In this position as Assistant or Associate Professor you will focus on translational immunopharmacology. This is an exciting opportunity to use your immunological background and interest in bench to bedside, including explorative clinical immunology (biomarkers research) and gut brain immune interactions. You will participate in the organisation and management activities related to research and education programmes of the Utrecht Institute of Pharmaceutical Science (UIPS) and strengthen the pharmacology group. Enthusiastically you will lead teaching activities at both BSc and MSc level and supervise research projects of Postdoctoral Researchers, PhD candidates and MSc students. Using your previous experience and passion you will make a positive contribution to our research group for both research and teaching.

You will join the Immunopharmacology team which focuses on the relationship between immune cells and their mediators in the development/maintenance and inhibition of immune-related diseases such as (food) allergy, asthma, COPD, infections and inflammatory diseases in general. Additionally, in several research programmes we focus on gut brain immune interactions in health and disease such as Parkinson.

The Immunopharmacology team is embedded in the Pharmacology group which focuses on the basic mechanisms underlying non-communicable disorders (NCD) and their pharmacological manipulations via drugs, biologicals and/or medical food components. The objective is to gain deeper insight into the pathways in which cells and mediators of the immune interact and/or central nervous systems interact, aimed at developing new concepts for prevention and/or treatment with a strong focus on inflammation management and organ function restoration.

Combining the unique expertises of our group in the fields of immunopharmacology, neuro-immuno-pharmacology, psychopharmacology and regenerative pharmacology, we cover research in major target organs such as kidney, gastrointestinal, respiratory and nervous systems in both animals and man. The programme follows an integrative multidisciplinary translational approach starting from molecular techniques, via both in vitro and in vivo animal models for disease, towards proof of concept clinical studies in healthy volunteers and patients (from bench to bedside and vice versa). The group has unique technologies in place, including novel innovative tools such as organ on a chip technologies and organoids cultures form different origin/species. Finally, data science is helping to bridge and understand all data obtained using innovative machine learning technologies, systematic reviews, algorithms, and AI.

The team and group are part of the UIPS which has renowned research programmes that are embedded nationally as well as internationally in unique research programmes funded by a.o. EU, Dutch government, NWO, but also embedded in public private programmes with different companies.

An ideal candidate brings multiple of the following criteria:            

• a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biomedical Life Sciences, (Veterinary) Medicine or a related field;
• an internationally acknowledged research line with a strong publication and funding record;
• being an active player in international scientific communities;
• strong communication skills;
• supportive to create a collaborative, sustainable and inclusive work environment.

• A position for 18 months, which could be converted to a permanent contract following a positive evaluation;
• a full-time gross salary ranging from €3974 to €6181 in scale 11 or 12 as Assistant Professor or €5056 to €7362 in scale 13 or 14 as Associate Professor;
• 8% holiday bonus and 8.3% end-of-year bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave, and flexible employment conditions based on the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities.

In addition, Utrecht University offers excellent secondary conditions, including an attractive retirement scheme, (partly paid) parental leave and flexible employment conditions (multiple choice model). 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 Sustainability.

At the Faculty of Science, there are 6 departments to make a fundamental connection with: Biology, Chemistry, Information and Computing Sciences, Mathematics, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Physics. Each of these is made up of distinct institutes that work together to focus on answering some of humanity’s most pressing problems. More fundamental still are the individual research groups – the building blocks of our ambitious scientific projects. Find out more about working at the Faculty of Science.

The Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS) is the research institute of the department of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Utrecht University. UIPS focuses on processes around discovery, development, and use of drugs and medical nutrition using molecular and technological principles from the Natural and Life Sciences. This research is well positioned in the Faculty of Science to work on basic scientific problems and to translate new findings into potential solutions to urgent societal medical needs, which are addressed in the Faculties of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. Every year around 400 peer-reviewed articles are published and around 30 PhD candidates defend their thesis. UIPS is partner in several open-source innovation networks.