You will be part of the Biosystems Data Analysis group (BDA) of the Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences (SILS). BDA works on the development of methodology for data mining, machine learning/deep learning, data fusion, and modelling and application of these methods to answer biological questions, in close collaboration with domain experts. Within SILS, various experimental groups have started or will soon start to use single-cell sequencing data, and we will closely collaborate with researchers in these groups.

You will work on the following research objectives:

1)    Develop methodology to integrate existing biological knowledge in single-cell sequencing analysis e.g. towards cell-cell communication analysis or trajectory analysis.

2)    Develop methodology for unsupervised learning of embeddings to integrate single-cell sequencing data with other data modalities.

3)    In collaboration with researchers in SILS, apply the methodology to address specific biological questions of interest e.g. in plant science, immunology or neuroscience.

You will:

•    develop computational approaches;

•    make use of available single-cell sequencing data and data newly obtained by our collaborators, as input for training machine learning models;

•    collaborate with both experimental researchers as well as with computational researchers (other PhD students working at UvA);

•    be an active member of the research group and take responsibility for shared tasks; incorporate feedback and give input to others;

•    take a leading role in writing manuscripts and complete a PhD thesis within the official appointment duration of four years;

•    participate in the Faculty of Science PhD training program;

•    assist in teaching and supervise Bachelor and Master theses.

You are passionate about science and have a particular interest in deep learning applications in biology. You enjoy close collaboration with domain experts. You have a creative mind and look forward to work at the cutting-edge of computational technology. Finally, you are a team player and a pleasant colleague who enjoys being part of an interdisciplinary team of computational researchers and experimental researchers.

You have/are

•    an MSc in Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Computational Science, Bioinformatics, or similar;

•    interested in using machine learning/deep learning on single-cell sequencing data;

•    able to communicate with non-experts on computational issues;

•    professional command of English.