Doctoral Researcher

**Functiebeschrijving**
You will be part of the unit “Transversal activities in Applied Genomics” (TAG) and will contribute, as a PhD student, to the project “Transition to safe and sustainable food systems through new and innovative detection methods and digital solutions for plant-based products derived from new genomic techniques, under a co-creation approach” (DARWIN).

**_The DARWIN project _**_aims to contribute to a fair, healthy, safe and environmentally friendly food system by co-developing an innovative detection strategy by integrating targeted analytical PCR-based methods, untargeted sequencing methods, and digital solutions. This project, under an interdisciplinary co-creation ecosystem based on Responsible Research and innovation (RRI) principals, empowering a wide variety of stakeholders - including consumers - in Europe and internationally; and robustly contributing to the policy making._

You will be tasked with creating, analyzing and implementing a cutting-edge approach based on laser capture microdissection coupled with high-throughput sequencing in order to improve the safety and traceability in the food chain. This approach will be applied to study cases of public health and societal interest and concern, including (but not limited to) the identification of genetically modified organisms (including those created using CRISPR/Cas) and the identification of species in food mixtures such as herbal teas.

You are responsible for the organization, execution and reporting of this doctoral research within the project DARWIN. This aim of this doctoral research is to submit a dissertation in order to obtain the PhD degree.

You perform the doctoral research at Sciensano, in collaboration with other scientists of TAG, with the DARWIN consortium, and with the University of Ghent (academic promoter).

You present the results of the doctoral research at national and international meetings and conferences, you discuss them with (inter)national experts and report them in reports and peer-reviewed publications.

You will take care to timely meet project deliverables and contribute to the progress of the project DARWIN, as a whole, as well as the doctoral research.

You will report to and be supervised by the Sciensano promoter(s). You will be also capable of providing feedback to the different scientific collaborators and stakeholders involved within the project.

The doctoral project is in collaboration with Ghent University; the grantholder should enroll as a doctoral student at this university.

**Profiel**
Master in Life Sciences (bio-engineer or other)

Good knowledge/experience of molecular biology (theoretical and practical formation), especially with DNA-based methods including extraction, PCR and high-throughput sequencing (both dry
- and wet-lab levels)

Strong interest in molecular biology, bioinformatics, plant biology, food safety and public health

Good communication skills (written and oral); languages: excellent knowledge of English; knowledge of Dutch or French.

Experience with: bioinformatics, microscopy (including LCM)

Generic skills: strong analytical mind; able to synthetize; able to work independently; excellent organization and planning skills; entrepreneurial and stress-resistant; results and solutions oriented

**Wij bieden**
3-year doctoral scholarship (possible extension of an additional year)

A challenging and fascinating project in a fast evolving domain

An applied research project supported by senior scientists of Sciensano, in the field of advanced sequencing technologies and public health

Collaboration with our other PhD students and scientists (from TAG, Sciensano and other institutes)

The use of the most recent methods (ex: molecular biology, shotgun metagenomics, short and long read sequencing)

Other: 100% reimbursement of cost for public transportation, lunch vouchers

**Contact