We are looking for an enthusiastic and ambitious PhD candidate to complete our team to study the metabolism of sialic acid in stem cell models of muscle and brain by mass spectrometry and bioinformatic approaches. Will you join our team?

Sugar metabolism delivers the building blocks for protein glycosylation. This essential process is believed to be similar in different body organs. Our research on patients with genetic defects in protein N-glycosylation has revealed novel and unexpected evidence for tissue-specific regulatory mechanisms. In this recently granted prestigious Vici project, we will zoom in on the important sialic acid pathway to uncover regulatory mechanisms in muscle and brain.

We will employ induced pluripotent stem cells from patients and generated via genome-editing to engineer neurons and muscle cells as models. This process is ongoing and to complement the team, we are looking for a PhD candidate who is fascinated by studying the metabolism by mass spectrometry and bioinformatic approaches. This includes the further optimization of mass spectrometry methods and data interpretation and integration of the results with gene expression and physiological data. Overall, the aim is to identify novel regulatory mechanisms and thereby identify and test novel therapeutic strategies by use of synthetic sugars and molecular genetic approaches.

You will work together with other PhD students, a research technician and more experienced researchers on either stem cell models or metabolic analyses by mass spectrometry.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Application and development of mass spectrometry methods for analysis of polar metabolites, including the full sugar metabolome.
• (Bioinformatic) approaches for data interpretation and visualization.
• Collaboration with stem cell biologists and other mass spectrometrists to unravel the cell-type specific biology in sugar metabolism.
• Design novel treatment approaches in stem cell models.

The candidate we are looking for has enthusiasm and the ambition to succeed in academic research. You are highly motivated and flexible to work in an interdisciplinary environment.

Furthermore, you recognize yourself in the profile below:

• Proven excellence with academic degree (MSc) in one of the molecular life sciences.
• Experience with mass spectrometry, preferably with programming and bioinformatics skills, related with metabolism.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

Working at Radboud university medical center means that you are ahead of the curve and working together on the healthcare of the future. And there is more. Our secondary terms of employment are impressive. These are fully tailored to you thanks to our Employment Conditions Selection Model. At Radboud university medical center, you will be given trust, and you will take the responsibility to handle everything together. We provide annual courses, both professional and personal.

• In addition to your monthly salary and an annual vacation allowance of 8%, you will receive an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%.
• If you work irregular hours, you will receive an allowance.
• As a full-time employee (36 hours per week), you are entitled to approximately 168 vacation hours (over 23 days) per year.
• Radboud university medical center pays 70% of the pension premium. You pay the rest of the premium with your gross salary.
• You get a discount on health insurance as well: you can take advantage of two group health insurance plans. UMC Zorgverzekering and CZ collectief.

In addition to our terms of employment, we also offer employees various other attractive facilities, such as childcare and sports facilities. Want to learn more? Take a look at the Cao UMC.

Radboudumc

The project is embedded in the Radboudumc at the interface of the departments of Neurology, Genetics, and the Translational Metabolic Laboratory. Research in these departments is focused on Neurogenetic diseases, aiming for improved diagnosis, better understanding of underlying pathophysiology and development of novel therapeutic strategies.

The current position is in the Lefeber group 'Glycosylation Disorders in Neurology' and will physically be located in the Translational Metabolic Laboratory and Human Genetics. The combined infrastructure is highly innovative including the Radboudumc Technology Center for mass spectrometry (proteomics, glycomics and (sugar)metabolomics) with a wide range of analytical equipment and mass spectrometers, the department of Human Genetics with all modern genomics tools, including next-generation sequencing, CRISPS/Cas9 genome editing, and the Radboudumc stem cell facility.

The research of both groups is embedded in the Donders Institute for Medical Neuroscience which harbors a range of top researchers in the field of neurogenetic disease, and the Research Theme Metabolic Disorders.

Research Institutes
At the moment there are more than 1,300 PhD candidates at our medical hospital. This number includes PhD candidates on our pay roll as well as external candidates (those employed somewhere else but researching on our premises).

• Radboud Institute for Health Sciences: ± 700
• Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences: ± 400
• Donders Center for Medical Neurosciences: ± 200

Read what it is like to do a PhD at the Radboud University Medical Center.

Radboudumc
Radboud university medical center is a university medical center for patient care, scientific research, and education in Nijmegen. Radboud university medical center strives to be at the forefront of shaping the healthcare of the future. We do this in a person-centered and innovative way, and in close collaboration with our network. We want to have a significant impact on healthcare. We want to improve with each passing day, continuously working towards better healthcare, research, and education. And gaining a better understanding of how diseases arise and how we can prevent, treat, and cure them, day in and day out. This way, every patient always receives the best healthcare, now and in the future. Because that is why we do what we do.

Read more about our strategy and what working at Radboud university medical center means. Our colleagues would be happy to tell you about it. #weareradboudumc