Are you just as excited as we are about the fascinating world of microorganisms? As a technical assistant with experience in molecular biology, you will join the Microbial Evolution research team at the Laboratory of Microbiology of Wageningen University & Research, where you will assist ongoing research focusing on the cultivation of new microorganisms. Are you our new colleague?
As research technician you will work in a large team of motivated researchers, technicians and students that are developing and applying state of the art research tools to cultivate and characterize novel microorganisms.

Activities will include:

• enrichment cultivation of microbial groups of interest, including anaerobic cultivation;
• assisting with field work, including taking environmental samples;
• molecular analysis of microbial composition of environmental microbial communities, and monitoring of enrichment cultures, including DNA isolation, amplicon PCR, qPCR, DNA sequencing on Illumina and Oxford Nanopore sequencers;
• microscopy characterization of enriched microorganisms, including fluorescence and electron microscopy;
• logistics and organization of laboratories, including working with large numbers of samples and cultures.

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• sabbatical leave, study leave, and partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed December bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will of course receive a good salary. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive gross salary of between €3218,-. and €4298,-. for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 8.) We offer you a temporary contract for the duration of one year. Of course, we are happy to have a conversation with you if you have any questions about this.
Wageningen University & Research encourages internal advancement opportunities and mobility with an internal recruitment policy. There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.
You are going to work at the greenest and most innovative campus in Holland, and at a university that has been chosen as the “Best University” in the Netherlands for the 20th consecutive time.

COMING FROM ABROAD

Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees.
Because we expect you to work and live in the Netherlands our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family. If you come with a partner, we offer a Dual Career group program organized by our Welcome Center. This program helps your partner to get familiar with the Dutch culture, labour market and assists your partner to find a job.
Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research’s International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, our Welcome Center can assist you with any additional advice and information about for example housing, opening a bank account or schooling. Finally, certain categories of international staff may be eligible for a tax exemption on a part of their salary during the first five years in the Netherlands. The mission of Wageningen University & Research is “To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life”.
We pursue this mission through a synergistic approach between Wageningen University and
Wageningen Research Foundation (applied research). Our research focuses on questions within the
domains of food, living environment, and society. With approximately 30 locations, 7,700 staff
members, 2,500 PhD candidates, and over 13,000 students, Wageningen University & Research is
among the world’s leading knowledge institutions in its domain. The integral approach to challenges
and the collaboration across various disciplines form the core of the unique Wageningen approach.
Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR.

We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves and do not appreciate unasked for services from recruitment agencies. However, sharing in your network is appreciated. We are looking for a candidate that

• has a Higher Education degree (BSc or MSc) or equivalent;
• has experience with (enrichment) cultivation of (anaerobic) microorganisms and molecular analyses of microbial communities;
• is able to work in a structured and organized way;
• has good communication skills;
• is a team player that is able to work in an international and multidisciplinary research team;
• is intrinsically motivated to master new techniques, and has a ‘can-do’ mentality.

In our international working environment there is a large amount of communication in English. For this position, proficient user it is about language level C1.
You can see that there are plenty of challenges ahead of you. These challenges can also be seen as development opportunities. So if you do not yet have the track-record required in the vacancy, but do have solid work experience, we would also like to invite you to apply.
You will work here
You will work within the Microbial Evolution (MicEvo) research group within the Laboratory of Microbiology.
Within the MicEvo group we focus on exploring and characterizing the microbial diversity that exists on our planet. Moreover, we aim to explain how this diversity came about during billions of years of evolution. To do this, we employ a variety of approaches, including cultivation-independent methods (e.g. metagenomics, comparative genomics, phylogenomics), but also novel cultivation-dependent methods (e.g. high-throughput cultivation and ecophysiology techniques). For more information about this position, please contact Thijs Ettema, by e-mail: thijs.ettema@wur.nl.
For more information about the procedure, please contact Rutger Voorrips, corporate recruiter, by email: rutger.voorrips@wur.nl.

Please refer the Job description for details