Job Description

We are looking for a wet lab postdoc to join our international team at Rotterdam, focusing on projects related to neurogenetic disorders, gene regulation and the non-coding genome.

For this short-term, funded position (18 months), we are seeking an exceptionally talented individual who would be competitive in jointly applying with us for additional postdoctoral fellowships (e.g., EMBO, Marie Skłodowska-Curie) that could extend the appointment to a longer-term postdoctoral position of up to four years. We will therefore only consider candidates with an outstanding track record, including multiple first-author, peer-reviewed publications on relevant topics, as well as a clear research vision and a strong ambition to excel. Please refer to the advertisement for the full list of position requirements

Job description

Are you passionate about neurodevelopment, brain diseases and gene regulation? Would you like to work in a highly dynamic environment at the interface of fundamental science and applied human clinical genetics, directly benefiting patients? And all of that in a fun, young and international team at a top university? Then join our expanding research team as our next postdoc!

Project overview

Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) present a major cause of disability early in life and a significant burden to the health system. Despite improved diagnostic yield of genetic testing, our understanding of NDD disease mechanisms remains incomplete. Most currently used diagnostic modalities trying to identify genetic causes focus on protein-coding genes. The remaining 98% of the human genome has much less attention, but might harbor many hidden causes of NDDs. 

This Postdoc project will focus on the role of the non-coding genome in causing NDDs, focusing on wet-lab approaches including functional genomics assays to decipher functional sequences in the non-coding genome and how disturbance of such sequences might lead to NDDs. 

Your research: 

Our lab aims to understand the genetic causes of NDDs. Part of the lab works on disease modelling projects of specific (novel) genes (often related to chromatin biology and gene regulation) using cell models and zebrafish. Another part of the lab focusses on understanding the functionality of the non-coding genome. For this we use both computational, as well as functional genomics assays. 

An example of this includes the use of massively parallel reporter assays (ChIP-STARR-seq) to characterize gene regulatory elements (enhancers) in several neural cell types. More recently, we have developed the BRAIN-MAGNET artificial intelligence algorithm (Cell 2025) that is trained on these functional genomics data. BRAIN-MAGNET allows to predict which nucleotides within an enhancer are required for their function. 

Via our third part of the lab that is directly connected to diagnostics, we transfer this knowledge back to the clinic, allowing us to identify novel non-coding disease causes in patients. Such findings then cycle back to the wet-lab, where they form the basis of fundamental research projects aiming to understand the disease mechanisms and develop potential treatments. 

As a postdoc joining our team, you are a positive thinking, creative, communicative individual with a broad interest in gene regulatory and disease mechanisms, searching to make the next career move. You are interested in projects related to the above and aim to bring in your own ideas to address research questions related to topics of interest.