MSCA DN GET-IN

We welcome applicants of any nationality and background, provided that they fulfill the following specific requirements: 

Applicants hold a MSc or equivalent degree in a subject specified in the description of the individual PhD projects.Applications do not hold a PhD degree or have successfully defended their PhD.Applicants have the necessary academic skills and background to make the success of a doctoral degree. The skills needed will depend on the project chosen.Applicants did not reside or carry out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the host organisation (here KULeuven Leuven, Belgium) for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date. Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays,and time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status are not considered (mobility rule).Applicants must fulfill the local requirements and must be eligible to enroll the PhD program at the host institution.Applicants demonstrate high level of proficiency in written and spoken English, which will be assessed with the motivation letter and the interview, respectively.GET-IN is a doctoral training network in the field of gene therapy that will address several challenges in today's Advanced Therapy Medical Product (ATMP) field through game changing innovations. The joint training programme will ignite responsible, cooperative research and innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship to maximize the carrer potential of the DCs, including international mobility and intersectorial secondments.We are looking for highly motivated candidates for the DC1 position.

The DC1 project focusses on the bioprocessing of viral vectors. The position is hosted by the KU Leuven and Antleron NV. Specific objectives are: (1) to understand and improve the efficiency of viral vector production per cell by assessing innate immunity factors during plasmid transfection and viral vector production in 2D tissue culture plates, and (2) to advance the production environment by improving bioreactor cell yield and transfection efficiency through the design of innovative hardware set-ups and computational process modelling (2D to 4D translation). The objectives will be addressed for two main gene therapy vector platforms. The project involves wet lab experimental work, ranging from viral vector production, cell transfection and transduction, molecular biology, as well as in silico bio-process modelling and bio-informatics.

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A successful project will result in: (1) next generation HEK293 producer lines for viral vectors based on adapted innate immune pathways ; (2) improved and closed manufacturing system for cost-effective and scalable viral vector production.

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Enrolment in Doctoral School: KU Leuven
 

Planned secondments:

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (Month 14-15): Modelling of the manufacturing processes

Eberhard Karls Universitaet Tuebingen, Germany (Months 26-27): Introduction to Organ on Chip models and testing of viral vectors in these systems

Miltenyi Biotech GmBH, Germany (Month 38): Introduction to working in GMP environments

The GET-IN network is built around a community of leading experts and will train 10 doctoral candidates (DCs) as the next generation of gene therapy innovators and research leaders both in academia and industry. The network is international, multidisciplinary and multisectoral consisting of 7 academic and 8 non-academic partners in 6 EU countries (Belgium-The Netherlands-Germany-France-Italy-Greece).The selected candidates will receive an attractive salary in accordance with the MSCA regulations for Doctoral Researchers. The exact (net) salary will be confirmed upon appointment and is dependent on local tax regulations and onthe country correction factor (to allow for the difference in cost of living indifferent EU Member States). The salary includes a living allowance, a mobility allowance, and a family allowance (if applicable). The guaranteed PhD fundingis for 36 months (i.e., EC funding, additional funding is possible, dependingon the local Supervisor, and in accordance with the regular PhD time in the country of origin).

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