About your role
As a PhD candidate embedded in both research groups, you will bridge advanced tissue engineering with mechanistic cancer biology to understand how the bone marrow niche promotes therapy resistance in multiple myeloma.
Your responsibilities will include:
- Establishing and optimizing 3D bone marrow-like co-culture models in the laboratory of Dr. Richard Groen, including differentiation of iPSC lines into bone marrow accessory cell types and integration with primary myeloma cells
- Investigating microenvironmental mechanisms that support myeloma cell survival using single-cell and secretome-based approaches
- Collaborating with the Guikema group to study signaling pathways and cell–cell interactions underlying drug resistance
- Applying advanced experimental readouts such as flow cytometry, single-cell RNA sequencing, and multiplex secretome profiling
- Functionally validating key survival signals in close collaboration with bioinformatics partners
This position offers an excellent opportunity to develop both technical expertise and conceptual insight at the interface of stem cell biology, tumor microenvironment research, and cancer signaling.
About youWe are looking for a motivated and curious candidate who meets the following criteria:
- A Master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences, Molecular/Cellular Biology, Medical Biology, or a related field
- Strong motivation to work at the interface of hematology, stem cell biology, and cancer signaling
- Experience with mammalian cell culture (experience with iPSC culture, 3D co-culture systems, or single-cell technologies is an advantage)
- Strong analytical thinking skills and the ability to troubleshoot complex experimental systems
- A collaborative mindset and enjoyment of working in a multidisciplinary team of scientists, bioinformaticians, and clinicians
- Excellent command of spoken and written English
Our offer- A flying start to your career in scientific research.
- Plenty of room for your drive to shape tomorrow's healthcare.
- Working on large-scale and in-house research, with motivated colleagues from all over the world.
- You will be employed by Amsterdam UMC Research BV.
- A contract for 12 months, with the intention to extend for a total of 4 years. The Guideline PhD contract applies to this vacancy.
- Classification in salary scale OIO: € 3.108 to € 3.939 gross for full-time employment (depending on experience). In addition to a good basic salary, we offer 8.3% end-of-year bonus. Calculate your net salary here. As of 1 July 2026, the salary will be increased by 3.5% in accordance with the collective labor agreement (CAO UMC).
- Holiday hours: 194.4 per year for full time and a possibility to save additional hours.
- Pension accrual with BeFrank, a modern, comprehensible and fairly priced pension.
- For >7 km each way, 100% reimbursement for public transport travel costs and, for private transport, €0.18 per km up to a maximum of 40 km each way.
- Do you prefer walking or cycling? Take advantage of our good bike scheme. Moreover, you will receive a reimbursement of €0.18 per km.
Watch this video with more information about joining Amsterdam UMC Research BV.
