Postdoctoral position to model the interaction between swine influenza vaccines, resident influenza strains and invading pandemic influenza strains in pig farms

In this 1-year project we are looking to understand the dynamics of Swine Influenza in pig farming industry in the Netherlands. We are interested to examine how vaccination in held pig populations will affect strain invasion and replacement dynamics. The project entails parameterizing, testing, fitting, and exploring a multi-scale model that describes the within-host antibody dynamics and its relation to within-farm transmission. For the above task we are searching for a postdoc with a background in infectious disease modeling or biological systems modeling.

You will be part of a larger question that a team of scientists at IDE (WUR) and Veterinary Medicine (UU) is working on namely how pandemic outbreaks of influenza like the 2009 swine flu pandemic, are interacting with the circulating strains of swine influenza within the Dutch pig farming industry.

Your duties and responsibilities include to

• calibrate a multi-scale model using available experimental and field data. We are looking to calibrate the model both on the level of within-host viral kinetics and between-hosts viral transmission.
• evaluate the larger question of swine influenza circulation and replacement for various levels of cross-immunity between the circulating strains, the vaccine, and the invading pandemic strain.

Requirements:

You have the following personal competencies and skills: You are excited about your work, capable of independently finding solutions for problems you encounter, but also not shy about utilizing the group's experience when exploring solutions. You can produce new angles of approach or relevant questions to ask based on your own assessment of the system.
You also possess:

• documented experience in modelling biological systems;
• experience in the R programming language;
• a PhD thesis on a relevant topic;
• an interest in infectious disease transmission and control problems.

In our international working environment, there is an increasing amount of communication in English. For this position it is about language level B2.

You can see that there are plenty of challenges ahead of you. These challenges can also be seen as development opportunities. If you do not yet have all the qualities required in the vacancy, but do have relevant work experience, we would also like to invite you to apply.

You will work here
You will work at Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the Animal Sciences group of Wageningen University, with senior researchers that are part of this project and PhD students engaged in comparable questions on the topic of cross-immunity. At IDE you have an excellent opportunity to interact with a large and dynamic group of disease modellers.

Salary Benefits:

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• sabbatical leave, study leave, and partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• the option to accrue additional compensation / holiday hours by working more, per week;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed December bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will of course receive a good salary. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive gross salary of between € 3.345 and € 5.278 for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 10). Additionally, a contract for 0.8 FTE can be discussed. Of course, we would be happy to discuss this with you if you have any questions.

Wageningen University & Research encourages internal advancement opportunities and mobility with an internal recruitment policy. There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.

You are going to work at the greenest and most innovative campus in Holland, and at a university that has been chosen as the “Best University” in the Netherlands for the 19th consecutive time.

Coming from abroad
Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees.

Because we expect you to work and live in the Netherlands our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.
Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research's International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, our Welcome Center can assist you with any additional advice and information about for example housing, opening a bank account, dual career programs or schooling. Finally, certain categories of international staff may be eligible for a tax exemption on a part of their salary during the first five years in the Netherlands.

38 hours per week

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