[BBC] PhD position in Amsterdam: Computational biomechanics of extracellular matrix materials and cell-matrix interactions during blood vessel growth

[Roeland Merks]

Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) is the Dutch national research institute for mathematics and computer science and linked to the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research(NWO). The mission of CWI is to conduct pioneering research in mathematics and computer science, generating new knowledge in these fields and conveying it to trade, industry, and society at large. CWI is located at Science Park Amsterdam. It is an internationally oriented institute, with 160 scientists from approximately 27 countries. The facilities are first-rate and include excellent IT support, career planning, training, and courses.

The Life Sciences research group has a vacancy for a talented PhD student, on the subject of: Computational biomechanics of extracellular matrix materials and cell-matrix interactions during blood vessel growth.

The opening is a research position within the field of applied mathematics or computational science.

Research group: The work will be embedded in the Biomodeling and Biosystems Analysis group at the CWI in Amsterdam. The group carries out biomodeling research with experimental collaborators working, and focuses on modelling pattern formation and morphogenesis in multicellular organisms.

Job description: The outgrowth of new blood vessels from pre-existing vessels, called angiogenesis, is a crucial step in wound healing and tumor growth. Cell-based simulation models help to analyze how cells assemble into blood vessels and other tissue structures. Present cell-based numerical techniques, including the cellular Potts model, lack an accurate description of the biochemistry and biomechanics of one of the main controlling factors of angiogenesis and tumor progression: the extracellular matrix (ECM). The ECM is a diverse class of jelly or hard materials providing structural support to the tissue. The ECM also acts as a medium for cell-cell communication.
	As part of an NWO-funded Vidi-project on angiogenesis, your task will be to develop and apply state-of-the-art and efficient numerical methods for simulating the biomechanics of the ECM. These partial-differential equation and/or agent-based simulations will interface naturally with pre-existing, stochastic models of endothelial cell behavior. You will also integrate the codes into an existing, internationally developed open-source cell-based modeling framework, called CompuCell3D, and will perform numerical simulation experiments. You will interact closely with a PhD-student in applied computational biology and with experimental biologists at the Institute for Cardiovascular Research of the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam.

Requirements: Candidates are required to have a Master’s degree in applied mathematics, computational physics, theoretical biology, computer science or a related discipline, and able to communicate with scientists in biology and mathematics. Preferable qualifications for candidates include proven research talent, excellent programming skills in C++ or willingness and ability to learn, an excellent command of English, and good academic writing and presentation skills.

Terms and conditions" The terms of employment are in accordance with the Dutch Collective Labour Agreement for Research Centres ("CAO-onderzoeksinstellingen"). The gross monthly salary, for a PhD student on a full time basis, is €2,057 during the first year and increases to €2,636 over the four year period. Employees are also entitled to a holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary and a year-end bonus of 8,33%. CWI offers attractive working conditions, including flexible scheduling and help with housing for expat employees.

Application: Applications can be sent before 8 April 2013 to apply at cwi.nl. All applications should include a detailed resume, motivation letter, list of your MSc courses and grades, copy of your Master’s thesis and preferably a list of publications. 

For more information about the vacancy, please contact dr. Roeland Merks, email Roeland.Merks at cwi.nl, telephone +31(0)20 592 4117.

For more information about CWI, please visit www.cwi.nl. More information about the group can be found on http://biomodel.project.cwi.nl. Or watch our video  “A Fundamental Difference” about working at CWI: https://www.cwi.nl/general/a-fundamental-difference.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://maillist.psb.ugent.be/pipermail/bbclist/attachments/20130314/aca85e33/attachment.html>