Assistant Professor of Ethics and Political Philosophy

The Department of Philosophy at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam invites applications for the position of Assistant Professor of Ethics and Political Philosophy.

We are looking for a philosopher with a research profile in both ethics and political philosophy. Expertise in the philosophy of economics is an advantage. The successful candidate will contribute to the Department’s interdisciplinary research and teaching profile and participate actively in its academic community.

Teaching responsibilities will focus on introductory courses in ethics and political philosophy in the bachelor’s programmes PPE, Philosophy, and other bachelor’s programmes at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The successful candidate will also develop a Master course for the track Ethics, Economics and Policy, and teach in the track Philosophy, Bioethics and Health.

Note, this is an entry-level faculty position suited for early-career scholars and is not intended for senior applicants currently at or near the Associate Professor level.

Your duties
As Assistant Professor, you will:

• conduct internationally relevant research in ethics and political philosophy;
• publish your research in appropriate academic journals, books, or edited volumes;
• actively pursue external research funding, including grant opportunities for early-career researchers, individually and in collaboration with colleagues;
• teach bachelor’s and master’s courses in ethics and political philosophy;
• supervise bachelor’s and master’s theses, particularly in the Philosophy, Politics and Economics bachelor’s programme and the Ethics, Economics and Policy and Philosophy, Bioethics and Health master’s programmes;
• contribute to the development, coordination, and evaluation of courses and curricula;
• participate actively in the research and educational activities of the Ethics Group, the Department of Philosophy, and the John Stuart Mill College; and
• undertake a proportionate share of administrative and organisational responsibilities within the Department.

Postdoc Category Theory, Computer Proof Assistants and Computer Algebra Systems

Job description

Computer proof assistants and computer algebra systems have complementary strengths. A proof assistant checks each step of a mathematical argument against a formal foundation, but is not designed for computation; a computer algebra system computes efficiently with large and intricate algebraic structures, but its results depend on code that has not been formally verified. Category theory is a good place to connect the two. CAP (Categories, Algorithms, Programming) is a software system for computational category theory, implemented in GAP and part of the homalg project. Because it expresses categorical constructions directly as algorithms, it is a suitable target for formalisation. The aim of the project is to bring the two kinds of system together, so that categorical computations can be carried out with the efficiency of a computer algebra system and checked with the guarantees of a proof assistant.

The postdoctoral researcher will design and build this connection between a proof assistant — Rocq, Lean or Agda, to be decided at the start of the project — and CAP. The work is partly conceptual and partly practical: making the categorical doctrines underlying CAP precise enough to formalise, choosing a formal treatment that is faithful to the constructive content of CAP's algorithms, and implementing the result as documented, openly available software. The researcher will publish the results, present them at conferences and workshops, and contribute to the open-source libraries of both projects. There is room to shape the direction of the work according to their own interests and expertise, and to develop their own research agenda alongside it.

The position is based in the Programming Languages group, Department of Software Technology, at TU Delft, where the researcher will work with Benedikt Ahrens, and in collaboration with Mohamed Barakat at Universität Siegen, with regular exchange between the two groups. This connects the researcher to both of the relevant communities: formalisation and univalent foundations in Delft, computational category theory and the homalg/CAP ecosystem in Siegen. The role also includes contributing to the supervision of BSc and MSc students working on related projects, and possibly some classroom teaching.

Job requirements
Applications will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• PhD (awarded by the start date, or submitted with a defence scheduled) in mathematics, computer science, or a closely related field
• Research experience in at least one of: interactive theorem proving/formalisation, computer algebra, or category theory — demonstrated by publications, a thesis, or a substantial software contribution
• Demonstrable interest in the other two, and willingness to learn them to working depth
• Practical programming ability and comfort working with a substantial existing codebase
• Ability to work independently and to collaborate across the maths/CS boundary; good written and spoken English
• Experience in, and willingness to contribute to, student supervision and teaching

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)
Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) brings together three scientific disciplines. Combined, they reinforce each other and are the driving force behind the technology we all use in our daily lives. Technology such as the electricity grid, which our faculty is helping to make completely sustainable and future-proof. At the same time, we are developing the chips and sensors of the future, whilst also setting the foundations for the software technologies to run on this new generation of equipment – which of course includes AI. Meanwhile we are pushing the limits of applied mathematics, for example mapping out disease processes using single cell data, and using mathematics to simulate gigantic ash plumes after a volcanic eruption. In other words: there is plenty of room at the faculty for ground-breaking research. We educate innovative engineers and have excellent labs and facilities that underline our strong international position. In total, more than 1000 employees and 4,000 students work and study in this innovative environment.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science.

PhD student - Traumatic Brain Injury

Team
A PhD position is available in the Neurogenesis & Neurodegeneration group at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience in Amsterdam. The Neurogenesis & Neurodegeneration laboratory led by Evgenia Salta employs transcriptomics and other molecular and cellular approaches to map the cellular and molecular complexity of the adult human hippocampus and dissect the biological pathways that are deregulated in dementia. The team employs primarily human postmortem brain tissue and iPSC reprogramming.

Project
The project is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) Open Competition and is a collaboration between the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN) and the Swammerdam Institute of Life Sciences (SILS) at the University of Amsterdam.
Repeated mild head injuries, the kind sustained by athletes, veterans, and victims of domestic violence, are increasingly linked to long-term memory problems and a higher risk of dementia later in life. Strikingly, these lasting effects can occur even when no visible brain damage is present. Yet, we still don't understand how repeated injury leads to memory decline, and there are currently no treatments that address these long-term cognitive consequences.

Beyond helping high-risk groups, this work may also shed light on Alzheimer's and other dementias that share similar underlying processes.

The research will be performed at the Salta lab at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience in Amsterdam. This is a joint project with the group of Carlos Fitzsimons at the SILS, University of Amsterdam.
This study is a follow up of our previously published work:
https://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/fulltext/S1934-5909(26)00142-6
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-49299-6

What you will do
In this project, you will investigate what happens in the brain after repetitive mild traumatic brain injury, focusing on the hippocampus, the brain region central to memory. We are particularly interested in long-lasting inflammatory and neurogenic alterations and the cells involved in them, including microglia, astrocytes and immature neurons. By uncovering these mechanisms, you will help us to identify cellular or molecular targets that could guide the development of future therapies.

As a PhD candidate in our group, you will use state-of-the art single-nucleus RNA sequencing pipelines to process postmortem human brain from donors with a record of traumatic brain injury. You will be in charge of sample collection and stratification and apply advanced computational pipelines to identify cellular and molecular programs involved in the hippocampal response to injury and the downstream cognitive effects. Ultimately, you will establish in vitro human cell models to probe causal relationships between candidate targets and cellular phenotypes.

What we expect from you

• A Master’s degree in biomedical sciences, neuroscience or similar
• Strong affinity and hands-on experience with coding and omics-related computational analyses are a prerequisite
• Strong affinity and hands-on experience with single-cell transcriptomics are a prerequisite
• Strong experience with (iPSC) cell culture is a plus
• Excellent communication skills, as well as proficiency in spoken and written English, are expected
• Strong organizational skills, methodical and structured approach to your work, rigor, accuracy and attention to detail
• A reliable, collaborative team player who is easy to work with and delivers on commitments
• Genuine passion for scientific research
• Drive, persistence and positive attitude to tackle difficult problems that require iterative approaches, while systematically checking results against expectations to catch issues early

What we offer

• A stimulating, innovative and dynamic international research environment
• Opportunity to work with novel, exciting datasets and develop creative concepts and pipelines
• A strong community of care, support and scientific challenge
• Access to state-of-the art infrastructure and work conditions
• Active mentoring, supervision and training
• Opportunities for personal growth
• A particularly collaborative setting between the NIN and the SILS
• Possibility to develop your own projects and apply for third-party funding

The position is for a period of 4 years in total. The first appointment is for one year with the option for an extension for the remaining period pending on evaluation.

Information
For additional information, please contact Dr. E. Salta. e.salta@nin.knaw.nl
More information about the laboratory can be found on: Salta - Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience - Master the Mind (nin.nl) & https://saltalab.github.io/

Application and deadline
You can apply before December 1, 2026 via the button Apply Now.

Please send:

• A detailed CV
• A motivation letter, including a brief description of past research experience and future interests, as well as the earliest possible starting date and the name and contact details of at least two referees

Evaluation of candidates will begin immediately, and continue until the position is filled.

Postdoc position in EMT reference models of microgrids and customer-side assets for UTOPYS

The Faculty of EEMCS, the Power Electronics and Mathematics of Operations Research groups at the University of Twente are hiring a postdoctoral researcher to join a multidisciplinary research team to help build the model library at the heart of UTOPYS, a new national facility for real-time power system simulation!

Future power systems are converter-dominated, fast, and interconnected across scales that today's modelling tools cannot capture. UTOPYS (Understanding Large and Complex Power Systems) addresses this with a state-of-the-art real-time power system simulator: a large RTDS cluster at TU Delft's ESP Lab that simulates thousands of nodes in full electromagnetic transient (EMT) detail, in real time, and that can be coupled to hardware, SCADA systems and other simulators. This infrastructure will enable unprecedented research into the dynamics, control, and market design of future power systems dominated by renewables, power electronics, and cyber-physical interactions.

UTOPYS is a ten-year national research infrastructure (2026-2036) built by a consortium of eight Dutch universities and research institutes, coordinated by TU Delft, driving scientific breakthroughs in mathematical modeling, control strategies, and policy/regulatory frameworks for complex power systems.

UTOPYS is a state-of-the-art real-time power system simulator. A simulator of this size is only as valuable as the models that run on it. The first phase of UTOPYS is therefore dedicated to the UTOPYS Library: an open, modular and validated collection of EMT component models, reference system models, scenarios and datasets that will serve the consortium, external academic users and industry for the coming decade.

We are looking for one postdoc to join UTOPYS and build part of this Open Source Library, developing plug & play EMT reference models of customer-side assets and the microgrids they form: e.g., residential and small commercial connections, PV, batteries, EV charging, heat pumps and flexible demand with grid-forming (GFM) and grid-following (GFL) converters, covering weak-grid and islanded operation, GFM/GFL transitions and black start, with a flexible level of detail.

You will work in collaboration with Postdocs from the universities involved in UTOPYS who will be working on similar reference models for different parts of the whole power system. At the end all models should come together to form the complete model library at the heart of UTOPYS.

Your key responsibilities as Postdoc (include but are not limited to):

• Develop and validate EMT models of microgrids and customer-side components in RSCAD/RTDS, for example converters and their controls (GFM and GFL), PV panels, EV chargers, Heat-Pumps, energy storage, backup generators, loads and flexibility assets, taking into account their link to a tertiary control layer such as an Energy Management System.
• Create an RTDS library of customer-side, microgrid and converter-based components, and a working, realistic RTDS microgrid model built from those components that can be integrated with the larger UTOPYS RTDS model
• Combine that library into reference system models that reproduce the phenomena UTOPYS is meant to study at this part of the power system, such as islanding, frequency and voltage collapse, converter-driven instability, interoperability under different control strategies, transition from GFM to GFL and vice versa, black start capability.
• Work out how such models are built to last: conversion from other tools, parameterisation, scalability and model reduction, documentation, version control, testing and validation criteria.
• Publish your models, datasets and methods open access, and present them in journals and at conferences.

The answers you develop will shape how UTOPYS is used for the next decade.

PostDoc on Targeted Proteomics for Protein Biomarker Standardization

The challenge
Protein tumor markers can support minimally invasive lung cancer diagnostics, but results from current immunoassays vary between platforms and laboratories. You will help close this standardization gap by developing and validating targeted mass-spectrometry workflows and reference measurement procedures for clinically relevant protein biomarkers, including CEA, NSE and CYFRA21-1.

Your role
You will conduct hands-on research in quantitative targeted proteomics, with emphasis on immunoaffinity enrichment, bottom-up LC-MS/MS and SISCAPA-based workflows. You will select and evaluate signature peptides, establish calibration strategies using stable-isotope-labelled standards, characterize reference proteins and peptides, and assess sensitivity, selectivity, recovery, matrix effects, precision, accuracy and robustness. You will compare candidate reference methods with commercial immunoassays and contribute to analysis of serum and pleural-fluid samples.

You will integrate activities across connected projects that aim to create a transferable platform for reference measurement procedures and materials for complex protein biomarkers. You will plan experiments, maintain high-quality and reproducible documentation, analyze and interpret quantitative data, prepare scientific publications and presentations, and contribute to method transfer, standard operating procedures and project reporting.

Research environment and collaboration
The position is embedded in the Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Department of Biomedical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), and in the regional Expertise Center Clinical Chemistry Eindhoven. You will work closely with researchers and clinical chemists at TU/e, Catharina Hospital and Máxima Medical Center, and with diagnostic and technology partners including Roche Diagnostics and SISCAPA Assay Technologies. You will also collaborate with PhD students and supervise Master and Bachelor students.

Expected impact
Your work will advance metrologically traceable and comparable protein biomarker measurements, support harmonization of tumor-marker testing across clinical laboratories, and establish methods that can be extended to biomarkers beyond lung cancer.