PhD Candidate in Paediatric Mucosal Immunology

Job description

Job description

Understanding mucosal immune protection against respiratory infections in children
Are you interested in understanding how the immune system protects children against respiratory infections?
Respiratory tract infections are among the most common causes of illness in children worldwide. While most children recover without complications, some experience frequent or severe infections. Why are certain children more susceptible than others, and how can we improve protection against respiratory pathogens?
Most immunological research and diagnostic approaches focus on immune responses measured in blood. Yet respiratory pathogens first encounter the immune system at the mucosal surfaces of the airways. Understanding immune protection at these surfaces may offer new opportunities for preventing and treating respiratory infections.
The Paediatric Respiratory Infection & Immunity Group at Radboudumc is looking for an enthusiastic and curious PhD candidate. Our ambition is to unravel the mechanisms underlying mucosal immune protection and translate these insights into new strategies to prevent respiratory infections in children.
Your research
We investigate how mucosal antibodies protect against respiratory pathogens and how local immune cells, including innate lymphoid cells, contribute to the generation and maintenance of these antibodies.
As a PhD candidate, you will contribute to understanding why mucosal antibody responses differ between children and how these differences relate to susceptibility to respiratory infections.
Your work will include:
Characterising mucosal antibody responses in children with recurrent respiratory tract infections and healthy controls.
Investigating the diversity and polyreactivity of mucosal IgA and IgG.
Studying associations between mucosal immune characteristics and clinical susceptibility to respiratory infections.
Exploring the cellular and tissue environments that support mucosal antibody production.
Integrating immunological, clinical and, where applicable, multi-omics data to identify the mechanisms underlying mucosal immune protection.
You will work with well-characterised paediatric cohorts and biological samples collected through established research collaborations in the Netherlands, South Africa and the Dutch Caribbean.
The project combines clinically relevant research questions with advanced immunological approaches and offers opportunities to develop expertise in mucosal immunology, translational research and quantitative data analysis.

What we offer

A PhD position within a funded research programme at Radboudumc.
A stimulating and supportive multidisciplinary research environment.
Close supervision and opportunities for scientific and professional development.
Access to established clinical cohorts and advanced immunological research infrastructure.
Opportunities for international collaboration and, where relevant, research visits to partner institutions.
The opportunity to contribute to research connecting fundamental immunology with clinical challenges in paediatric respiratory infections.

Requirements

Profile

We are looking for a motivated researcher who is excited about fundamental immunological questions and their potential clinical impact.
You have:
A Master's degree in biomedical sciences, immunology, molecular biology, medical biology or a related discipline.
A strong interest in immunology, particularly mucosal or respiratory immunity.
Experience with laboratory-based research and an interest in developing advanced immunological techniques.
An analytical mindset and an interest in working with complex biological datasets.
Good communication skills in English, both written and spoken.
A collaborative attitude, scientific curiosity and the motivation to pursue a PhD.
Experience with immunological assays, flow cytometry, cell culture, molecular techniques, bioinformatics or statistical analysis would be an advantage, but we do not expect candidates to have experience with all these techniques.
Most importantly, we are looking for someone who is eager to learn, enjoys asking challenging scientific questions and is motivated to contribute to research that can ultimately improve children's health.

Conditions of employment

Fixed-term contract
: 4 years.
Well arranged
With us, you receive 8% holiday allowance, an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and – depending on your role – an irregular hours allowance ranging from 47% to 72%. In addition, you are entitled to 176 vacation hours per year (based on a 36-hour work week).

Compensation

You will receive a €0.18 per kilometer travel allowance. Public transport costs (2nd class) are fully reimbursed. If you work partly or entirely from home, you will receive €2.40 per home-working day. This way, everything is well arranged—wherever you work.
Flexible benefits scheme
With our flexible benefits scheme, you decide how to use part of your employment benefits. Purchase extra leave days or use your year-end bonus to buy a bicycle with tax benefits. You choose what suits you best.
Warm welcome
We believe a good start is important. Thanks to our onboarding app, you’ll be well prepared even before your first working day. During the introduction day, you’ll get to know your colleagues and our organization.
Changing allowance
If you are required to wear Radboudumc work clothing and change outside working hours, you will receive a changing allowance of €80 gross per month for a full-time position, provided this applies to your role.
Salary increase
At our organization, your work is valued. Your salary will increase in line with the collective labor agreement in two steps: by 3.5% as of July 1, 2026, and an additional 3.5% as of May 1, 2027. This means you’ll see a solid increase in your salary within a short period of time.
Work–life balance
We consider a healthy work–life balance essential. Through inspiring training sessions, mindfulness activities, and caregiver consultation hours, we support you in every phase of your life.
Growth and development
Our online learning environment offers a wide range of training courses, e-learnings, and educational programs—from professional specialization to personal development. This allows you to keep growing and make the most of your talents.

Employer
Radboudumc
Welcome to Radboud university medical center (Radboudumc), where our research groups strive for innovative solutions that make impact on health and healthcare. We challenge the status quo to overcome current and future health challenges. Our goal is to shape the future of healthcare for generations to come. Our focus is on prevention, sustainability, and meaningful care, which we achieve through our in-depth understanding of disease mechanisms, clinical science, public health research, medical technology and data science. Our approach is centered on breakthroughs that can truly enhance personalized healthcare and public health.
At Radboudumc, a comprehensive range of research programs provide the compass for our research efforts. Each program has a clear goal, where collaboration within and outside our organization is highly valued. We integrate care, education and research in partnership with our patients to ensure that our research programs have significant impact on health and healthcare. We invite you to join us in our mission to create a healthy future for all.

Department
Department of Laboratory Medicine
Place of work
You will join the Paediatric Respiratory Infection & Immunity Group, led by Dr Lilly Verhagen, Associate Professor and paediatric infectious diseases and immunology specialist at Radboudumc and co-led by Prof Marien de Jonge, head of the Laboratory of Medical Immunology at Radboudumc, where the experimental work will be carried out. The Laboratory of Medical Immunology offers state-of-the-art research facilities and has longstanding expertise in respiratory tract infections and mucosal immunity.
Our research group brings together clinicians, immunologists, microbiologists and researchers from different disciplines and geographical locations. We share one central ambition: improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of respiratory infections in children worldwide. Our research is embedded within Radboudumc in Nijmegen, with close collaborations with Stellenbosch University in South Africa and clinical and research partners across the Caribbean part of the Dutch Kingdom.
You will work in a collaborative, international environment, with opportunities to interact with researchers across these locations, present your work at international conferences and contribute to scientific publications.
We value scientific curiosity, critical thinking, methodological rigour, open discussion and collaboration. We encourage PhD candidates to develop their own scientific ideas and take increasing ownership of their research.

Additional information

The first job interviews will take place in
January 2027.
This position requires a Certificate of Conduct (VOG).
We are recruiting for this position ourselves. Unsolicited marketing is not appreciated, but do feel free to share the vacancy in your network!
Want to know more?
We’re happy to provide more information!
Lilly Verhagen
📧
Send an email
#weareradboudumc
Radboud university medical center is a university medical center for patient care, scientific research, and education in Nijmegen. We want to have a significant impact on healthcare.
Will you make the difference?