We invite applications for a postdoctoral fellowship in the field of cognitive and affective neurosciences. This three-year position is part of a large Dutch consortium project on stress resilience in the workplace (DESTRESS). It is locally embedded in the Cognitive Affective Neuroscience laboratory (PI: Prof. dr. Erno Hermans) at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour in Nijmegen (the Netherlands). The position is funded for 36 months, starting January 2025 (but start date can be flexible).

DESTRESS is a Dutch consortium project on stress and resilience in the workplace, funded by a National Science Agenda (NWA) grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The multidisciplinary DESTRESS consortium consists of several scientific institutions, including Amsterdam UMC, Radboud university medical center, Radboud University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, UMC Utrecht, TNO, Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen, University of Groningen, Heidelberg University, and various industry and societal partners.

Why DESTRESS? Stress poses a significant threat to the health of employees as well as the health of the organizations they work for. The resilience of employees and organizations is interconnected; an organization can only be resilient if its employees are. The key question is whether we can identify and address rising stress levels and decreasing resilience effectively and in a timely manner. Current methods for managing stress in employees and organizations are often ineffective, as stress is often noticed too late and there is usually limited shared problem ownership between employee, employer and occupational healthcare provider. Additionally, the sources of stress—whether from personal life, work, or both—are often not identified early enough.

DESTRESS aims to solve these issues with a consistent approach that integrates the perspectives of the employee, employer and occupational healthcare professional. The project focusses on the detection of stress at an early stage and uses artificial intelligence to identify early stress signals from individuals and their environment in a safe and responsible manner in order to facilitate a collaborative dialogue between employee, employer, and occupational healthcare professional.

This postdoctoral fellowship will concern the development of methods for early detection of stress signals in work environments. This work encompasses both (neuro)biological predictors of vulnerability and resilience, as well as real-time measurements of stress reactions using wearable biosensors and smartphones. You will collaborate closely with consortium members across the Netherlands and play a central role in establishing a research cohort of employees with various levels of stress-related complaints (n=1,000; of which 250 will undergo deep-phenotyping assessments including neuroimaging).

Tasks and responsibilities:

• Proactively manage research tasks, data storage, collaborations, and supervision, including a key role in the establishment of a new research cohort of employees.
• Acquire and analyze scientific data and publish research findings.
• Comply with the code of conduct for research integrity.

Our new colleague is a PhD in cognitive neuroscience or an adjacent field (psychology, biology, biomedical sciences, computer sciences, or other relevant PhD). You have a strong interest in fundamental research in cognitive and affective neurosciences and/or its application to mental health and psychopathology.

In addition you possess the profile below:

• Experience in applying functional MRI (acquisition and analyses), including the use of Matlab, Python, SPM, FSL, and/or other software tools.
• Experience in acquisition and analysis of peripheral psychophysiological data (e.g., autonomic nervous system measures), using laboratory-based equipment and/or wearable biosensors.
• Experience in acquisition and analysis of ecological momentary assessment data acquired using smartphone-based surveys.
• The capacity to participate in an interdisciplinary and translational research environment.
• Interpersonal and communication skills to effectively collaborate and communicate in academia.
• A proactive and goal-directed attitude and good organizational skills.
• Fluent in written and spoken Dutch and English.

Candidates who only partially meet this profile are nonetheless strongly encouraged to apply.

Fixed-term contract: 3 years.

At Radboud university medical center, you build on your future. We are committed to providing the best care, education, and research. And we are true to our word, because we help you develop and seize opportunities and give you the room to grow. As an employer, we believe that employees should feel vital and happy at work in all stages of life. We are also committed to creating a healthy and safe working environment. Our employment conditions contribute to that. What we offer:

• A gross monthly salary between € 3.493 and € 5.504 (scale 10) for full-time employment (36 hours per week). You will also receive an 8% holiday allowance, an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and, depending on the position, an allowance of 47% to 72% for working irregular hours.
• 172 vacation hours per year based on a 36-hour working week. (As of 1 January 2025, you will receive 176 vacation hours).

Radboudumc

The project is embedded in the unique and excellent infrastructure of the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour. The Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging offers three 3 Tesla MRI systems, MR-compatible systems for recording EEG and peripheral psychophysiological measures, a 275-channel MEG system, an EEG-TMS laboratory, and state-of-the-art computational facilities. The Ernst Hahn Institute in Essen (Germany), a partner of the Donders Institute, provides access to a 7 Tesla system. All facilities are fully research-dedicated laboratories with excellent technical support. The Donders Institute furthermore provides a unique and stimulating learning environment for young researchers, including a high-profile graduate school and in-house methodological expert courses.

Research into stress and mental health is an important focus area at Radboud university medical center. Researchers working on this research program jointly organize regular discussion meetings and lectures to promote integration of research conducted within molecular, cellular, systems, behavioral, and clinical neurosciences as well as psychology and social sciences across campus.

Radboudumc
Welcome to Radboud university medical center (Radboudumc), where our research groups strive for innovative solutions that make impact on health and healthcare. We challenge the status quo to overcome current and future health challenges. Our goal is to shape the future of healthcare for generations to come. Our focus is on prevention, sustainability, and meaningful care, which we achieve through our in-depth understanding of disease mechanisms, clinical science, public health research, medical technology and data science. Our approach is centered on breakthroughs that can truly enhance personalized healthcare and public health.

At Radboudumc, a comprehensive range of research programs provide the compass for our research efforts. Each program has a clear goal, where collaboration within and outside our organization is highly valued. We integrate care, education and research in partnership with our patients to ensure that our research programs have significant impact on health and healthcare. We invite you to join us in our mission to create a healthy future for all.