PHD candidate | School for Mental Health and Neuroscience

Job Description
Advancements in diagnostic approaches and treatment now provide opportunities for secondary prevention of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The European AD–RIDDLE project is an interdisciplinary consortium with 24 partners that is funded by the EU Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) public-private partnership and aims to develop tools for earlier detection and accurate diagnosis; test novel digital cognitive and blood-based biomarkers; and improve access to individualized preventative interventions (including multimodal interventions and symptomatic/disease-modifying therapies).

As part of the AD-RIDDLE project, the PhD candidate will develop predictive algorithms for a stepwise screening process to improve diagnostic accuracy and efficiency. Novel blood biomarkers, lifestyle-related measures, medical history, cognitive markers and genetic markers will be used to predict cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and neuroimaging (MRI and PET) markers as indicators of AD pathology, disease staging and progression, and/or disease subtypes.
The PhD candidate in Maastricht will also focus on promoting data exchange, sharing and integration between project partners. Data will initially include many types, scales, veracity, semantics, and structures, and must serve many needs, at different times, across the project. Data processing (harmonization, transformation, filtering, quality improvement, privacy enhancement, etc.) will be performed by the PhD candidate to meet project needs.

Setting
This 4-year project will take place at the Mental Health and Neuroscience Research Institute (MHeNs) at Maastricht University, the Alzheimer Center Limburg and the Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology at the Maastricht University Medical Center.

Tasks

• Analyses of associations between plasma, CSF and PET AD biomarkers, lifestyle and genetic factors and cognitive outcomes;
• Data harmonization and coordination of international data collection;
• International collaboration and communication with project partners;
• Presentation of findings in a thesis, scientific publications and at (inter)national conferences;
• Active participation in scientific online and on-site meetings;
• Optional: contribute to clinical data collection at the Maastricht memory clinic (only for Dutch-speaking candidates);
• Teaching and supervision of Master students.

Requirements
For this project, we are looking for a highly motivated, flexible and open-minded candidate with:

• An M.Sc./MD in neuropsychology, health sciences, medicine, biomedical sciences or related fields;
• Affinity with working with large datasets;
• Strong communicative, analytical and statistical skills;
• Clinical experience is considered a pro.

PhD Candidate on "Machine learning assisted prediction of plastic recyclate quality"

Job Description

About the position: Mechanical recycling of plastics, is the most efficient way to treat the plastic waste in a sustainable way. However, the quality of recyclates is usually compromised leading to products with inferior properties. Quality of reprocessed samples (recyclates) depend on many factors but also is application dependent. An effective recycling process benefits from products with low variability in properties such as rheological and mechanical characteristics. To achieve this, several tests are required and a sorting and re-cycling line needs to be optimized to predict the quality of the output. The predictions should be carried out in a scientifically and economically viable method to assure applicability in industry.
This project applies the state-of-the art machine learning models combined with plethora of experiments to generate data for training the model. The significance of this project is governed by the dependency of the plastic industry on the recyclates with consistent and high quality. The quality estimation is a topic which our quality model can address. How-ever, predictions require a step backward and to impute the data gaps to assure inline sorting and separation is feasible with high accuracy and high rates.
The result of this project, can support the end users of the recyclates as well as the producers of the regrinds to position their products in the right market.
This PhD topic is meant to go deep into the polymer science and machine learning and therefore is highly interdisciplinary. Thus, the candidates with background in polymer science and engineering and machine learning are encouraged to apply. This position provides the candidate with necessary experience to flourish in the upcoming fields of circularity with a flavor of data science, engineering and polymer science.

Requirements

• A polymer-oriented materials scientist/engineer with a background in data science. You should have distinct track record in at least one of these polymer groups: packaging polymers like polyolefins and/or PET, technical polymers like ABS, PC and (HI)PS. A background in textiles engineering or rubbers does not meet these requirements.
• Experience with polymer processing machinery such as injection moulding and extrusion.
• Experience with polymer characterization methods such as tensile, impact, rheology, IR, Raman, HDT are required.
• Fluency in python or equivalent is bare minimum. Therefore, the candidates which aspire to learn the basic language models within the PhD are not encouraged to apply.

This position is available from January 1st 2025 for a planned duration of 48 months. You work in an international interdisciplinary team with cutting-edge equipment in melt-processing machinery, rheological characterization, and polymer analytics. You will be supervised for you interdisciplinary project and therefore, world experts in data science, polymer science and engineering are supporting you.

Evenementen Coördinator bij de afdeling Marketing & Communicatie (M&C)

FUNCTIEOMSCHRIJVING

In deze functie ben je, in samenwerking met je collega's van het team Evenementen, verantwoordelijk voor de succesvolle voorbereiding, uitvoering en evaluatie van corporate en UM-brede evenementen die bijdragen aan de strategische doelen en doelstellingen van Universiteit Maastricht (UM) en de faculteiten op het gebied van Marketing & Communicatie (M&C). Voorbeelden van (grootschalige) evenementen die dit team jaarlijks organiseert zijn Bachelor-en Master Open Dagen, de Opening Academisch Jaar Ceremonie, de Dies Natalis Ceremonie en de UM Nieuwjaarsreceptie. Daarnaast is Team Evenementen verantwoordelijk voor de organisatie van verschillende adhoc evenementen voor het College van Bestuur (CvB) zoals bijvoorbeeld het afscheid van een CvB lid en een personeelsfeest.

Als evenementen coördinator werk je intensief samen interne relaties zoals je collega’s van het team Evenementen, collega’s van de overige M&C afdelingen, Facility Services en met evenementen coördinatoren die in de faculteiten werkzaam zijn. Daarnaast ben je betrokken bij het opbouwen en onderhouden van relaties met externe partners zoals cateraars, AV bedrijven en evenementenlocaties.

Je rapporteert aan de Evenementenmanager.

Je verantwoordelijkheden:

• Het organiseren, uitvoeren en opvolgen van corporate en UM-brede evenementen, zowel in huis als elders.
• Het evalueren van corporate en UM-brede evenementen aan de hand van kwantitatieve en kwalitatieve methodes en het doen van verbeter voorstellen.
• Belast met de functionele supervisie van alle medewerkers die evenementen ondersteunen (leden van het student ambassadeurs team, student-assistenten en stagiairs) en regelt de werkzaamheden van ingehuurde medewerkers.
• Contact onderhouden met redacteur over communicatie (zowel intern als extern) ter promotie van evenementen.
• Management van Open Dag registratie platform
• Actief lid van UM-breed evenemententeam.
• Het bewaken van het evenementen budget.
• Aanwezig zijn op de dag van het evenement om toezicht te houden op de situatie en voor het oplossen van eventuele problemen (ook op enkele zaterdagen en avonden).
• Het actief onderhouden van een extern netwerk om op de hoogte te blijven van de nieuwste ontwikkelingen en mogelijkheden op het gebied van evenementenorganisatie.

De functie is onderdeel van de afdeling Marketing & Communicatie, die zich samen met de collega’s in de faculteiten inzet voor de positionering van de Universiteit Maastricht, de communicatie met studenten, medewerkers en partners en de werving van nieuwe studenten. De afdeling bestaat zes teams, te weten: digitale innovatie, evenementen, interne communicatie, marketing & studentenwerving, redactie en woordvoering & mediarelaties. Deze functie valt binnen het team Evenementen, dat uit 5 personen bestaat.

FUNCTIE-EISEN
De ideale kandidaat heeft:

• Een afgeronde relevante HBO opleiding
• Minimaal twee jaar relevante werkervaring in de congres- en/of (zakelijke) evenementenbranche.
• Affiniteit met online eventmanagement en online tools.
• Een hands-on, klantgerichte en flexibele instelling.
• Een zeer goed oog voor detail en werkt gestructureerd en nauwkeurig.
• Organisatietalent: goed in plannen, stressbestending, creatief, proactief, oplossingsgericht, kan uitstekend zelfstandig én in teamverband werken.
• Geen ‘9 tot 5’ mentaliteit.
• Goede sociale en communicatieve vaardigheden.
• Uitstekende beheersing van de Nederlandse én Engelse taal in woord en geschrift.

Laboratory technician at the Chemical Recycling Group

Job Description
As the laboratory manager of the Chemical Recycling group at the Circular Chemical Engineering Department, you will manage state of the art equipment for characterization of organic compounds and polymers, as well as being involved in the design and construction of experimental set-ups and protocols. You will be responsible for the maintenance and operation of various analytical equipment, such as gas and liquid chromatography, gel permeation chromatography, and FTIR spectroscopy, among others.

Management of the chemicals and waste in the research group will also belong to your tasks, including ordering and stock management of chemicals and consumables.

You will also support and instruct students with analytical questions and equipment handling.

Furthermore, safety is an important part of your job description, and you will need to ensure safe working conditions, provide first aid in the event of accidents, or alerting employees in the event of an emergency.

We expect that you are passionate about your work and enjoy collaborating with other staff within and beyond the Chemical Recycling group.

Requirements
Applications are welcome for a technician (HBO-WO level) with a record of accomplishment in Chemical Engineering that:

• Holds a bachelor’s degree (HBO or WO) in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry or Engineering;
• Has demonstrated experience in operating and managing analytical equipment;
• Strong interest in circularity and sustainable processes;
• Works independently in a highly dynamic and international setting;
• Combines good practical skills and good communication skills;
• Shows a proactive and mature work attitude and is able to set priorities;
• Intrinsically sets high standards and has a high degree of structuring in work;
• Is proficient in Dutch and English.

PostDoc in Unraveling the role of additives in the mechanical recycling of polyolefin blends

Job Description
Understanding the processing-structure-property relationship is extremely important for producing high-quality products from recycled polyolefins like PE and PP. To date, effective European recycling rates of polyolefins are stuck at around 40%, and one of the main bottlenecks is an understanding of how these polymers – often cross-contaminated with each other – behave and interact during the recycling process.

These polyolefin mixtures are usually immiscible, leading to phase separation and heterogeneous morphologies. The final properties of the blends are strongly dependent on the final morphology, which depends on, for instance, the processing conditions, viscosity ratio, interfacial tension, and their volume fractions. The use of compatibilizers can substantially affect the morphology and, therefore, the performance of the blends. How do these compatibilizer additives behave during mechanical recycling?

At the same time, many efforts are being made to design advanced additives to control polymer structure during repeated melt processing of plastics. These efforts mainly aim to find a balance between polymer structure and melt viscosity, thus achieving optimized recyclability.

Despite their central role, the impact of many additives, including compatibilizers and processing aids, have not been systematically characterized in recycled plastics when they undergo re-processing. This issue is even more challenging considering the cross-contamination among different additives. Motivated by such questions, in the PlastiCycle project, we aim to explore the role of such additives by pinning their fundamental physicochemical interactions in recycled polyolefins.

In this project, your responsibilities as a postdoctoral researcher will include:

• Establish insights into blend morphology, additive localization, and their impact on interfacial, processing, and mechanical properties.
• Establish the relationship between additives and the general degradation of blends during multiple closed-loop recycling steps.
• Communicating and working in collaboration with interdisciplinary colleagues (e.g. chemometrics/data science/system modelling). Providing experimental information to build data-driven models to provide novel insights.
• Manage a work package in the PlastiCycle project.
• Present your work at international conferences, PlastiCycle consortium meetings, and other events.
• Write/assist in developing grant proposals.
• Write scientific papers for peer-reviewed journals.
• Provide teaching assistance and/or supervision of researchers and students.

As a Postdoctoral Researcher you will work in the Circular Plastics team in the Faculty of Science and Engineering located at Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen. You will become part of a young international research group, specialized in the mechanical recycling of plastics with a strong polymer science background.

Requirements
We expect you to have the following experience, knowledge, and skills:

• A PhD degree in Polymer Engineering, Materials Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or similar.
• Ability to plan and conduct coherent activities to address the project goals.
• Expressive experience and deep understanding of the main physicochemical characterization techniques, including rheology, GPC, SEM, TEM, and AFM.
• Good knowledge of tensile and impact tests, DSC, and TGA.
• Good skills and knowledge of polymer processing.
• Good knowledge of IR/Raman spectroscopy is a plus.
• Experience with industry collaborations is considered advantageous.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English.