Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences
The Faculty of Science occupies a leading position internationally in its fields of research and participates in a large number of cooperative programmes with universities, research institutes and businesses. The faculty has a student body of around 3,000 and 1,500 members of staff, spread over eight research institutes and a number of faculty-wide support services. A considerable part of the research is made possible by external funding from Dutch and international organisations and the private sector. The Faculty of Science offers thirteen Bachelor's degree programmes and eighteen Master’s degree programmes in the fields of the exact sciences, computer science and information studies, and life and earth sciences.
Since September 2010, the whole faculty has been housed in a brand new building at the Science Park in Amsterdam. The instalment of the faculty has made the Science Park one of the largest centres of academic research in the Netherlands.
The Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences (SILS) is one of the Faculty’s largest institutes. Its approximately 200 scientists and staff members work in 11 research groups that perform excellent research centered on four themes: 1) The Living Cell, 2) Plant Signaling, 3) Neuroscience, and 4) Life Science Technologies.
For its research line Spatial Organisation of Sub-cellular Signalling, the research group Molecular Cytology has a vacancy for a:
PhD candidate - Visualizing Odorant Receptor Activation
full-time (38 hours per week)
vacancy number W11-143
The PhD project is part of a larger programme on ‘In vitro quality assessment with human smell, taste and gut receptors’ involving partners from academia and industry. The goal of the project is to produce an array of heterologously expressed mammalian odorant receptors for the detection of food products.
The mammalian odorant receptor gene family constitutes the largest group of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) genes. These receptors detect chemostimuli that may carry important information critical for health, survival, social interactions and reproduction. The expression and activation of these receptors will be characterized in mammalian cell cultures.
The project builds on extensive expertise in the group in fluorescent protein and FRET biosensor optimization and investigation of protein signaling networks, integrating molecular technologies and microscopy. The project will combine (i) development and optimization of genetically encoded biosensors with (ii) microscopic approaches to characterize and apply the developed biosensors to study odorant receptor activation.
Requirements
Candidates should have a Master’s degree in Biochemistry, Cell biology, or Medical biology (or equivalent), have excellent communication skills (fluent in written and spoken English), have the ability to work in a team and to work independently and be highly motivated to conduct fundamental scientific research. Candidates must have experience with cloning & cell culturing. Experience with fluorescence microscopy is a plus.
Appointment
The full-time appointment will be on a temporary basis for a maximum period of four years (18 months plus a further 30 months after a positive evaluation) and should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). An educational plan will be drafted that includes attendance of courses and (international) meetings. The PhD student is also expected to assist in teaching of undergraduates.
The gross monthly salary will range from €2042 in the first year to €2612 in the final year, according to the Dutch salary scales for PhD students. The collective employment agreement (CAO) of Dutch universities is applicable.
Job application
Applications, quoting the vacancy number and marked 'strictly confidential' in the upper left-hand corner of the envelope, should include a curriculum vitae and the names and addresses of three persons from which information about the candidate can be obtained.
Applications should be sent to:
Universiteit van Amsterdam
Dienst Personeelszaken FNWI
Postbus 94216
1090 GE Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Applications can also be emailed to application-science@uva.nl, stating the vacancy number in the subject line and relevant documents as attachments.
The closing date for application is 9 December, 2011.