Are you interested in the use of Baculoviral vectors for the production of gene therapy vectors? Do you wish to work on biotechnological solutions to efficiently produce viral vectors? Are you motivated to work in a team of scientists in an ambitious research consortium consisting of industrial and academic partners?

We have a PhD position at the Laboratory of Virology, in collaboration with VectorY, to design stable recombinant baculoviruses for the production of adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector particles in insect cells. Your work involves cloning, recombineering, generation of recombinant baculoviruses, cell culture and production of different AAV constructs. In addition to designing baculovirus expression vectors for optimized AAV production, you have the ambition to understand the fundamentals of baculovirus biology.

We are looking for a motivated and creative person with a passion for doing research and an MSc degree in virology, molecular biology, biotechnology or microbiology. As a successful PhD candidate, you will become part of an enthusiastic team active in research and teaching in the field of plant, insect, animal and human virology. You will work at the Laboratory of Virology as part of a research consortium also including scientists from VectorY and Bioprocess Engineering (BPE) at WU. You will also perform part of the studies at VectorY in Amsterdam. You closely collaborate with the PhD candidate appointed at BPE on this project working on process development.

About the project:
The Dutch company VectorY (www.vectorytx.com) develops therapeutic solutions by combining gene therapy with the therapeutic potential of antibodies. The novel AAV based vectorized antibody & gene therapy platform plays a crucial role in this field. The PhD project 'Development & characterization of baculovirus stable genome seeds for AAV production' is a research collaboration between VectorY, the Bioprocess Engineering group at WU (www.bpe.wur.nl) and the Laboratory of Virology at WU (www.vir.wur.nl). You will be supervised by Prof. Monique van Oers, Dr. Gorben Pijlman, Dr. Dirk Martens in collaboration with experts from VectorY.

You have:

• a completed MSc degree in virology, molecular biology, biotechnology or microbiology;
• knowledge of virology at MSc level;
• a curious nature and passion for doing research, as exemplified by an outstanding BSc/MSc thesis and/or internship;
• the ability to perform independent lab work, and affinity for the collaborative nature of this project;
• excellent English language proficiency (a minimum of CEFR C2 level). For more information about this proficiency level, please visit our special language page;
• proven experience at BSLI/II in working with viruses, viral vectors and/or cell cultures;
• previous experience with molecular biology techniques (gene design, cloning, recombineering, sequencing, bioinformatics, crispr-cas).

Conditions of employment
Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• sabbatical leave, study leave, and paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• the option to accrue additional holiday hours by working more, up to 40 hours per week;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed December bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will of course receive a good salary. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive salary between € 2.790,- and € 4.402,- for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 10). We offer a 0.8-1.0 fte appointment, first for 1 year with an extension for a total of 4 years (based on 1.0 fte) upon a positive evaluation.

Wageningen University & Research encourages internal advancement opportunities and mobility with an internal recruitment policy. There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.
You are going to work at the greenest and most innovative campus in Holland, and at a university that has been chosen as the "Best University" in the Netherlands for the 16th consecutive time.

Coming from abroad
Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees. Applicants from abroad moving to the Netherlands may qualify for a special tax relief, known as the 30% ruling. Our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.

Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research's International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees and students coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, we can assist you with any additional advice and information about helping your partner to find a job, housing, schooling, and other issues.

Wageningen University & Research

Wageningen University & Research
The mission of Wageningen University and Research is "To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life". Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment.

With its roughly 30 branches, 6.500 employees and 12.500 students, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. An integrated approach to problems and the cooperation between various disciplines are at the heart of Wageningen's unique approach. WUR has been named Best Employer in the Education category for 2019-2020.

These are the points our employees list as good reasons to come work at WUR: read the 6 reasons to come work at WUR

We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.