Research Scientist in Photopharmacology

Working Environment

The University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) is one of the largest and innovative academic hospitals in the Netherlands and the largest employer in the Northern Netherlands. In addition to providing clinical care, it is a constituent member of the University of Groningen (RUG) with much focus on core research, training, and education. Your position will be at the Department of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging, but you will also collaborate closely with the Department of Radiation Oncology of UMCG and the Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy (GRIP/RUG).
You will have access to high-performance computing platforms of UMCG and RUG and the unique facilities of Particle Therapy Research Center located at the Zernike campus. Furthermore, you will collaborate with members of the Crystal Clear Collaboration, a 30-years long-standing collaboration founded and led by CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research.
At least as important as a pleasant working environment is a pleasant living environment. Groningen is a thriving university city set in quiet, spacious surroundings.

Job description

Do you wish to join an exciting multidisciplinary research project in photopharmacology and make a transformative difference in healthcare? Then, join the team of Prof. dr. ir. Charalampos Tsoumpas, Dr. Peter Dendooven and Prof. Wiktor Szymanski who are members of a recently awarded research program (total amount over €18M) generously funded by the Ubbo Emmius Fonds led by the Health Technology Research and Innovation Cluster to work together for resolving major challenges in the field of healthcare.
What will you do
You will play a key role in executing a highly innovative research activity in the field of photopharmacology and contribute significantly to the supervision of several bachelor, and master students.
You will work on the development of novel approaches to translate, make more efficient and optimise photopharmacology by using external radiation (e.g. X-rays) and nanoscintillators. Your work is expected to lead to conference presentations, peer-reviewed journal articles, open-source software, international patent applications and eventually clinical products. Furthermore, you will receive mentorship and support to attract research funding to build your own research team on this topic.

Requirements

You should be a creative and passionate researcher with a PhD degree in Physics, Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering, or similar preferably with up to two years post-doctorate experience. Relevant research experience will be an asset. Excellent communication skills (in English) and an innovative mindset are essential. Excellent knowledge of Monte Carlo simulations using Geant4 is a big advantage and strong programming skills for efficient data processing (e.g. Python or Matlab) will be very useful. Ability to perform experiments will be considered a plus.

Conditions of employment

We offer one research position to join an enthusiastic team of experts. The fulltime (36 hours/week) contract will be for three years with starting date preferably 1st of September, but not later than 1st January 2027. Your indicative starting salary (36 hours/week) is minimum of € 3.724,-- and maximum of € 5.867,-- (scale 10, from 1 July) gross per month depending on relevant experience. In addition, the UMCG offers an 8% holiday allowance, an 8.3% year-end bonus.The conditions of employment comply with the Collective Labour Agreement for Medical Centres (CAO-UMC). An appropriate career development program for the individual will be available as well as €30k bench fee for materials and travel expenses.
Links
PARTEC
UEF projecten
HTRIC
UMCG research
RUG C.Tsoumpas
Szymanski Lab
RUG P.G. Dendooven
European Organisation for Nuclear Research.
Crystal Clear Collaboration

Additional information

For more information about this vacancy you may contact:
Charalampos Tsoumpas (+31)050 361 9972
[email protected] Wiktor Szymanski (+31) 050 363 3307
[email protected]

Applying for a job

Solliciteren

Please use the the digital application form at the bottom of this page - only these will be processed. You can apply until 19 May 2026. Within half an hour after sending the digital application form you will receive an email- confirmation with further information. We expect to receive: a brief motivation letter, a curriculum vitae including a list of scientific outputs such as publications, abstracts, patents, and contact details of at least three referees. Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed on Friday, the 19th or 26th of June. Referees will be contacted only after the interview.
Digital application form