Postdoctoral position: ARTEMIS: Advanced Research on Tissue Engineering Models for Inflammatory joint diseases

Inflammatory joint diseases are amongst the most prevalent chronic joint diseases and cause irreversible joint damage if insufficiently treated. Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Spondyloarthritis (SpA) and osteoarthritis (OA) are the most prevalent leading causes of mobility associated disability and are all associated by distinct levels of synovial inflammation and related changes in cartilage and bone. Despite tremendous improvement in clinical practice over the past 20 years, these diseases cannot be cured, and many patients do not respond adequately to available treatments. There is a pressing need for novel disease modifying treatments. At present anti-rheumatic drug development still relies on simplified in vitro model systems and on animal models that do not accurately predict clinical responses in humans, likely due to differences between human and rodent biology. Furthermore, preclinical in vivo arthritis models can be severe and cause substantial discomfort for the animals. Hence, there is an urgent need for better predictive models to replace less informative in vitro and animal models for studying various forms of arthritis, as well as for testing disease-modifying drugs. In their successfully concluded phase 1 Create2Solve programs Amsterdam UMC and the University of Glasgow in collaboration with AstraZenica have developed 3D synovial tissue models that replicate RA pathology, while the University of Twente and Chiron engineered and validated a human cartilage-on-chip model that simulates mechanical stimulation ready for market introduction.

Building upon the proof of principles obtained in their phase 1 programs the consortia led by Amsterdam UMC and University of Twente have decided to join forces to engineer and validate the next generation of arthritis models; the joint-on-chip.

To achieve this the human 3D organoid models of synovial inflammation and cartilage-on-chip model developed in phase 1 will be refined and extended with a bone compartment and subsequently combined in a joint-on-chip. This model is intended to recapitulate key aspects of pathology associated with the indicated forms of arthritis. The envisioned model mimics the complex cell-tissues interactions, including mechanical loading effects on synovial inflammation and bidirectional effects in a dual synovial and osteochondral unit system (i.e. invasive growth of synovial tissue/pannus into the osteochondral unit and/or differentiation of osteoclasts from monocytes, and stimulation of synovial inflammation by cartilage degradation products). We will engineer and use individual synovial membrane and osteochondral unit-on-chip models as well as a their combination in the joint-on-chip to test established and new disease modifying agents to validate their use in drug screening and development programs.

We aim at establishing our models as the new standard for pre-clinical application in drug development for rheumatic diseases. Market surveys with potential customers from academia and the pharmaceutical industry conducted by project partner Chiron confirm strong interest in adopting the joint-on-chip models developed in this project for drug research and development. This is substantiated by the continued interest and participation of AstraZeneca.

The consortium consists of world-wide academic front runners (Amsterdam UMC, University of Twente, University of Glasgow) in the development of human model systems mimicking inflammatory joint diseases. The innovative design of the cartilage/bone-on-chip model has been patented and the technology is licensed to the spin off company Chiron B.V., which aims to market the joint-on-chip system as an alternative for animal testing. Proof of concept demonstration in drug testing for rheumatic diseases by project partner AstraZeneca will facilitate successful market introduction in academic and industrial drug research and development programs, which will directly contribute to a reduction in the use of animal models for arthritis.

PhD Position on High-Efficiency Power Electronics for Solar-Integrated E-Mobility Systems (SUN-TRANS Project)

Join the University of Twente’s Power Electronics group to pioneer the next generation of wide-bandgap, high-efficiency converters for solar-integrated electric buses and last-mile delivery vehicles. This PhD will develop automotive-grade DC-DC and bidirectional converter systems that enable vehicle-integrated photovoltaics (VIPV) and intelligent charging hubs under the Horizon Europe project SUN-TRANS - Solar Urban e-Mobility Transition.

Cities worldwide are racing toward zero-emission mobility. The Horizon Europe project SUN-TRANS-ranked #1 in its EU call, unites leading universities, OEMs, and technology companies to develop solar-integrated electric buses, smart charging hubs, and advanced grid services.

Within this project, the University of Twente is involved in developing multi-port, high-efficiency converters based on SiC/GaN wide-bandgap devices and resonant topologies to achieve > 98% efficiency.

You will design, simulate, and experimentally validate DC-DC and DC-AC converter prototypes for vehicle-integrated photovoltaics (VIPV) and PV-powered charging stations, ensuring compliance with safety standards.

Working in an interdisciplinary environment, you will collaborate closely with European partners such as TÜBITAK MAM, Siemens, University of Warwick, Bozankaya, and ODTÜ-GÜNAM, and contribute to pilot demonstrations in Romania, Türkiye, and Spain.

The project provides a good mix of hands-on lab development, modelling, and system-level optimization in one of Europe’s most vibrant research ecosystems for sustainable energy and transport.

Junior Functioneel Beheerder AFAS-HR

Je komt te werken in het team HR-Services van de dienst Human Resources. Samen met jouw collega’s draag je bij aan het beheer en de doorontwikkeling van onze AFAS-HR applicatie. Als Junior Functioneel Beheerder ondersteun je bij het beheren, inrichten en optimaliseren van AFAS. Je hoeft nog niet alles te weten van het systeem, maar je bent leergierig en maakt je nieuwe systemen snel eigen.

Wat ga je doen?

• Ondersteunen van eindgebruikers en beantwoorden van vragen (tweedelijnsondersteuning);
• Meewerken aan het analyseren en oplossen van incidenten;
• Bijdragen aan het optimaliseren van functionaliteiten in AFAS;
• Signaleren van behoeften en knelpunten vanuit de organisatie en leren hoe je die kunt vertalen naar praktische oplossingen;
• Deelnemen aan (deel)projecten en implementaties onder begeleiding van ervaren collega’s;
• Samenwerken met key-users, collega’s en andere afdelingen.

Position for technician with expertise in Molecular and Cellular biology for Organ on Chip Development

Within the DBE Department, we are engineering a so-called joint-on-chip. The joint-on-chip is a microfluidic device that emulates key tissues of the joint like the articular cartilage, the subchondral bone, synovial membrane, Hoffa’s fat pad and the ligaments in health and disease. For each of these tissues, prototype devices have been engineered. To further support the development of this joint-on-chip into a platform that can be used in drug screening, we are looking for a technician with expertise in molecular and cellular biology and in particular in working with cell and tissue cultures. You will support a team of PhD students and Postdocs by establishing cell cultures of human primary cells obtained after joint replacement surgery and chondrogenic cell lines, apply these cells to characterize the organ on chip devices using a variety of molecular and cellular biological techniques like qPCR, immunohistochemistry, ELISA, SPRi, and bioluminescence etc. You will be able to analyze the data and to report the outcome to the team

PhD position: The water footprint of European food: Towards water-efficient and resilient food production and consumption pa...

Agriculture is responsible for more than 90% of global freshwater consumption and the main driver of overexploitation of finite and vulnerable freshwater resources in many parts of the world. With the demand for food growing, geopolitical dynamics affecting food trade patterns, and climate change influencing the water cycle, it is imperative to make most of every drop while building resilience in the face of shocks and scarcity. In response, Europe strives to improve water efficiency and resilience of its food systems, both on the production and the consumption side (including imports). A major limiting factor, however, is that we do not sufficiently understand how much water is consumed in the production of food and other agricultural products. And once such water footprint accounts are available, how can European and national policy makers address inefficiencies, boost resilience, and mitigate water stress--both within Europe and in countries from which it imports its food?

The position
As part of a collaborative doctoral partnership between the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the University of Twente (UT), this PhD position will bridge academic excellence with policy relevance to enhance the sustainability of water use of European consumption of food and other agricultural products within Europe and along global supply chains.

In the first two years, you will be positioned at the University of Twente in Enschede, the Netherlands and get introduced into the PhD trajectory and scientific working. You will alongside the developers of UT’s global crop water model ACEA (Mialyk et al. 2024) and improve the model’s ability to provide recurring updates of global crop water footprint accounts and automize key routines. Based on the resulting accounts, you will calculate water footprints of crop-derived products, such as food stuffs, bio-based materials, and bioenergy. Following the calculation of volumetric footprints of global food production, local consequences of water use need to be analysed. For this purpose, you will apply and enhance methods from both Water Footprint Assessment and Life Cycle Assessment perspectives (Berger et al. 2025). This may include developing approaches for matching the spatial and temporal resolution of LCA databases and impact assessment models or explore new ways to assess the impact of green water consumption.

You will spend the second part of the PhD trajectory (years 3 and 4) at the JRC in Ispra, Italy, where you will refine and test your models and methods in case studies of relevance for policy support. You will align your results and proposed methods with the European Commission’s Environmental Footprint and contribute to its continuous development and update. You will also get the chance to simulate and analyse alternative agricultural and food production scenarios in support of the transition to healthy and sustainable diets according to the most recent policy needs and developments.