal balance between work and private life is possible;
• excellent pension plan through ABP;
• 232 vacation hours, the option to purchase extra and good supplementary leave schemes;
• a flexible working time: the possibility to work a maximum of 2 hours per week extra and thereby to build up flexible hours;
• a choice model to put together part of your employment conditions yourself, such as a bicycle plan;
• a lively workplace where you can easily make contacts and where many activities take place on the Wageningen Campus. A place where education, research and business are represented;
• use the sports facilities on campus

Wageningen University & Research stimulates internal career opportunities and mobility with an internal recruitment policy. There are ample opportunities for own initiative in a learning environment.
We offer a versatile job in an international environment with varied activities in a pleasant and open working atmosphere.

Wageningen University & Research

The mission of our University is to explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life. Within Wageningen University & Research, nine specialised research institutes from the Wageningen Research Foundation and Wageningen University have joined forces to help answer the most important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment. With approximately 30 locations, 5,000 employees, and 10,000 students, it is one of the leading organisations in its domain worldwide. An integrated approach to problems and the cooperation between various disciplines are at the heart of the unique approach of Wageningen.

Equal opportunities employer
We are an employer that offers equal opportunities. We are happy to receive applications from all suitably qualified people regardless of race, gender, functional impairment, religion / belief, sexual orientation or age.
We believe that a diverse and inclusive working environment makes us a more relevant, competitive and resilient organization. Click here for more information about working at WUR with a functional impairment.