Scholarships Source

PhD Adaptation to climate change of agricultural systems in the Netherlands
Wageningen, (Gelderland), 38 hours per week Wageningen University, Plant Production Systems group

Job description
In September the so-called Delta Committee issued a report and advice to the Dutch government on how to make The Netherlands climate-proof for the century to come. The Delta programme aims to protect the country against flooding and at safeguarding freshwater supplies. Dutch agriculture is one of the sectors significantly affected by climate change; efficient and effective adaptation strategies are needed. Effects of higher temperatures and different rainfall and rainfall patterns in a changing international economy and markets affect sectors, individual farms and fields. Hence, adaptation strategies should be multi-scale with a good mix of measures at regional, farm and field level. Such strategies must be facilitated by efficient policies, promoting the use of effective adaptation strategies for the agricultural sectors while avoiding negative influences on other types of land use.
The present PhD aims at developing and using a multi-scale and quantitative approach for assessing adaptation strategies for Dutch agriculture, and to complement this approach with qualitative methods for assessing governance aspects such as institutional compatibility and acceptability by various stakeholders groups.
The PhD will develop and use bio-economic models, a farm typology and a biophysical simulation model. These models will be used to assess alternative adaptation strategies in the context of market developments, policy changes and technological innovations. Economic and environmental effects will be investigated for regions, farm types and fields. Risk and uncertainties about weather, price, policy and market changes will be included in the assessment. Compatibility and acceptability of alternative policies to promote adaptation will be investigated using a pre- and post-modelling approach. Participation of stakeholders is possible through collaboration with a project running in parallel to the model-based project.

Requirements
The candidate has completed an MSc in a relevant domain (e.g. Plant Sciences, Agronomy, Biology, Resource Ecology), with affinity for social sciences including economy and political science. He/she has proven capabilities in systems analysis, simulation modeling and other quantitative methods, has experience with literature research and computer programming languages, is fluent in English and has good writing skills. The candidate is able to communicate well with fellow researchers in similar and other relevant disciplines.

Organization
Wageningen University, Plant Production Systems group
Within one of the strategic research themes of Wageningen University and Research Centre, Scaling and Governance, a PhD position will be funded to conduct fundamental research applied to the subject climate change and adaptation of agricultural systems. This subject is also core to research taking place within the BSIK programme Klimaat voor Ruimte (e.g. the project AgriAdapt-NL) which aims at exploring and underpinning adaptation strategies for agriculture in the three Northern provinces of the Netherlands through quantitative research models allowing an analysis at regional and local level, in the context of national and international developments.

Information on a similar type of research is available at www.seamless-ip.org

Conditions of employment
Employment basis: Temporary for specified period
Duration of the contract: 18 months.
Maximum hours per week: 38

Additional conditions of employment:
A PhD position at Wageningen University. Gross salary per month: € 2000 in the first year, increasing to € 2558 in the fourth year. Duration of the contract: for a period of 18 months. Continuation of the appointment for another 30 months will be based on a performance evaluation.

Additional information about the vacancy can be obtained from:

Dr. Martin van Ittersum
Telephone number: +31 317 482382
E-mail address: martin.vanittersum@wur.nl

Prof.dr. B. Arts
Telephone number: +31 317 486196
E-mail address: bas.arts@wur.nl

Application
You can apply for this job before 20-11-2008 by sending your application to:

Wageninge University, Plant Production Systems group
Personnel & Organisation
L. Bikker
P.O. Box 16
6700 AA Wageningen
The Netherlands
E-mail address: vacaturemeldingen.psg@wur.nl

The successful applicant will be part of the Emmy Noether Junior Research Group "Conceptual Questions of Quantum Gravity and Mathematical Structures in Three-Dimensional Gravity" funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The starting dates are flexible from late spring 2009 onwards.

Applicants must have a Master (or equivalent) in either mathematics or physics and should be interested in working at the interface of these subjects.

They should email the following application documents to catherine.meusburger@math.uni-hamburg.de :

1. Curriculum vitae
2. List of courses taken, transcript of degree
3. If applicable: short summary of master project or thesis (one page)
4. Contact details (including email address and phone number) of two referees who have agreed to be contacted and to provide an evaluation of the applicant

We will start reviewing the applications on December 1 2008, but later applications will be considered until the position is filled.

Further information about the positions and the research group can be found at www.math.uni-hamburg.de/home/meusburger/positions.html#phd

For questions or informal enquiries please contact catherine.meusburger@math.uni-hamburg.de .

2 PhD positions at the University of Amsterdam on understanding and modelling biomineralization

Within the Marie Curie Initial Training Network "Biomineralization: understanding of basic mechanisms for the design of novel strategies in nanobiotechnology (BIOMINTEC)'' there are currently a number of PhD positions available.

The duration of each PhD position is 36 months.
Being part of a mobility program, PhD candidates will perform their work in two of the partner institutions (18 months each, in two different countries) which can not be the home country of the candidate. The University of Amsterdam (The Informatics Institute) is one of the partners in the BIOMINTEC project and involved in 2 PhD positions.
The first PhD (ESR2) will work on sponges and the title of the project is: ``Fractal mechanism of silicatein self-assembly and biosilicification (Experimental studies and Modelling studies)''.
The second PhD (ESR8) will work on calcification, e.g., in scleractinian corals and molluscs, the title of this project is ``Biocalcification: Characterization of crystal-shaping proteins of the molluscan shell and modelling gene regulation''.
Candidates should have a master's degree (or equivalent) in scientific computing or computational science, (computational) physics, chemistry, molecular biology or a comparable expertise.

Details about both PhD positions are available at: ESR2 (vacancy number 08-1057) www.uva.nl/vacatures/vacatures.cfm/DDCC5833-1321-B0BE-A48DDAB8511F067D

ESR8 (vacancy number 08-1058) www.uva.nl/vacatures/vacatures.cfm/DDDEE430-1321-B0BE-A4E8BE7F3E21A7E6

Background

Ambient intelligence nowadays becomes key to provide smart assistance to people in a transparent, unobtrusive manner, at any time, anywhere.

Instrumented houses caring for elderly, smart clothing teaching new sport moves, industrial worker assistant are but a few examples of ambient intelligence.

Our group investigates how to recognize human activities and context from on-body sensors and sensor in the environment using machine learning techniques, time series segmentation and data mining.

State of the art systems assume statically defined sensor configuration, where the location of the sensor and its characteristics is known a-priori and does not change.

In a real-world scenario this is not the case: sensor location on body may change, sensor characteristics may degrade over time, sensors may be added or removed in an instrumented environments. The devices the user carry with him change depending on the activities.

The new European project OPPORTUNITY will develop new methods for context and activity recognition in opportunistic sensors configurations.

EU project OPPORTUNITY

OPPORTUNITY picks up on the very essential methodological underpinnings of any Ambient Intelligence (AmI) scenario: recognizing (and understanding) context and activity.

Methodologies are missing to design context-aware systems: (1) working over long periods of time despite changes in sensing infrastructure (sensor failures, degradation); (2) providing the freedom to users to change wearable device placement; (3) that can be deployed without user-specific training. This limits the real-world deployment of AmI systems.

We develop opportunistic systems that recognize complex activities/contexts despite the absence of static assumptions about sensor availability and characteristics. They are based on goal-oriented sensor assemblies spontaneously arising and self-organizing to achieve a common activity/context recognition goal. They are embodied and situated, relying on self-supervised learning to achieve autonomous operation. They makes best use of the available resources, and keep working despite-or improves thanks to-changes in the sensing environment. Changes include e.g. placement, modality, sensor parameters and can occur at runtime.

Four groups contribute to this goal. They develop: (1) intermediate features that reduce the impact of sensor parameter variability and isolate the recognition chain from sensor specificities; (2) classifier and classifier fusion methods suited for opportunistic systems, capable of incorporating new knowledge online, monitoring their own performance, and dynamically selecting most appropriate information sources; (3) unsupervised dynamic adaptation and autonomous evolution principles to cope with short term changes and long term trends in sensor infrastructure, (4) goal-oriented cooperative sensor ensembles to opportunistically collect data about the user and his environment in a scalable way.

The methods are demonstrated in complex opportunistic activity recognition scenarios, and on robust opportunistic EEG-based BCI systems.

Job description

We offer a PhD position within the framework of the new European Research Project OPPORTUNITY. OPPORTUNITY groups 4 high-profile European universities and research institutes. They will collaborate over the next 3 years (2009-2011) to develop systems capable of activity recognition from sensors opportunistically discovered on the user and in his neighborhood. This includes hardware, software and algorithmic innovations that will be combined in a number of technology demonstrators.

In this position you will be responsible for one of the project's work package. You will closely collaborate with the project's partners throughout the duration of the project.

Your work environment will be multinational, both in Zürich and with project partners within Europe, with frequent travels to the partner's location.

Within this project, your research topics will include (but are not limited to):

Context recognition in sensor networks.

Unsupervised dynamic adaptation. Methods will be investigated and developed to achieve a dynamically-defined multi-parametric performance goal (e.g. accuracy, energy use) given an opportunistically discovered set of sensors and confidence and signal quality metrics. The methods will focus on the dynamic adaptation of the activity recognition chain (e.g. through dynamic resource selection, feature, and classifier adaptation) on the basis of a model of the system performance.

Autonomous evolution in open-ended environments. New sensors, that were not available when the system was trained, can be discovered at run-time. Methods will be developed to take advantage of additional resources without the need for user intervention or system re-training. First approaches will focus on self-supervised learning - where a part of the system supervises the training of the new part of the system. Our end objective is to achieve autonomously evolving context-aware systems capable to "grow" and use new resources as they are discovered, in open-ended environment. Inclusion of minimal user feedback. Methods will be devised so that minimally intrusive user feedback can be used by the system to enhance activity recognition performance (e.g. sporadic annotation of an activity by the user). Constraints include maximizing information gain and minimizing user disturbance.

Starting date: ASAP

Requirements

The candidate has a diploma, MSc, or equivalent in electrical engineering, micro-engineering, computer science or mathematics.

He has strong interests in mobile computing systems, machine learning/pattern recognition, signal processing, adaptive and learning systems, and in the combination of theoretical and experimental research.

Fluent spoken and written English is mandatory.

Contact and application

For further information about the Euopean project Opportunity and your contribution within this project, contact Dr. Daniel Roggen.

If you are interested and believe that you qualify, please send your application to Prof. Gerhard Tröster. Include:

* Curriculum Vitae with the names and contact details of at least 2 references
* a list of exams and grades obtained
* a cover letter explaining how your skills and research interests fit the project

The Vasilios Stavros Lagakos Fellowship

The Vasilios Stavros Lagakos Fellowship is a new fellowship program intended for international applicants to the Biostatistics Ph.D. Program who will return to their home country upon completion of their degree. The broad goals of the fellowship are to promote senior-level expertise in the field of Biostatistics in regions of the world where improvements in such expertise would meaningfully advance public health.

Interested individuals should apply for admission to the Ph.D. program using the standard application procedures at Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, but should include information about their long-term plans and why they wish to be considered for this Fellowship in their personal statement. Applicants will be considered for this fellowship based on (i) commitment to return to her or his home country and to become engaged in public health research following completion of the Ph.D. Program, (ii) potential to enhance health research and promote the discipline of biostatistics after returning to her or his home country, and (iii) lack of comparable training options in home country.

The Fellowship provides tuition, health fees, and a full stipend for the first 1-2 years of graduate study. Other sources of Departmental funding, including Teaching Assistantships or Research Assistantships, will be used in subsequent years to fund the student’s Ph.D. program.
For more information, please contact:

David Wypij, Ph.D.
Director of Graduate Studies

Department of Biostatistics
Harvard School of Public Health
655 Huntington Avenue, II-4th Floor
Boston, MA 02115

Phone: (617) 432-4906
Fax: (617) 432-5619
Email: wypij@hsph.harvard.edu

PhD position Discontinuous Galerkin Methods for Turbomachinery

Cenaero is looking for a PhD student to work on the application of the Discontinuous Galerkin Finite Element methods to RANS-type simulation of turbomachinery flows. The research involves as well the development of higher order curved grid generation and boundary layer tailored shape function spaces.

Applicants should have an excellent background in computational fluid dynamics and object oriented programming languages such as C++ and Python as well as experience with CAD modeling, meshing software and turbomachinery. They should also possess good communication skills in french and/or english and be able to work in a team. The position is open to citizen from NATO countries and is available immediately.

More information about this offer (and others) can be found at www.cenaero.be/Page_Generale.asp?DocID=15330&la=1&langue=EN.

Interested candidates should send a cover letter and a resume via e-mail to rh@cenaero.be with mention of the reference number CFD-2008-4.

PhD studentship (2x2 years) molecular and cellular aspects of toxicity BOF-project “Cd-induced oxidative stress: damage versus signalling” (BOF08G01)
(mandate SBG/2008/007-HO)

Background
The Centre for Environmental Sciences is a multidisciplinary research centre that opts for a deliberate combination and symbiosis of high-level basic and applied environmental research. Participating researchers come from different disciplines: biology, chemistry, physiology, economics and law. The mission of the Centre for Environmental Sciences includes research, education and public service.

Job description
In the framework of the BOF-project mentioned above, the successful applicants will conduct research on the relationship between oxidative stress and its effects. The aim is to elucidate the physiological and molecular processes which will lead to cell recovery or irreversible damage and cell death, depending on the Cd concentration during exposure. These processes will be studied using three different types of test organisms: plants (A. thaliana), invertebrates (turbellarians) and vertebrates (mice). Each of the candidates will conduct research on one of these test organisms.

Profile and diploma
Applicants have a licentiate/master degree in biology, biotechnology, biochemistry, biomedical sciences or applied biological sciences or equivalent. Experience in molecular biology techniques is an asset.

Further information

*

Content job responsibilities:
*

Prof. dr. Tom Artois, +32-11-26 83 09, tom.artois@uhasselt.be
*

Prof. dr. Ann Cuypers, +32-11-26 83 26, ann.cuypers@uhasselt.be
*

Prof. dr. Emmy Van Kerkhove, +32-11-26 85 33, emmy.vankerkhove@uhasselt.be
*

Content terms of employment and selection procedure: Jef Vanvoorden, 011-26 80 80, jef.vanvoorden@uhasselt.be

Application
Applicants must use the official application forms

*

which are available at the Rectoraat of Hasselt University, Campus Diepenbeek, Agoralaan - building D, B-3590 Diepenbeek (Belgium), phone +32 - 11 - 26 80 03
*

or which can be downloaded here pdf-file / Word format.

The completed application forms must reach the above mentioned address no later than Friday, November 7th 2008.

Application by e-mail will only be taken into consideration when sent to the following address: jobs@uhasselt.be.

PhD student in biomedical sciences (2x2 years) ‘Autoimmunity’: Biomarker research in Multiple Sclerosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis
(mandate MBW/2008/021-HO)

Background
The Biomedical Research Institute (www.biomed.uhasselt.be) is a multidisciplinary research institute of the Hasselt University. 70 researchers and technical personnel perform molecular and cellular biomedical research. The research is focused on two main research domains: neuroinflammation and development of biosensors (in cooperation with the Institute for Material Research (IMO)).

Job description
The successful applicant will be involved in a research project entitled ‘New diagnostic and prognostic antibody biomarkers for multiple sclerosis (MS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA)’ of the Biomedical Research Institute (BIOMED) at Hasselt University. This project is aimed at identifying a panel of new molecular target antigens combined with existing target antigens selected on MS with diagnostic and prognostic potency by using technological platforms that allow for profiling the antibody reactivity to tissue antigens in these diseases. The first goal is aimed at identifying new serum markers for MS and RA by a systematic profiling of the humoral immune response using the powerful molecular SAS technology. A second goal is aimed at studying the functional relevance of the existing selected MS markers and new MS and RA serum markers in relation to disease by studying their expression in diseased tissue and by studying T cell reactivity to these antigens. A third goal is aimed at developing a high throughput and label free screening platform using phages expressing autoantigens or derived peptide fragments to efficiently validate candidate markers in a large number of patients. The candidate will work on the third goal of the project.

Profile and diploma
The applicant should hold a master degree in biomedical sciences, bioengineering, biochemistry, biology, biotechnology, medicine, chemistry, or equal). Students in their last master year can also apply.

Further information

*

Content job responsibilities:
o

prof. dr. Piet Stinissen, +32-11-26 92 04, piet.stinissen@uhasselt.be
o

prof. dr. Veerle Somers, +32-11-26 92 02, veerle.somers@uhasselt.be
o

prof. dr. Luc Michiels, +32-11-26 92 31, luc.michiels@uhasselt.be
o

fax +32 11 26 92 09, website: www.biomed.uhasselt.be
*

Content terms of employment and selection procedure: Jef Vanvoorden, 011-26 80 80, jef.vanvoorden@uhasselt.be

Application
Applicants must use the official application forms

*

which are available at the Rectoraat of Hasselt University, Campus Diepenbeek, Agoralaan - building D, B-3590 Diepenbeek (Belgium), phone +32 - 11 - 26 80 03
*

or which can be downloaded here pdf-file / Word format.

The completed application forms must reach the above mentioned address no later than Wednesday, November 5th, 2008.

Application by e-mail will only be taken into consideration when sent to the following address: jobs@uhasselt.be.

PhD-grant (2x2 years) Organic and Polymer Chemistry
(mandate SBG/2008/011)

Job description
The research group “Organic and Polymer Chemistry”, a division of IMO (Institute of Material Research), is located on the Hasselt University campus in Belgium and has a strong competence in Polymer Chemistry and Polymer Analysis. Via the IMOMEC division, there is a close collaboration with IMEC, the biggest independent research centre in electronics in Europe. One of the core activities of the group relates to the synthesis and characterisation of conjugated or conductive polymers for plastic electronics, e.g. P-LED’s, organic transistors, organic Solar cells, chemosensors, biosensors, etc… A PhD-grant is available from IMEC for a PhD on the premises of the UHasselt in the domain of Conjugated (Semi-conductive) Polymers for application in solar cells.

Profile
The activity planned aims to perform research in the field of semi-conductive polymers for photovoltaic applications, in particular synthesis and characterisation of new polymeric materials and this with an emphasis on exploring living polymerization as a method toward functionalized and/or block copolymers. The research will take place in close collaboration with the division of material physics of IMO (Prof. Jean Manca) and the photovoltaic group of IMEC (Dr. Jef Poortmans) at Leuven.

Diploma
Applicants must possess a master degree in (Bio)Chemistry, Material Chemistry or Chemical Engineering and should be interested in the field of materials science and polymer characterization. Experience in polymer synthesis or organic synthesis is a plus.

Appointment
The position is voor two periods of 2 years with an intermediate evaluation. The grant amounts to about 1600 Euro/month free of taxes.

Further information

*

Content job responsibilities: Prof. dr. Dirk Vanderzande, +32-11-26 83 21, dirk.vanderzande@uhasselt.be
*

Content terms of employment and selection procedure: Jef Vanvoorden, 011-26 80 80, jef.vanvoorden@uhasselt.be

Application
Applicants must use the official application forms

*

which are available at the Rectoraat of Hasselt University, Campus Diepenbeek, Agoralaan - building D, B-3590 Diepenbeek (Belgium), phone +32 - 11 - 26 80 03
*

or which can be downloaded here pdf-file / Word format.

The completed application forms must reach the above mentioned address no later than Friday, November 7th 2008.

Application by e-mail will only be taken into consideration when sent to the following address: jobs@uhasselt.be.

PhD research position in Bioinformatics & Machine Learning***

Functional Genomics Unit, IJB & Machine Learning Group, ULB

Brussels, Belgium



*Position description

Applications are invited for a full-time PhD research position at the Functional Genomics Unit (FGU), Medicine Department, Institut jules Bordet (IJB), Belgium. The researcher will get his/her PhD in the Machine Learning Group (MLG), Computer Science Department, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium.

The vacancy available to be filled in soon offers tenure of four years. The researcher is expected to carry out fundamental research in Machine Learning (MLG) and to take an active role in the applied research projects of the FGU, which is funding the position.

The Functional Genomics Unit is a research group that carries out applied research on genomics in breast cancer. Cutting-edge bio- technologies are used to bring new insights in breast cancer biology.
These new discoveries are then brought to clinic (translational
research) in order to improve the management of breast cancer patients.

The Machine Learning Group is a research group that carries out theoretical research on statistical machine learning, predictive modeling and computational statistics, and takes part in several applied research projects in domains as diverse as data mining, bioinformatics to biomedical engineering and wireless sensor networks.

This inter-disciplinary position provides unique opportunities in bioinformatics. Previous studies involving microarray and survival data in breast cancer led to high impact publications (see http://www.ulb.ac.be/di/map/bhaibeka/research.html
for an overview). The machine learning methods introduced in these articles deal specifically with the high dimensionality of the microarray data and the fitting/validation of models for survival prediction of the patients.



*Qualifications

Candidates are expected to attach their transcripts and a letter of recommendation from their MSc supervisor or any other relevant person.

Applicants are expected to have strong programming skills, the ability to work independently, strong interpersonal skills, good writing and oral communication. Any research experience on data mining, machine learning, and statistical analysis will be an asset as well as an experience in microarray data analysis.

Upon offer of a position, the candidates who are non-EU citizens are required to obtain an appropriate long-term Schengen visa; further information is available from their nearest Belgian embassy.



*Deadline

Applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible as positions will remain open until filled in by a suitable candidate.



*Contact

Candidates are invited to send their CV with the detailed list of publications and a research statement in .pdf format by email to gbonte@ulb.ac.be


The subject field of your email must include MLG-JOB: research position.



*Equal Opportunity Employer

ULB is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to employing more handicapped individuals and especially encourages them to apply.
ULB wishes to increase the proportion of women in areas in which they are under-represented. Women are strongly encouraged to apply.







--
Pr. Gianluca Bontempi
Head of the Computer Science Department - Département d'Informatique Head of the Machine Learning Group

Université Libre de Bruxelles
Boulevard du Triomphe - CP212
1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
email: gbonte@ulb.ac.be
Office Phone: +32-2-650 55 91
Fax: +32 2 650.56.09
web: http://www.ulb.ac.be/di/mlg

Job description
The research group “Organic and Polymer Chemistry”, a division of IMO (Institute of Material Research), is located on the Hasselt University campus in Belgium and has a strong competence in Polymer Chemistry and Polymer Analysis. Via the IMOMEC division, there is a close collaboration with IMEC, the biggest independent research centre in electronics in Europe. One of the core activities of the group relates to the synthesis and characterisation of conjugated or conductive polymers for plastic electronics, e.g. P-LED’s, organic transistors, organic Solar cells, chemosensors, biosensors, etc… A PhD-grant is available from IMEC for a PhD on the premises of the UHasselt in the domain of Conjugated (Semi-conductive) Polymers for application in solar cells.

Profile
The activity planned aims to perform research in the field of semi-conductive polymers for photovoltaic applications, in particular synthesis and characterisation of new polymeric materials and this with an emphasis on exploring living polymerization as a method toward functionalized and/or block copolymers. The research will take place in close collaboration with the division of material physics of IMO (Prof. Jean Manca) and the photovoltaic group of IMEC (Dr. Jef Poortmans) at Leuven.

Diploma
Applicants must possess a master degree in (Bio)Chemistry, Material Chemistry or Chemical Engineering and should be interested in the field of materials science and polymer characterization. Experience in polymer synthesis or organic synthesis is a plus.

Appointment
The position is voor two periods of 2 years with an intermediate evaluation. The grant amounts to about 1600 Euro/month free of taxes.

Further information

*

Content job responsibilities: Prof. dr. Dirk Vanderzande, +32-11-26 83 21, dirk.vanderzande@uhasselt.be
*

Content terms of employment and selection procedure: Jef Vanvoorden, 011-26 80 80, jef.vanvoorden@uhasselt.be

Application
Applicants must use the official application forms

*

which are available at the Rectoraat of Hasselt University, Campus Diepenbeek, Agoralaan - building D, B-3590 Diepenbeek (Belgium), phone +32 - 11 - 26 80 03
*

or which can be downloaded here pdf-file / Word format.

The completed application forms must reach the above mentioned address no later than Friday, November 7th 2008.

Application by e-mail will only be taken into consideration when sent to the following address: jobs@uhasselt.be.

PhD position Proteomics related Bioinformatics
(Groningen), 38 hours per week University of Groningen
Job description
PhD position
The University of Groningen as partner of The Netherlands proteomics center offers a PhD position in the Department of Analytical Biochemistry (dr. Péter Horvatovich, prof. Rainer Bischoff) to work on a project entitled: ‘Proteomics related Bioinformatics: Quantitation, processing and classification algorithms for mass spectrometry’.

This PhD position is embedded within the larger collaborative network of The Netherlands Proteomics Center (NPC), a national center of excellence. The PhD project will focus on developing new bioinformatics tools and algorithms for processing and statistical analysis of proteomics LC-MS data. The work will consist in participating in the development of an integrated data processing framework interconnecting multiple open source data processing pipelines, quality control tools to assess the global and individual quality of LC-MS data processing modules, development tools for integration of multidimensional chromatography data and the development-specific of time alignment solutions for charge state- and isotope-shifted LC-MS data. This work will be performed in close collaboration with groups at the University of Utrecht (prof. Heck and dr. van Breukelen) and the European Bioinformatics Institute (dr. Hermjakob). The candidate will collaborate closely with other research group forming the Netherlands Bioinformatics for Proteomics Platform initiated by the NPC and the Netherlands Bioinformatics Centre (NBIC) and his/her developed tools will become part of the national proteomics bioinformatics framework using a grid environment.

The successful candidate will work in a team (PhD students and postdoctoral fellows) focusing on bioinformatics and analytical chemistry. The Department of Analytical Biochemistry has extensive experience in proteomics and proteomics-related bioinformatics with a focus on algorithms and methodological developments.

Requirements
University Graduate
We are looking for highly motivated candidates with a strong background in mathematics, statistics, or bioinformatics. Experience in multivariate statistical analysis, algorithm development, multiple programming languages (c++, java, Matlab, Perl), database development and programming experience in parallel computing would be a distinctive advantage. Experience in proteomics and analytical techniques will be considered a plus. The candidate should enjoy working in an international and interdisciplinary environment.

Organization
University of Groningen
Founded in 1614. One of the best universities in Europe and the world. A wide variety of disciplines. Internationally oriented. Rooted in the North of the Netherlands. Socially active. Our researchers and lecturers are inspired academics. Ambitious students. We respect the differences in talent, ambitions and performance of the 25.000 students and members of staff.

The university provides a career advisory service for partners of new staff who move to Groningen.

The university is an equal opportunities employer. Because women are still underrepresented in a number of fields, they are particularly encouraged to apply.

Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Conditions of employment

Maximum salary amount in Euro's a month 2612
Employment basis: Temporary for specified period
Duration of the contract: Four years
Maximum hours per week: 38

Additional conditions of employment:
The University of Groningen offers a salary of during the first year € 2042 gross per month. This amount will increase to € 2612 gross per month during the fourth year (salary level 1-1-2009). The appointment is for a period of four years which period should be finished with a PhD examination. After 18 months, the performance of the candidate will be evaluated to decide whether there is sufficient progress to expect a successful completion of the PhD thesis within the remaining period.

Additional Information
Additional information about the vacancy can be obtained from:

Dr. Péter Horvatovich, +31 50 3633341 / +31 50 3637582 (fax) /
Telephone number: +31 50 3633336 secr.
E-mail address: p.l.horvatovich@rug.nl

Or additional information can be obtained through one of the following links.

* About the organization
* Department of Analytical Biochemistry
* NPC

Applications with curriculum vitae and the names of three former or present supervisors that can be contacted as references must sent to: vmp@rug.nl

Application
You can apply for this job before 16-11-2008 by sending your application to:

University of Groningen
Personnel and Organization Office
P.O. Box 72
9700 AB Groningen
The Netherlands
E-mail address: vmp@rug.nl

When applying for this job always mention the vacancy number AT208290.

The short URL code for this job opening is: 00347-809.
You can use this as a direct link to the job by adding the code to the URL www.academictransfer.org/

In the group Organic and Polymer Chemistry of Hasselt University, the following position (m/f) is available:

PhD-grant (2x2 years) Organic and Polymer Chemistry
(mandate SBG/2008/011)

Job description
The research group “Organic and Polymer Chemistry”, a division of IMO (Institute of Material Research), is located on the Hasselt University campus in Belgium and has a strong competence in Polymer Chemistry and Polymer Analysis. Via the IMOMEC division, there is a close collaboration with IMEC, the biggest independent research centre in electronics in Europe. One of the core activities of the group relates to the synthesis and characterisation of conjugated or conductive polymers for plastic electronics, e.g. P-LED’s, organic transistors, organic Solar cells, chemosensors, biosensors, etc… A PhD-grant is available from IMEC for a PhD on the premises of the UHasselt in the domain of Conjugated (Semi-conductive) Polymers for application in solar cells.

Profile
The activity planned aims to perform research in the field of semi-conductive polymers for photovoltaic applications, in particular synthesis and characterisation of new polymeric materials and this with an emphasis on exploring living polymerization as a method toward functionalized and/or block copolymers. The research will take place in close collaboration with the division of material physics of IMO (Prof. Jean Manca) and the photovoltaic group of IMEC (Dr. Jef Poortmans) at Leuven.

Diploma
Applicants must possess a master degree in (Bio)Chemistry, Material Chemistry or Chemical Engineering and should be interested in the field of materials science and polymer characterization. Experience in polymer synthesis or organic synthesis is a plus.

Appointment
The position is voor two periods of 2 years with an intermediate evaluation. The grant amounts to about 1600 Euro/month free of taxes.

Further information

*

Content job responsibilities: Prof. dr. Dirk Vanderzande, +32-11-26 83 21, dirk.vanderzande@uhasselt.be
*

Content terms of employment and selection procedure: Jef Vanvoorden, 011-26 80 80, jef.vanvoorden@uhasselt.be

Application
Applicants must use the official application forms

*

which are available at the Rectoraat of Hasselt University, Campus Diepenbeek, Agoralaan - building D, B-3590 Diepenbeek (Belgium), phone +32 - 11 - 26 80 03
*

or which can be downloaded here pdf-file / Word format.

The completed application forms must reach the above mentioned address no later than Friday, November 7th 2008.

Application by e-mail will only be taken into consideration when sent to the following address: jobs@uhasselt.be.

The Biomedical Research Institute of Hasselt University has a vacancy for a (m/f):

PhD student Neuroimmunology (2x2 years)(mandate MBW/2008/025)

Job description
Research at the Biomedical Research Institute (BIOMED, Hasselt University) focuses on disease mechanisms of multiple sclerosis (MS) and the development of new therapeutics for this neuro-inflammatory disease. The group uses various modern technologies in immunology, molecular biology, cell biology and imaging to study immune system alterations and immune mediated damage of oligodendrocytes during MS. Recent data show that immune responses in the CNS are not merely detrimental but also have protective effects e.g. by producing neurotrophic factors such as neurokines. The successful applicant will further investigate immune mediated neuroprotective mechanisms in MS. This project is part of a recently approved Methusalem Program called NEURONET. NEURONET brings together researchers from Hasselt University and Antwerp University (VIB) headed by prof. Christine Van Broeckhoven (UA) and prof. P. Stinissen (UHasselt) specialized in clinical neurology, neuropathology, neuroimmunology, genetics and genomics, cell biology, mouse models and therapeutics in the domain of neurodegenerative diseases.

Profile and diploma
The applicant should hold a master degree in life sciences e.g. medical sciences, biomedical sciences, bioengineering, biochemistry, biology, biotechnology or equivalent. Laboratory research experience is a definite plus (e.g. during the Master’s dissertation). Applicants should have excellent communication skills and sufficient knowledge of Dutch and/or English. The candidate is highly motivated to work in a multidisciplinary team.

Further information

*

Content job responsibilities:
o

prof. dr. Niels Hellings, +32 11 26 92 68 niels.hellings@uhasselt.be
o

prof. dr. Piet Stinissen, +32 11 26 93 03, piet.stinissen@uhasselt.be
o

website of the Biomedical Research Institute: www.uhasselt.be/biomed
*

Content terms of employment and selection procedure: Jef Vanvoorden, 011-26 80 80, jef.vanvoorden@uhasselt.be

Applications
Applicants must use the official application forms

*

which are available at the Rectoraat of Hasselt University, Campus Diepenbeek, Agoralaan - building D, B-3590 Diepenbeek (Belgium), phone +32 - 11 - 26 80 03
*

or which can be downloaded here pdf-file / Word format.

The completed application forms must reach the above mentioned address no later than Wednesday, November 5th, 2008.

Application by e-mail will only be taken into consideration when sent to the following address: jobs@uhasselt.be.

PhD studentships in Statistics

Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics

Limit of tenure: 3 years

Applications are invited for PhD studentships in Statistics, to be held
in the Statistical Laboratory. The Studentships are associated with the
Cambridge Statistics Initiative which is targeted at the development of
novel statistical methodology, both generic and in specific application
areas. Information about the Laboratory can be found at
www.statslab. cam.ac.uk .

The studentships will provide funding to cover fees at the home/EU rate.
Additional funding for fees for those paying the overseas arts rate
could be available and will be assessed competitively. A stipend will be
paid of at least the equivalent to the national minimum (13290 for the
academic year 2009/10) for a minimum period of 3 years.

Supervision, along with research training tailored to the needs of the
student, will be provided by the Laboratory. Research interests of
academic staff can be found at www.statslab. cam.ac.uk/ Dept/People.

Applicants must qualify for admission to the PhD course at the
University of Cambridge. They should normally hold (or expect to be
awarded) a first class UK honours degree or equivalent and a
postgraduate qualification in Mathematics or Statistics.

Initial enquiries, which should include a curriculum vitae and an
indication of possible research topics, should be directed to Professor
A.P. Dawid, email: apd@statslab. cam.ac.uk.

Quote Reference: LF04227

Closing Date: 31 January 2009

The University values diversity and is committed to equality of
opportunity.

PhD Studentship in Programming Languages

(Ownership and Immutability)

Unification of Immutability and Ownership
I am actively looking for a PhD student in programming languages
(ownership types and immutability) . I have full funding available to
cover fees, living, and travel. Please email me for more information if
you have a Masters or Honours degree and a good background in
programming languages and/or type systems! Applications from both
domestic and international students invited.

The Project
Object-oriented programs at run-time consist of objects - small software
components that are created, changed, and destroyed as the program runs.
The uncontrolled ability of objects to change other objects is well
known to result in many errors in large systems.

Immutability - an ability to prevent changes to objects - is a mechanism
that could be used to provide such control. While immutability controls
whether an object can be changed, it is not enough: we need to be able
to also control which objects can perform the changes.

Ownership - an ability to control which objects can access a given
object - is a mechanism that can be used to control which objects are
allowed to perform the changes. Immutability benefits greatly from
ownership that prevents unauthorised objects from accessing and changing
the object.

Immutability and ownership evolved separately: while some proposed
languages attempt to support both, they treat them as independent
concepts.

We propose to treat them as facets of a more general unified concept.
This work aims to advance the science of programming by providing a
unified treatment of immutability and ownership, simplifying both the
theory and practice of object-oriented programming.

The Student
This project requires a strong mathematical logic or formal methods in
Computer Science background.

Contact
Dr Alex Potanin
alex@mcs.vuw. ac.nz
http://homepages. mcs.vuw.ac. nz/~alex/


Closing date: 1 May 2009

PhD Scholarship in Genetic Programming for Data Mining Tasks

Genetic Programming and Evolutionary Computing research group

Background
The Genetic Programming and Evolutionary Computing research group at
Victoria University of Wellington was recently awarded a large research
grant in Genetic Programming (GP) for data mining tasks by the Marsden
Fund of New Zealand (similar to the National Science Foundation in USA).
We are looking for a good PhD student in this field. The grant will
provide full funding for the student to cover the tuition fees, living
allowance, and travel cost.

The Project
Data mining tasks arise in a wide variety of practical situations,
ranging from classification to regression, clustering, and optimisation
tasks. Since the 1990s, genetic programming (GP) has become a promising
approach to building reliable data mining models quickly and
automatically. GP uses ideas analogous to biological evolution to search
the space of possible models to evolve a good solution for a particular
task. GP has been applied to many data mining tasks and achieved some
success. However, there are still limitations in program structures,
representations, genetic operators, search algorithms and theoretical
foundations in GP that restrict GP for difficult data mining tasks.

Applicants are invited from excellent and enthusiastic students wishing
to undertake a PhD in this area. The successful applicant will extend
the current research and address the methodological/ theoretical issues
in GP and/or a real-world engineering applications in data mining using
GP and related evolutionary learning techniques.

The Student
Applications from both domestic and international students are invited.
A strong background in C/C++/Java programming and a basic background in
machine learning and pattern recognition are required. A good background
in genetic programming, evolutionary computing, neural networks,
statistics, or statistics/operatio ns research is desired. Students
should have a first class Honour or a Masters degree in computer
science.

Contact
Dr Mengjie Zhang
mengjie.zhang@ mcs.vuw.ac. nz
http://homepages. mcs.vuw.ac. nz/~mengjie/


Closing date: 1 May 2009

http://www.unina. it/ricerca/ scuoledidottorat o/en/index. jsp
Deadline: 10 November 2008

The Research Doctorate is the highest academic title that can be
bestowed in Italy. It is equivalent to the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy (PhD) in Anglo-Saxon countries. The principal objective
of a Research Doctorate Program is to educate graduate students on
carrying out pure or applied scientific research, in the ambit of
the chosen discipline.

The University of Naples Federico II is a large research university
and the oldest state university in the world. Its Research Doctorate
Programs aim to train a selected number of young people, endowed
with a high quality preparation and having the enjoyment for the
research, to a high level of scientific, technical and professional
qualification.

The Doctorate Schools of the University promote advanced training in
almost all the fields of the knowledge by organizing basic courses
of wide and considerable scientific content both with the support of
its own professors and with the aid of the Italian and foreign
scholars. Specific courses related to the chosen research program
are organized by the single Doctorate Courses. The research
activities are carried out both in the Departments of the University
and in distinguished national and international scientific
institutions.

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ------
PhD Programs 24th cycle
Call for Admission of Candidates to the PhD programs
Application form A
Application form B
List of PhD programs with positions reserved to candidates not
resident in Italy and educated abroad

http://www.imtlucca .it/phd_programs /call_for_ applications/ index.php

Competitions for admission are open in the following PhD Programs at
IMT:

Computer Science and Engineering

Theories developed within computer science have been, and still are,
remarkably relevant not only for developing devices and tools which
are commonly used in today society, but also for facing new
theoretical problems of wide perspective.

In particular, the study of models, algorithms and verification
methods of distributed systems with shared resources, with attention
to the problems of security, concurrency, real time, "open endness",
distributed decisions, etc. has fostered the development of the
informatics of the new wide area networks. Students acquire
extensive knowledge of the fundamentals and applications of
architectures and languages for global and grid computing, web
systems and services, in particular for business applications,
embedded systems, web data mining, wired and wireless networks, and
mobile systems. In addition to offering broad scope for basic
research, these domains define a professional area where all the
needs of computer applications on wide are networks can find their
fulfilment.

Economics, Markets, Institutions

The program aims at dealing with issues in political economy,
applied public economics, the functioning of industries and markets,
the impact of macroeconomics on productivity and growth. A
distinctive feature of the PhD program is the strong integration of
theoretical, technical and practical expertise, aimed to educate
highly qualified professionals, who analyze, plan, and manage
concrete interventions of political economy.

Theoretical methodologies and models are tested through the
methodical/systemat ic investigation of real world cases. At the end
of the program, students are able to identify commonalities as well
as distinctive characters of economies, markets, and industries.

Political Systems and Institutional Change

The PhD Program aims to make students familiar with analytical tools
and methodologies of investigation elaborated within different
contemporary traditions in social sciences, thereby providing the
theoretical and practical knowledge necessary to both evaluate
comparatively the performance of institutional systems, and
elaborate proposals for structural reforms. The courses will
especially focus on the historical, political, institutional and
economic dynamics that have been characterising the development of
European and ex Soviet countries after the Second Word War. They
will then consider among other topics: the institutional and
decisional dynamics of European countries and the European Union
including the trends towards multilevel governance both at the
European and at the domestic level (federalisation, independent
regulatory authorities, etc.); transatlantic relations EU-US;
relations between politics, social processes and political economy
decisions; paths of economic and political development; the
institutional workings of international organisations; the
characters of some geographical areas of special relevance.

Duration: 3 years

Language: Courses and seminars are held in English. Foreign PhD
students are required to attend an Italian Language and Culture
Course.

Classes begin in March 2009.

Deadline
The deadline for applications is December 5, 2008 at 6:00pm (Italian
time).

Materials innovation institute M2i
PhD researcher
Delft, 2600 GA (Zuid-Holland) , 40 hours per week
Materials innovation institute M2i

Job description In the design of a structure the designer should take into account the possibility that a fire breaks out during the lifetime. One of the main conditions to be fulfilled is that people inside or in the neighbourhood of the structure are able to escape safely before (a part of) the structure collapses due to fire. For most metals used in structural engineering, fire design is an important aspect in the entire design. Research carried out on fire design of load bearing aluminium structures is very limited.

An important failure mechanism of aluminium structures is buckling, already at ambient temperature but even more at elevated temperatures. Fundamental research to buckling at elevated temperatures is very limited. Buckling is in particular important for aluminium structures, because of the high ratio between strength and stiffness and because extrusion of aluminium sections often results in thin-walled sections with arbitrary shapes.

In this research the focus is on lateral- torsional buckling of aluminium structures exposed to fire. More specifically, the research should result in comprehension and description of the influence of changes in material behaviour on lateral- torsional buckling of members exposed to fire.
Existing material models will be applied in numerical, finite element models to study the above behaviour of aluminium structures. The numerical models will be validated by experiments on members in bending exposed to fire conditions. Subsequently, the validated models will be used to determine the influence of relevant aspects on lateral- torsional buckling of aluminium members exposed to fire. Finally, the research should result in a design model – an analytical model – to be used in practice for the design of aluminium members exposed to fire to check lateral – torsional buckling.

Requirements Required education/skills: University Graduate
The candidate should possess a MSc. Degree in Building, Civil or Mechanical Engineering or in Materials Science. Experience with temperature dependent material and structural behaviour, computational work and finite element methods is a prerequisite and interest in experimental work is an advantage. Further requirements:

* Interest in applied scientific research,
* Well-developed communicative skills,
* Good proficiency in English ( writing and speaking),
* Enthusiasm and team spirit.

Job type: Research / Advising

Workfield(s) :
- Research trainees, non-tenured lecturers, researchers( Scientific discipline: Engineering)

Organization Materials innovation institute M2i

Conditions of employment Estimated maximum salary per month: eur 2000 - 2500
Employment basis: Temporary for specified period
Duration of the contract: 3 years
Maximum hours per week: 40

Additional conditions of employment:
When fulfilling a PhD position at the M2i, the candidate will be given the status of PhD Researcher. He/she will have employee status and will be eligible for all the employee benefits offered by the M2i. The contract is for 4 years. Gross salary for the first year is EUR 2,195 gross per month. This amount increases to EUR 2,533 gross per month in the fourth year. The PhD thesis should be completed at the end of the 4th year term with the M2i. The researcher and the supervisor will draw up a plan for any additional training and supervision that is specifically needed.

Additional Information Or additional information can be obtained through one of the following links:

* About the organization (http://www.m2i. nl)
* About the department
* About the function (http://www.m2i. nl)

Application You can apply for this job before 08-01-2009 (dd-mm-yyyy) by sending your application to:
M2i Materials innovation institute
Postbus 5008
2600 GA Delft
Netherlands
E-mail: hrm@m2i.nl

When applying for this job always mention the vacancy number AT M81.1.08306.