1 PhD Position in Vascular Engineering on chip using differentiated Stem Cells, or 'VESCEL' in Netherlands | University of Twente

In prof. Van den Berg’s ERC Advanced project ‘Vascular Engineering on chip using differentiated Stem Cells’, or ‘VESCEL’, the goal is to develop innovative technologies that enable the use of differentiated human induced pluripotent stem cells to engineer blood vessels in organs-on-chips that can then be applied as realistic disease models for thrombosis and neurodegenerative diseases.

VESCEL consists of multiple work packages that will each be assigned to individual PhD candidates. The current job opening is for the VESCEL work package “From skin to human blood vessels using human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC)”, the goal of which is to optimize differentiation of hiPSCs to vascular cell types and to use genomic editing by CRISPR-Cas9 to induce and rescue disease phenotypes in these cells by performing functional testing in a micro-engineered droplet platform.

Requirements

You have a Master’s degree in biomedical science, biomedical engineering, or a related discipline and you have a clear interest in stem cell biology. You have experience with cell biological and molecular biological work, and have an interest in engineering in vitro disease models. Fluency in English is required.You have a Master’s degree in biomedical science, biomedical engineering, or a related discipline and you have a clear interest in stem cell biology. You have experience with cell biological and molecular biological work, and have an interest in engineering in vitro disease models. Fluency in English is required.

This PhD project will be executed in the Department of Applied Stem Cell Technologies of the MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, in collaboration with the department of BIOS/Lab on a Chip of the MIRA Institute and with the department of Anatomy and Embryology of the Leiden University Medical Center.

Conditions of employment

We offer a very challenging position in an inspiring multidisciplinary and international environment. As a PhD candidate you will be offered a full-time (38 hours/week) position for four years, after which you should have completed your PhD thesis. In accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, the gross monthly salary for a PhD increases from € 2.174,-- in the first year to € 2.779,-- gross per month in the final year, plus a holiday allowance (8%), an end-year bonus (8,3% of the annual salary) and a number of additional benefits. The University of Twente provides excellent campus facilities, and actively supports professional and personal development.