PhD on Nano-Chemical Analysis of Protein-based Drugs Formulations

Are you a highly driven and an extremely curious person loving interdisciplinary Science? Do you have an MSc degree in Physics or Chemistry with focus on Analytical and/or Biomolecular Sciences? That makes a match!

We are looking for a PhD student with great interest in applied physics and analytical chemistry to push the boundaries and develop the capabilities of modern nanoscale chemical imaging and spectroscopy to study protein and their biomolecular assembly at the single molecule level.

Your work will contribute to understanding how protein interact with themselves to study the stability of drugs against type 2 diabetes, as well as the molecular interactions between therapeutic antibodies with amyloids to target Alzheimer’s disease.

Your duties and responsibilities include:

• developing the technical capabilities and sensitivity of nano-chemical imaging and spectroscopy to study protein structure and chemical properties;
• study the interaction between amyloidogenic protein and drug formulations;
• employ AI, chemometrics and machine learning to process a large amount of nano-data, allowing patterns recognition and prediction.

You will work here
The research will be embedded within the chair of Physical Chemistry and Soft Matter (PCC) at Wageningen University. You will be member of the Nanoscale Imaging and Spectroscopy team, which is led by dr Francesco Simone Ruggeri. You will work in collaboration with dr. Ioana Ilie at Amsterdam University, as well as several industrial partners: Bruker Nano (USA); Digital Surf (France); Novo Nordisk (Denmark); Discoveric Bio Alpha (Switzerland).

You have MSc degree (or equivalent) in Physics, Chemistry with focus in eighter Biophysics, Analytical Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences.

You also possess:

• a strong background and solid hands-on experience in experimental physics and/or analytical chemistry, signal and data processing, statistical analysis;
• strong interest and possibly experience in scanning probe microscopy and spectroscopy;
• deep interest in applying physical methods to complex biomolecular systems and enjoy working in a highly multidisciplinary, dynamic and collaborative environment;
• be open to communicate to a language that is comprehensible to broad public and scientific audience;
• aim to excel, and your biggest talents are creativity, persistence and being inquisitive;

For this position your command of the English language is expected to be at C1 level. Sometimes it is necessary to submit an internationally recognised Certificate of Proficiency in the English Language. More information can be found here.

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

• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best
  possible work-life balance;
• 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 year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will receive a fully funded PhD position and you will be offered a course program tailored to your needs and the research team. The gross salary for the first year is € 3.059,- per month rising to € 3.881,- in the fourth year in according to the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale P). This is based on a full-time working week of 38 hours. We offer a temporary contract for 18 months which will be extended for the duration of the project if you perform well.

Wageningen University & Research offers plenty of opportunities for growth and development, with a strong internal recruitment policy and excellent training programmes. You will work on the greenest and most innovative campus in the Netherlands, in an international and open working environment.

The mission of Wageningen University & 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, 7,600 employees (6,700 fte) and 13,100 students and over 150,000 participants to WUR’s Life Long Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.

Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch the video below to get an idea of our green campus!

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

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.

Because we expect you to work and live in the Netherlands 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. We can assist you with any additional advice and information about for example helping your partner to find a job, housing, or schooling. Finally, certain categories of international staff may be eligible for a tax exemption on a part of their salary during the first five years in the Netherlands.