"Junior Researcher position ‘long-term outcomes of post-COVID and other respiratory infections'"

The Julius Center (UMCU) is seeking a Junior Researcher to join our infectious disease epidemiology group to study the long-term health consequences of post-COVID and other post-acute infectious syndromes. Deadline 1 Oct ’25. Published on 22 Aug ’25. Vacancy ID 2025-6240.

Job description: People with post-COVID may have an increased risk of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disorders, and neurodegenerative illnesses. In this ZonMw funded project, we investigate these long-term risks by comparing patients with post-COVID to those with similar complaints after other viral infections (e.g. influenza, RSV), and to individuals without long-term symptoms.

As a junior researcher, you will lead a systematic review on chronic outcomes following post-COVID and other post-acute infectious syndromes (PAIS). You will also play a key role in gathering and organizing valuable input from stakeholders, including patients and healthcare professionals, ensuring the research remains patient-centred and clinically meaningful. Your work will help identify the most important conditions to study further in data analysis, based on current scientific evidence, clinical relevance, and patient perspectives. Beyond the review and stakeholder engagement, you will have the opportunity to work with extensive, longitudinal healthcare datasets and cohort studies, directly contributing to the linking, management, and analysis of real-world data.

Requirements: A master's degree in (Clinical) Epidemiology, Medicine, Health sciences, or a related field. Experience with systematic reviews or meta-analyses is a plus, as is proficiency in data analysis using R or Python. Strong interest in infectious diseases, specifically post-viral syndromes. You are analytically strong, with experience or interest in systematic reviews, data analysis, and scientific writing. You are organized, proactive, and able to manage multiple tasks simultaneously. You enjoy working both independently and collaboratively in an interdisciplinary team. Excellent written and spoken communication skills in English, and preferably Dutch.

Conditions of employment: The maximum salary for this position (32 - 36 hours) is € 5.669,00 gross per month based on full-time employment. In addition, we offer an annual benefit of 8.3%, holiday allowance, travel expenses and career opportunities. The terms of employment are in accordance with the Cao University Medical Centers (UMC).

Department: The Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care is part of the University Medical Center Utrecht. It carries out scientific research, provides education, and offers expertise and facilities in the area of clinical health sciences and public health. Within the Julius Center, our interdisciplinary department, Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, is a collaborative team of full, associate and assistant professors, along with PhD students. Together, we conduct research, provide education, and offer expert advice on the prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of infectious diseases. We also focus on hospital-acquired respiratory infections. The program, led by Prof. Dr. Patricia Bruijning-Verhagen, applies advanced epidemiological and statistical methods, including multicentre randomized trials of preventive and therapeutic interventions, as well as population-based studies and analyses using real-world data.