17 Early Stage Research PhD training positions

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Marie Curie PhD Training Network

This network, bringing together 7 European Universities and 5 collaborating academic and commercial partners, offers 17 Early Stage Research (ESR) PhD training positions for 36 months.  The PhD projects will be based around genomics/transcriptomics but with strong immunology, statistics and bioinformatics.
  • The MELGEN European Training Network (ETN) will create a co-operative environment for research and training in melanoma research, with the ultimate aim of improving precision medicine for patients with this disease. In recent years remarkable progress has been made in melanoma research, which has led to the introduction of the first treatments to prolong life in patients with advanced disease: both targeted treatments and immune therapies.

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  • Although genomics has yielded a wealth of information on the genomic alterations in melanoma, further characterisation is urgently needed in order to predict responses to combinations of targeted therapies and MELGEN will address this need. The dramatic responses seen in melanoma patients to immunotherapies indicate that immune responses to melanoma are crucial, and we need to better understand what predicts response in order to improve treatment strategies, particularly in the adjuvant setting.
  • MELGEN will explore host/tumour interactions and detect biomarkers of response to treatment. The academic centres and several commercial partners of this network will address these research questions using unique samples and data sets and the most sophisticated technologies, including genomic and transcriptomic analyses, functional genetic screens, CRISPR genome editing, iPS cell-based disease models, liquid biopsy technology, developmental statistics and bioinformatics.
All students will be expected to have a good level of English as the basic language of the network is English. Please take good note of the rules for ETN training networks. They are designed to encourage movement within Europe and therefore applicants may only have lived for 12 months in the previous 3 years in the country of supervision. There are a total of 17 posts available in this call.

Projects available:

University of Leeds, UK

Lund University, Sweden

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK

Leiden University Medical Center, Netherlands

University of Oslo, Norway

Universitätsklinikum Essen, Germany

University of Zürich Hospital, Switzerland

Key benefits:

  • Generous salary and additional allowances to cover living costs and travel, including a contribution to some family related expenses and the cost of annual travel back to the home country.
  • Opportunities for international collaboration and travel to world class academic and industrial partners.
  • Participation in the GenoMEL melanoma genetics consortium scientific meetings (www.genomel.org)
  • Training in a range of state-of-the-art scientific skills, complimentary skills, intellectual property, and project management skills.
  • Training will include a 2 week introductory course on genomics, statistics and bioinformatics at Leiden University Medical Center, and a statistics and bioinformatics course in year two.
  • There will be training in the use of social media and other technologies in communicating science to scientists and to the general public, and students will take part actively in this throughout their training
  • Secondment placements between network partners including Universities across the network and genomics, bioinformatics, and biomarker development commercial companies
  • Committed supervision from academic units with integration between groups and commercial partners

How to apply

Within the details of each research project listed above are details of contact email addresses for those who seek further information.  Applicants may apply for up to three of the projects and must prioritise these as 1 (most preferred) to 3. Applicants will be asked to submit the following information to the Faculty of Medicine and Health Graduate School at the University of Leeds -[email protected]:
  1. Personal Statement of application
  2. CV including details of 3 academic referees
  3. Degree Transcripts and Certificates
  4. Certificates of English Language Qualifications
The closing date for application will be 26 June 2015.  Recruitment to these posts will involve a two round process: shortlisted candidates will undertake an initial interview via Skype or teleconference in the week beginning 6 July 2015; successful candidates from the first round will then be asked to attend a two-day interview event held at Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden, The Netherlands on 4 and 5 August 2015 alongside candidates for all 17 ESRs funded by the MELGEN ETN.  Final round applicants who are unsuccessful in being appointed for their chosen ESR may be considered for other MELGEN ESR positions if they wish, subject to meeting the eligibility criteria of the hosting institution.
  • Candidates must be available to start the position by 1 January 2016.

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This network, bringing together 7 European Universities and 5 collaborating academic and commercial partners, offers 17 Early Stage Research (ESR) PhD training positions for 36 months. The PhD projects will be based around genomics/transcriptomics but with strong immunology, statistics and bioinformatics.