MSCA-DN PhD Position: Functional micronutrient status in critically ill patients

What will you do

Research Fellowship 5 (RF5): Functional micronutrient status in critically ill patients

Duration: 48 months

Supervisors:

• Dr Angelique de Man (Amsterdam UMC)
• Dr Lennard Dekker (Reinier Haga Medical Diagnostic Center)
• Dr Maurits de Rotte (Amsterdam UMC)
• Dr Linda IJsselstijn

Doctoral enrolment: Amsterdam UMC Doctoral School

Project description:

Micronutrient deficiencies are common in critically ill patients and may significantly delay recovery. However, current diagnostic methods are often insufficient, and clinical care typically relies on fixed-dose supplementation rather than personalised treatment strategies. Within the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions–funded BIO-MICRO project, this PhD position aims to enhance the diagnostic armamentarium for assessing functional micronutrient status through innovative analytical approaches. Improved diagnostics may enable the identification of patient subphenotypes that are most likely to benefit from targeted micronutrient therapy. A multicentre, prospective, observational clinical study will be conducted, including four cohorts of each 55 participants with increasing severity of expected micronutrient deficiencies: healthy volunteers, patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery, critically ill patients, and burn patients. Serial measurements of micronutrient concentrations will be performed in serum, leukocytes, and erythrocytes, alongside biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress. Using combined laboratory and clinical data, empirically derived algorithms for subphenotype identification will be developed through latent profile analysis.

Your main tasks and responsibilities in this project are:

As a PhD candidate, you will coordinate this multicentre observational clinical study. In Amsterdam UMC you will include patients, obtain deferred consent from their families, ensure the collection of serial blood samples, perform laboratory analyses to assess functional micronutrient status and maintain accurate and complete data entry in the electronic case report form. Furthermore, you will oversee all study-related activities across all the participating centres. During the secondments, you will contribute to the translation of research outcomes towards clinical application by working on the commercialisation of micronutrient assays in erythrocytes and leukocytes.

For more information see: BIO-MICRO - Advancing micronutrient diagnostics for personalised ICU care

What do we expect

We are looking for a highly motivated and proactive researcher who is able to work both independently and collaboratively within an interdisciplinary team. You demonstrate precision, resilience, and strong communication skills. The position includes intersectoral secondments in Appingedam and Delft of 6 months each. The project should result in the successful completion of a PhD thesis.

To be eligible for this position, applicants must meet the Marie Skłodowska-Curie admission requirements:

• You must not already hold a doctoral degree.
• You must comply with the MSCA mobility rule: you must not have resided in or carried out your main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the Netherlands for more than 12 months during the three years immediately prior to recruitment.

Required qualifications and experience:

• A Master’s degree in Biochemistry, Nutrition, Molecular Biology, or equivalent
• Excellent command of English, both written and spoken; proficiency in Dutch is an advantage
• Adequate knowledge of statistics, including experience with data analysis

Desirable skills (not essential):

• Experience with medical or scientific writing
• Laboratory experience

Your working environment

You will work in a highly stimulating and interdisciplinary research environment spanning Amsterdam UMC, Reinier Haga Medical Diagnostic Center, and Diagnotix. At the Intensive Care department of Amsterdam UMC, you will join a large and dynamic research group consisting of approximately 40 PhD candidates and 5 postdoctoral researchers, supervised by 7 principal investigators across two locations (AMC and VUmc). Your time will be divided between the Intensive Care department (approximately 70%) and the clinical chemistry laboratory (approximately 30%).

What we offer

Salary scale: Market competitive based on a 36 hour week, depending on qualifications and experience. Successful candidates will receive an attractive base-salary in accordance with the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, for 48 months. The exact (net) salary depends on the EU-defined country correction factor, and on local tax regulations (for additional information see EU MSCA website). Exact salary will be confirmed upon appointment.

Training: In addition to your local PhD training, you will participate in a comprehensive and attractive educational programme specifically designed for the 13 Research Fellows within the BIO-MICRO consortium. The BIO-MICRO training programme offers a blended learning approach that combines monthly interactive live online sessions (60–90 minutes) with in-person workshops. The online curriculum covers essential topics in clinical research, including epidemiology, biostatistics, observational and clinical trial design, statistical computing, and scientific writing. In addition, four intensive three-day in-person workshops are dedicated to the development of both academic and transferable skills. In addition, all fellows will carry out 12 months of secondments and will be enabled to participate in relevant international scientific conferences. Together, this structured training programme is designed to optimally prepare you for a successful career as a critical care researcher.

If you don’t have the nationality of an EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you will need a residence permit to live and work in the Netherlands.