Postdoctoral Researcher – Living Evidence Synthesis, Systematic Reviews and AI-supported Evidence Research

Job description

Are you an experienced researcher with a passion for evidence synthesis, systematic review methodology and innovative approaches to scientific knowledge integration?
Do you want to contribute to an ambitious international research programme aiming to improve the understanding and clinical use of biomarkers and endpoints related to reward, motivation and impulsivity across major depressive disorder, Alzheimer’s disease and obesity?
The University of Groningen is looking for an enthusiastic and scientifically strong Postdoctoral Researcher in Living Evidence Synthesis, Systematic Reviews and AI-supported Evidence Research.
In this position, you will play a central role in developing and maintaining a structured living evidence framework that continuously integrates new scientific knowledge with emerging findings from a large, interdisciplinary research programme. You will combine advanced systematic review and meta-analysis methods with innovative approaches to evidence surveillance and large language model (LLM)-supported research.
This is an exciting opportunity for a researcher who wants to work at the intersection of evidence synthesis, clinical research, biomarker science and artificial intelligence, while contributing to research with potential relevance for patients, clinicians, regulators, health technology assessment bodies and healthcare systems.
What are you going to do?
As a Postdoctoral Researcher, you will take a leading role in the implementation and coordination of the project's living evidence activities. You will work closely with researchers across different disciplines and with international academic, clinical and societal partners.
Your main responsibilities will include:
Implementing and further developing a
structured living evidence synthesis framework
for continuously identifying, evaluating and integrating emerging evidence.
Coordinating the ongoing
living evidence synthesis
, ensuring that evidence is systematically monitored, critically appraised, synthesised and updated throughout the five-year research programme.
Conducting
systematic and living systematic reviews
on reward, motivation and impulsivity biomarkers and endpoints across major depressive disorder, Alzheimer’s disease and obesity.
Conducting and coordinating
meta-analyses
, including analyses of predictive and monitoring performance, sensitivity to change, cross-disease comparability and the potential applicability of biomarkers and endpoints across diagnostic groups.
Synthesising evidence from a broad range of modalities, including neuroimaging, electrophysiology, biosamples, behavioural and cognitive measures, and digital phenotyping.
Implementing and critically evaluating
LLM-supported methods
for literature searching, deduplication, screening and structured data extraction.
Ensuring that AI-supported evidence synthesis processes are
transparent, reproducible, auditable and subject to appropriate human validation.
Developing and maintaining structured, machine-readable evidence maps, metadata and versioned evidence updates.
Assessing methodological heterogeneity, strength and consistency of evidence, knowledge gaps, clinical relevance and translational potential.
Contributing to the development and application of harmonised outcome domains and evidence-grading and prioritisation frameworks.
Integrating evidence from longitudinal cohorts, clinical studies and other research activities to support hypothesis generation, refinement and prioritisation.
Contributing methodological expertise to the interpretation of biomarker and endpoint evidence and to the identification of promising areas for further validation.
Preparing high-quality
scientific publications, systematic review reports, meta-analysis papers and project deliverables.
Communicating findings to a diverse range of scientific and non-scientific audiences.
Contributing to scientific coordination, progress monitoring and reporting within this international collaborative research programme.
You will have considerable scientific responsibility and scope to further develop the methodological approaches used for living evidence synthesis. The position therefore offers an excellent opportunity to establish or strengthen an independent research profile in systematic review methodology, evidence synthesis and AI-supported research.

Requirements

We are looking for an independent and collaborative researcher with a strong methodological background and a genuine interest in developing innovative approaches to evidence synthesis.
You have:
A
PhD in biomedical sciences, psychology, neuroscience, medicine, or a related discipline.
Demonstrable experience conducting
systematic reviews and evidence syntheses
, preferably including living systematic reviews or evidence surveillance.
Solid expertise in
quantitative evidence synthesis and meta-analysis.
A strong understanding of methodological quality, risk of bias, heterogeneity and critical appraisal of scientific evidence.
Experience with statistical analysis and reproducible research workflows, preferably using
R, Python or comparable statistical/programming tools
An interest in, or experience with,
artificial intelligence, natural language processing or large language models applied to research workflows.
The ability to critically assess the opportunities and limitations of AI-supported systematic review methods.
Experience working with complex or heterogeneous evidence is an advantage, particularly evidence involving biomarkers, clinical endpoints, neuroimaging, electrophysiology, biosamples, behavioural measures or digital phenotyping.
Excellent scientific writing skills and the ability to translate complex methodological and scientific findings into clear reports and publications.
Strong organisational and project-coordination skills, including the ability to manage multiple interconnected research activities and deadlines.
The ability to work independently while actively contributing to a large, interdisciplinary and international research team.
Excellent communication skills and a willingness to engage with researchers and stakeholders from different disciplines and professional backgrounds.
Excellent command of written and spoken
English
.
Experience with one or more of the following would be particularly valuable:
Living systematic reviews or living evidence platforms.
Evidence mapping and evidence surveillance.
Systematic review automation.
Machine-readable evidence structures and structured metadata.
Reproducible and version-controlled research workflows.
LLM-supported literature screening or data extraction.
Biomarker or endpoint validation.
Research in major depressive disorder, Alzheimer’s disease or obesity.
Stakeholder-informed evidence synthesis or research prioritisation.
Most importantly, you are intellectually curious, methodologically rigorous and motivated to develop new approaches to synthesising rapidly evolving scientific evidence.

Conditions of employment

Fixed-term
contract
: A fixed-term contract for the duration of 48 months.
What can you expect from us?
232 vacation hours per year, based on a 38-hour workweek (1.0 FTE). You can also work more or fewer hours in exchange for more or fewer free hours. For example, with a 40-hour workweek, you save 96 extra free hours, and with a 36-hour workweek, you lose 96 hours.
End-of-year bonus of 8.3% and 8% holiday allowance.
Extensive opportunities for personal and professional development.

Employer
University of Groningen
At the University of Groningen (UG), researchers from all fields of academia and technology are working on academic challenges and societal questions. Lecturers prepare their students for meaningful careers within or outside the academic world. Interdisciplinary research and teaching, sharing of knowledge, collaboration with businesses, government institutions, and societal organizations are aspects that are of the utmost importance to this European top university. The UG aims to be an open academic community with an inclusive and safe working climate that invites you to add your value.

Department
Faculty of Science and Engineering
The Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE) provides teaching and research across a wide range of disciplines, from physics and biology to artificial intelligence, mechanical engineering, and pharmacy. In close collaboration with partners from industry, healthcare, and society, we contribute to the urgent challenges of our time, such as energy, sustainability, digitization, and medical technology. Our community is open and informal, with more than 7,000 students, 1,000 PhD students, and 1,400 staff members from all over the world. If you would like to learn more about the Faculty of Science and Engineering, visit
rug.nl/fse
.
You will be based at the
University of Groningen (UG)
and become part of an international, interdisciplinary research environment bringing together expertise from academia, clinical research, patient organisations, industry, regulatory science and health technology assessment.
At UG, researchers from all fields of academia and technology work on academic challenges and societal questions. The University aims to provide an open, inclusive and collaborative academic environment in which researchers can develop their talents and contribute to research with societal impact.
Within the project, you will work at the interface of
systematic review methodology, evidence-based medicine, biomarker research, clinical research and artificial intelligence
. You will collaborate closely with researchers generating longitudinal, multimodal and clinical evidence, ensuring that emerging findings are systematically connected to the broader evidence landscape.
The project has a strong international and interdisciplinary character. You will therefore have the opportunity to collaborate with leading researchers and stakeholders across different scientific and professional backgrounds and to contribute to an ambitious programme addressing important challenges in mental health, neurodegenerative disease and obesity.
This position is conditional upon the grant agreement being signed and the associated funding becoming available.

Additional information

Do you have any questions or need more information?
Questions about the content of the job?
Martien Kas (Full Professor):
M.J.H.Kas@rug.nl
Questions about your application process?
Martien Kas (Full Professor):
M.J.H.Kas@rug.nl