The research group Molecular Neurosciences of the Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences (SILS) is seeking for a PhD candidate.

Mesodiencephalic dopaminergic (mdDA) neurons are located in the ventral mesodiencephalon and are involved in psychiatric disorders and severely affected in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease. mdDA neuronal development has received much attention in the last 15 years and many transcription factors involved in mdDA specification have been discovered. More recently however, the impact of epigenetic regulation has come into focus, and it's emerging that the processes of histone modification and DNA methylation form the basis of genetic switches that operate during mdDA development. In the current project we will go into more detail in order to elucidate the epigenetic control of mdDA development, maturation and maintenance.

You should have a Master's degree in a biomedical direction. You are highly motivated and have a background in molecular biology, neurobiology, and neuronal anatomy. You have extensive experience with various common molecular biological techniques. Candidates with animal-work experience and Laboratory animal course certification (rat/mouse) are preferred. Furthermore you have:

• excellent skills in English;
• good skills in bioinformatics;
• excellent skills in molecular biology;
• good knowledge of brain development and
• excellent overall experimental skills.

The appointment will be on a temporary basis for a period of 4 years (initial appointment will be for a period of 18 months and after satisfactory evaluation it can be extended for a total duration of 4 years) and should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). An educational plan, including attendance of courses and (international) meetings, will be drafted. The PhD student is also expected to assist in teaching of undergraduate students.

Based on a full-time appointment (38 hours per week) the gross monthly salary will range from €2,266 in the first year to €2,897 in the last year. The Collective Labour Agreement (Cao) of Dutch Universities is applicable.

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.

http://www.uva.nl/en/home

Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences (SILS)

The Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences (SILS) is an institute of the Faculty of Science. Its approximately 230 scientists and staff members work in 16 research groups that perform excellent research, centred on four themes:

1. Cell & Systems Biology
2. Neurosciences
3. Microbiology and
4. Green Life Sciences.

The research group Molecular Neurosciences investigates fundamental mechanisms of brain development. In this context we are seeking for a PhD candidate.

http://sils.uva.nl/