You will play a key part in supporting microbiome research in two commonly-used, and exciting, model systems for host-microbe interactions: Daphnia magna and Caenorhabditis elegans. This research aims to develop our mechanistic understanding of the role of the microbiome in host performance and evolutionary potential. We achieve this goal by integrating various ecological and evolutionary experiments with third-generation sequencing. Together this work will determine the effect of host variation on microbiome variation, identify causal relationships between microbiome composition and host performance, and characterizing what the evolutionary consequences are of the microbiome-performance relationships.

Tasks and responsibilities:

• Support ongoing laboratory experiments on Daphnia and C. elegans, e.g., conducting microbiome transplant experiments, and assessing microbiome-dependent plasticity and fitness;
• Molecular lab work to characterize microbiome communities using 16s rRNA sequencing on the in-house Oxford Nanopore sequencers, with help from the bioinformatics support team in the Science Park Study Group;
• Rearing and maintaining of Daphnia cultures;
• Contribute to supervision of students together with a multi-disciplinary team of IBED support staff.

Your experience and profile:

• Medium or higher technical education (MBO/HBO);
• Interest in microbiome research and evolutionary biology;
• Experience in microbiology, including media preparation, bacterial plating and general sterile techniques;
• Experience in rearing, setting up and conducting laboratory experiments, preferably on Daphnia, C. elegans or other (small) animals;
• Experience in molecular techniques such as DNA extraction, PCR and gel electrophoresis;
• An independent, responsible and team-oriented candidate;
• Good organization skills and flexibility.

We offer a temporary employment contract for 24 hours per week for a period of 24 months. The preferred starting date is flexible but ideally as soon as possible.

The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and dependent on relevant experience, ranges between € 2,899 and € 3,809 (scale 7). This gross monthly salary does not include 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% year-end allowance. For this position the University Job Classification profile Education/Research Officer 4 is applicable.The Collective Labour Agreement of Universities of the Netherlands is applicable.

Besides the salary and a vibrant and challenging environment at Science Park we offer you multiple fringe benefits:

• 232 holiday hours per year (based on fulltime) and extra holidays between Christmas and 1 January
• multiple courses to follow from our Teaching and Learning Centre;
• a complete educational program for PhD students;
• multiple courses on topics such as leadership for academic staff;
• multiple courses on topics such as time management, handling stress and an online learning platform with 100+ different courses;
• 7 weeks birth leave (partner leave) with 100% salary;
• partly paid parental leave;
• the possibility to set up a workplace at home;
• a pension at ABP for which UvA pays two third part of the contribution;
• the possibility to follow courses to learn Dutch;
• help with registration at UvA- Housing for a studio or small apartment when you’re moving from abroad. 

Are you curious to read more about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits, take a look here.