The PhD candidate will perform cutting-edge research in methods applied to tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, and more specifically bioprinting approaches for the creation of a stable and transient chondral microtissues to be incorporated in the aimed implants.  PhD candidates will perform their research in an intellectually vibrant and multi-disciplinary environment.

Requirements:

• Master’s degree and have excellent marks from his/her previous studies and courses along with experience in one or more of the relevant fields (e.g. Biofabrication, Biology, Biomedical Engineering,  Biotechnology, or equivalent title)
• Scientific background
• Demonstrated ability to work independently as well as in a team
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English are mandatory.
• Knowledge of Dutch is not required.

Key expertise:

• Experience in the fields of biofabrication, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
• Cell culture expertise and relevant assays.
• Bioinks preparation and characterization.
• Knowledge in biomaterials science.
• Knowledge and experience with microscopy, image processing and analysis. 

What we offer:

• Position in a research institute with cutting-edge biofabrication technologies such as bioprinting additive manufacturing and electrospinning
• Interdisciplinary position and environment within MERLN and with the project partners.

Fixed-term contract: 1+3 years.

Contract: Four years (first year + three years after receiving a positive evaluation).

The terms of employment of Maastricht University are set out in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO). Furthermore, local UM provisions also apply. For more information look at the website http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl > Support > UM employees.

The full-time position is offered for four years (first year + three years after receiving a positive evaluation), with a yearly evaluation. The salary will be set in PhD salary scale of the Collective Labor Agreement of the Dutch Universities (€2.325 gross per month in first year to €2.972 last year). On top of this, there is an 8% holiday and an 8.3% year-end allowance. Employees relocating from abroad may be eligible for the Dutch ‘30% ruling’, a tax advantage which results in a significantly higher net salary. 

MERLN Institute for Technology-inspired Regenerative Medicine

The MERLN Institute for Technology-inspired Regenerative Medicine (https://merlninstitute.com) focuses on developing novel and challenging technologies to advance the field of tissue and organ repair and regeneration through, amongst others, the development of high-throughput material platforms to screen cell-biomaterial interactions. MERLN consists of an interdisciplinary team of researchers including fields as (stem cell) biology, materials engineering, chemistry, micro/nanofabrication, additive manufacturing, etc. The scientists at MERLN have an extensive network of collaborators within research institutions in and outside the Netherlands as well as with a number of biomedical companies, including their own spin-off companies, as entrepreneurship is highly fostered.

Complex Tissue Regeneration

At MERLN, the position will be part of the Complex Tissue Regeneration (CTR) department. Research at CTR is driven by technology development for the fabrication of biological constructs. The technological bases at the department for the fabrication of such constructs are:

• Additive manufacturing technologies for building functional 3D scaffolds, such as 3D fiber deposition;
• Advanced electrospinning technologies for generating extracellular matrix-like fibrous meshes.
• Bioprinting technologies spanning from bioplotting to ink-jet biprinting and microfluidic based systems for the fabrication of 3D in vitro models.
• Fabrication of highly functional film-based biomedical microdevices by micro and nanoscale 3D forming and superimposed patterned surface and bulk modification of thin polymer films;
• Engineering of artificial cellular microenvironments and of in vitro 3D tissue and organ analogues using the aforementioned 3D film micro- and nanotechnologies
• Lithography for multiscale hierarchical 3D substrates, e.g. 3D nanoimprint, 3D deep UV or 3D X-ray lithography.
• Bottom-up tissue engineering based on micro and nanoengineered objects as cell-assemblable instructive microscaffolds.
• Scaffold-free, self-assembled 3D tissues/organ spheroids.