Research Technician

As a research technician in the Division of Pharmacology at the Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, you will contribute to the development, optimization, and application of advanced human-relevant in vitro models for biomedical research and therapeutic innovation.

You will work in two multidisciplinary consortia: NanoKid and PHARMIGA.

NanoKid aims to develop key building blocks for future bioartificial kidney technologies. Within this project, you will support the development of advanced renal tubule-on-chip systems that reproduce essential kidney functions such as solute transport, secretion, and reabsorption. You will work with kidney cell lines and organoids, as well as microfluidic platforms, and contribute to cell expansion, differentiation, functional characterization, and integration into organ-on-chip devices.

PHARMIGA is a national initiative focused on accelerating the development of next-generation IgA-based therapeutics. Within this project, you will help establish and operate advanced in vitro platforms. Your work will support the validation and application of organ-on-chip, organoid, and co-culture systems for testing the efficacy, safety, and delivery of innovative antibody-based therapies.

In both projects, you will be embedded in multidisciplinary consortia consisting of researchers, clinicians, engineers, and industrial partners. You will have the opportunity to work with state-of-the-art technologies including organ-on-chip systems, stem cell and organoid cultures, bioreactors, advanced microscopy, and functional assays. Your contributions to these projects will directly support the development of innovative technologies that aim to improve drug development, reduce animal testing, and advance future therapeutic solutions.

Your key responsibilities

• Maintain and expand mammalian cell cultures, stem cell-derived cultures, and organoids.
• Perform biological experiments in 2D and 3D culture systems.
• Support the development and operation of organ-on-chip and microfluidic platforms.
• Perform functional characterization using microscopy, molecular biology, transport, and biochemical assays.
• Contribute to experimental design, data collection, analysis, and documentation.
• Maintain laboratory stocks, protocols, and quality standards.
• Support interactions with consortium partners and external users of the developed infrastructure.

PhD Position in Virus-Glycan Interactions

You will study how Influenza A viruses interact with complex glycans and how receptor binding evolves across strains and host species. Depending on your background and interests, you will contribute through complementary approaches such as:

• molecular and cell-based assays of influenza receptor binding;
• enzymatic modification or biosynthesis of glycans;
• biochemical characterisation of virus–glycan interactions.

These insights will be integrated to define glycan features that govern influenza attachment and to develop advanced in vitro receptor models reflecting airway tissues.

Your tools:

• Interdisciplinary receptor analysis: you will work with glycan arrays, engineered glycans, influenza binding assays, and—depending on expertise—molecular biology, enzymology, biochemical assays.
• Collaborative environment: you will join a multidisciplinary team spanning chemical biology, glycoscience, and virology, with close collaborations with national influenza researchers.

Your impact:

• Fundamental insight: you will uncover how Influenza A viruses adapt receptor binding to different hosts and tissues, advancing understanding of influenza evolution and host specificity.
• Preparedness: you will help establish physiologically relevant glycan-based receptor : models to support pandemic risk assessment and antiviral strategies.

Postdoc: Nature-Based Solutions, Co-Creation & Digital Tech in Rural Areas

We are seeking an enthusiastic and research-dedicated post-doctoral researcher to join our team focusing on developing, applying, and evaluating novel approaches to co-creation by including multi-species approaches and employing digital technologies (such as VR/XR) with rural communities for fostering climate resilience with nature-based solutions. The researcher will be engaged in the NURISH European Union funded project “NURturing transformative capacities, Innovation in NbS and Harmonious resilience in rural areas”. Specifically, this project addresses key research frontiers at the intersection of co-creation, digital innovation, and nature-based solutions. It investigates how co-creation processes can engage with nature’s values and multi-species representation and acknowledgement, and how this can foster transformations in how rural communities think about, engage with, and relate to nature/nature-based solutions. It further explores how digital technologies can support meaningful co-creation with rural communities and enable the implementation and mainstreaming of nature-based solutions in ways that contribute to more just and sustainable regions. The researcher will deepen these themes empirically and theoretically, generating actionable knowledge for inclusive governance of nature-based solutions while building strongly from action research across a diverse portfolio of real-life case studies in Greece, Cyprus, Finland and the United Kingdom.

Alongside research, the post-doctoral researcher is expected to contribute to the European project “for one day per week. Upon agreement, the post-doctoral researcher will have the opportunity to supervise a small group of master students writing their thesis on the topic of urban nature-based solutions each year; as well as prepare and contribute with a few teaching lectures per year on the topic of governance and planning of nature-based solutions in the Bachelor and Master programmes of the Department.

Chirurgisch Internship Gezelschapsdieren

Voor ons team zijn wij op zoek naar een enthousiaste en flexibele dierenarts. Binnen de afdeling vallen onder andere de vakgebieden orthopedie, neurochirurgie, algemene chirurgie, oncologische chirurgie, KNO, urologie, thoraxchirurgie en dierfysiotherapie. Je werkzaamheden bestaan uit het in toenemende mate zelfstandig bijdragen aan patiëntenzorg en onderwijs binnen het Departement Clinical Sciences. Tijdens deze werkzaamheden begeleid je masterstudenten Diergeneeskunde die actief participeren in de kliniek. Daarnaast participeer je in dag-, avond-, nacht- en weekenddiensten van de Spoedzorg van de kliniek.

Je zal een belangrijke rol innemen in de patiëntenzorg en het onderwijs aan studenten. Het internship biedt de kans om, onder begeleiding van specialisten, veel ervaring op te doen met spoed- en verwijspatiënten.

De caseload in ons derdelijns veterinair ziekenhuis en de hoge kwaliteit van medische zorg die wij kunnen geven, maakt de functie uitermate interessant en leerzaam voor dierenartsen die zich wensen te verdiepen in de chirurgie van gezelschapsdieren. Het vormt een zeer goede basis voor een residency (specialisatie).

Chirurgisch Internship Gezelschapsdieren

Voor ons team zijn wij op zoek naar een enthousiaste en flexibele dierenarts. Binnen de afdeling vallen onder andere de vakgebieden orthopedie, neurochirurgie, algemene chirurgie, oncologische chirurgie, KNO, urologie, thoraxchirurgie en dierfysiotherapie. Je werkzaamheden bestaan uit het in toenemende mate zelfstandig bijdragen aan patiëntenzorg en onderwijs binnen het Departement Clinical Sciences. Tijdens deze werkzaamheden begeleid je masterstudenten Diergeneeskunde die actief participeren in de kliniek. Daarnaast participeer je in dag-, avond-, nacht- en weekenddiensten van de Spoedzorg van de kliniek.

Je zal een belangrijke rol innemen in de patiëntenzorg en het onderwijs aan studenten. Het internship biedt de kans om, onder begeleiding van specialisten, veel ervaring op te doen met spoed- en verwijspatiënten.

De caseload in ons derdelijns veterinair ziekenhuis en de hoge kwaliteit van medische zorg die wij kunnen geven, maakt de functie uitermate interessant en leerzaam voor dierenartsen die zich wensen te verdiepen in de chirurgie van gezelschapsdieren. Het vormt een zeer goede basis voor een residency (specialisatie).