06 Postdoctoral Fellowship at University of Groningen, Netherlands

As a Postdoctoral Researcher, you will play a key role in confirming melanoma subtypes, identifying and validating drug targets, and uncovering companion biomarkers for precision treatment using cutting-edge bioinformatics and proteomics approaches. You will analyze bulk and clonal protein expression data from large melanoma cohorts, integrate molecular, histological, and clinical data through machine learning (ML)/AI-assisted methodologies. Your expertise in ML (Random Forest, SVM, Fully Connected Neural Networks) will be essential for feature selection, model training, and biomarker ranking. Additionally, you will perform proteomics profiling of melanoma clones using AI-driven digital pathology and laser microdissection (LMD), assessing tumor heterogeneity and refining melanoma subtype classifications.

Applicants will become integral members of a vibrant and dynamic research group as part of GUTS, an NWO Gravitation project (https://www.gutsproject.com). In collaboration with other GUTS researchers based in Leiden and Amsterdam, applicants will be involved in the collection of longitudinal network, survey and neuroimaging data in emerging adulthood.

The GUTS Social Networks work package consists of a cohesive set of two postdoctoral and four doctoral projects, all aimed at a common goal: understanding how neural and self-regulatory development influences the way emerging adults navigate their increasingly complex social environments. This includes how they meet their social needs and successfully transition to adulthood. Successful candidates will actively contribute to the study of neurological data within complete social networks, linking neural profiles to various social network processes such as similarity selection and peer influence.

The advent of modern machine learning (ML) methodology is accelerating scientific progress by streamlining research across disciplines. In chemistry, it enables the modeling of complex structure-function relationships with unprecedented accuracy. Additionally, deep generative models allow for the generation of structures with desired function, thus enabling the design of novel molecules and materials.

Peptide-based materials provide attractive alternatives to materials derived from petrochemicals. By tuning the peptide sequence and modifications, material properties can be finely tuned. Their behavior at surfaces and interfaces are among the most fundamental, but also most important properties of small peptides. Control over these materials can enable a new generation of biodegradable materials, surfactants and coatings. However, how peptide sequence and modification affect the physicochemical properties and material performance remains unclear, let alone inverse design of these molecules.

Molecular machines are essential for biological processes such as molecular transport, DNA maintenance, and motion. The ability to design and control synthetic molecular machines offers groundbreaking opportunities in nanomedicine, adaptive materials, and self-healing systems. This project, part of the NWO-XL collaborative initiative “Joining Forces for Human-Made Molecular Machines”, focuses on designing motorized DNA-nanoscale building blocks and to demonstrate the first light-controlled artificial muscles and conveyor belts.

The combined efforts of a postdoctoral researcher and a PhD student will focus on designing and synthesizing molecular rotary motors with the necessary functionalities for DNA binding, leveraging the extensive expertise developed in the Feringa group. Further functionalization of these target molecules with force transducers for direct mechanical probing, along with thorough characterization of motor rotation and DNA binding, is planned. Special attention will be given to designing molecular systems that operate effectively in aqueous environments. This project aims to push the boundaries of synthetic molecular machinery by exploring photochemical properties, rotational speed control, and functionalization for biomolecular integration.

We are looking for a post-doctoral researcher in the field of public engagement with science and more specifically citizen science.

Citizen Science refers to a spectrum of collaborative scientific research conducted by both academic and non-academic participants. It encompasses diverse initiatives across research domains and stages of the scientific process, from setting research agendas, to data collection and (co-)analyzing data. Citizen Science promotes societal impact by sharing data and information, fostering public engagement, and democratizing science. It also offers participants benefits such as learning, social interaction, and influencing policy.

Stress is the ‘buzzword’ of modern life and impacts all aspects of daily life. When stress occurs frequently, remains high for sustained periods of time, and/or overwhelms people’s resources, it can cause mental and cardiometabolic disease. The NWO gravitation project Stress-in-Action capitalizes on the fast advances in technology and big data analytics to move stress research from the lab to daily life. A theoretical framework of daily-life stress will be developed using the novel insights from ambulatory assessments in large, long-running Dutch cohorts and from experimental validation studies. This generates a novel understanding of 1) how responses to daily-life stress arise from the temporal, dynamic interplay between context and person-specific factors, 2) how daily-life stress can be reliably measured in a specific individual in real-time, and 3) how and when potential beneficial stress-response mechanisms turn into detrimental effects on mental and cardiometabolic health. This will enable the development of novel monitoring and intervention strategies to track and reduce daily-life stress and its health impact.