Our research activities drive on numerical linear algebra, system identification and control, algorithms for numerical optimization and machine learning (support vector machines) and signal processing.

We also have numerous applications in industrial process control, biomedical signal processing, bio-informatics, health decision support systems and telecommunications.

We are looking for well motivated researchers to start a 4 year PhD or for experienced postdocs to pursue research activities in these fields and application areas.

On our website (http://www.esat.kuleuven.be/scd/), one can find a description of more than 20 different specific research topics, in which we have openings for PhDs and postdocs.

We can offer a competitive salary, a stimulating research environment, settled in the nice historic city of Leuven and its surroundings (http://www.leuven.be/showpage.asp?iPageID=1688), within a university the origins of which go back to 1425.

Electronic applications, including a CV, a list of publications, names of two possible references, and a brief description of your research interests and motivation, should be submitted to:
bart.demoor[ at ]esat.kuleuven.be.

Project description
The goal of the Evolutionary Systems Biology lab is to understand how plant developmental systems work and how they evolve. The Arabidopsis root system is in many ways an ideal model system to study developmental processes in plants. Roots have a simple morphology and a relatively small number of cell types, and they exhibit all developmental stages simultaneously. They can be efficiently transformed and chemically perturbed and due to their near transparency, they offer unmatched opportunities to observe the molecular phenotypes of such treatments. The development of lateral root organs is one of the research foci at the Plant Systems Biology department. We are looking for a PhD student to reverse engineer the lateral root initiation (LRI) process and its interface with hormone signaling and cell cycle processes from molecular and morphological data. We are also looking for a PhD student to study the impact of duplication and functional divergence of developmental regulators on the evolution of LRI and other developmental processes. The project will initially be focused on Aux/IAAs and ARFs, two classes of transcriptional regulators that play important role in auxin responses and plant development.

Profile

* Master degree in Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Bioinformatics, Biological Engineering, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics or Physics
* Interested in evolution of biological systems
* Fluent in English and a programming language

Please e-mail your CV with the contact details of two references and a letter of motivation to Dr. Steven Maere ( steven.maere[ at ]psb.vib-ugent.be ). For further information, visit us at www.psb.vib-ugent.be/esb/.

VIB is a world-class non-profit research institute in Flanders, Belgium with 1100 employees and excellent facilities. The Plant Systems Biology department is located in Ghent, a beautiful and vibrant city in the heart of Europe, 30 min from Brussels, 2 hours form Paris, London, Amsterdam and Cologne.

A 2-year postdoctoral position for a motivated researcher is opening

in the Institute for Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music (IPEM) at the department of musicology at Ghent University, Belgium. The work will be carried out in the EmcoMetecca project on “Embodied music cognition and mediation technologies for cultural/creative applications”. The EmcoMetecca project investigates the relation between music and movement, based on measurement of body movements (for example of musicians playing music) and analysis of the characteristics of music.

Profile

• A PhD degree in the field of music research or related disciplines
• Strong background in music is recommended
• Mind for empirical research
• Interest in embodiment and user-centred approaches
• Capacity to work in an interdisciplinary environment
• Skills in Academic English writing

Research Topics

may include:

• Development of software that links hardware components with real-time interactive applications
• Analysis of movement data and correlations to audio
• Demonstrations and applications of real-time music and interactive systems
• The development of empirical methodologies for the study of social embodied music interaction
• Measurement of sound and movement in social music interaction contexts, using innovative technologies
• Data-analysis

Main tasks

• Be an active member of the EmcoMetecca executive committee
• Perform academic research at the highest level in the context of the above project
• Write scientific articles and present research results during high level conferences
• Guide PhD students working at IPEM
• Assist in teaching and other supporting tasks

Conditions of employment

• The position is available on a full-time fixed term basis, following all social regulations of Ghent University.
• You will receive a contract with six months probation. On approval, the contract will be extended.
• Ghent University offers a pd1 salary of approximately 1950 Euro net (no seniority) to 2050 Euro net (4 year seniority) per month.
• The start date is flexible and can be as soon as possible.

Application
Deadline: 31/07/2009

To apply, following information should be provided to Aagje.Lachaert[ at ]UGent.be

• Application letter including (1) description of research experience and interests and (2) contact information of people who can provide academic references
• CV
• List of publications
• submit in attachment 2 representative publications (pdf)

You will need a good understanding of the physicochemistry of organic compounds and their interaction with proteins. The candidate
will have a strong background in computational chemistry or structural bioinformatics and experience with c++ programming will be considered a serious plus.

For more information contact Prof. Joost Schymkowitz (joost.schymkowitz@vub.ac.be)

We offer a PhD position in the context of a collaborative project in the Brussels region. The project focusses on the relationship between single-nucleotide polymorphisms and protein structure and function in cancer. The aim is to predict the effects that single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and haplotypes have on both the expression levels and structural properties of cancer-related proteins. The best candidates will have a strong background in computational chemistry or structural bioinformatics. Experience with SNP arrays and/or data mining is a serious plus.

For further information contact:
Joost Schymkowitz (joost.schymkowitz@vub.ac.be) or Tom Lenaerts (tlenaert@vub.ac.be)
SWITCH, VIB
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
http://switch.vub.ac.be/

This is the call for applications to the Erasmus-Mundus student scholarships for MERIT – the European Master of Research on Information and Communication Technologies (see http://www.meritmaster.org).

MERIT is a European 2-year post-graduate programme taught in English at the following institutions:

• Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain
• Universität Karlsruhe (UKA), Karlsruhe, Germany
• Politecnico di Torino (PdT), Torino, Italy
• Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Louvain, Belgium

These scholarships are addressed for highly qualified non-European students willing to study the MERIT programme in two of the above institutions beginning September 2008.

The application deadline is 10PM (GMT) January 21st 2008 to do electronic data entry and upload of required documents in the on-line application tool. The documents that support your application must be sent to the admissions office by mail or courier and must be received at the MERIT admissions office by February 11th 2008 (see Calendar below).

This call is subject to the general conditions of the Erasmus Mundus programme. In any disagreement between the contents of these pages and those of the Erasmus Mundus programme, the latter will prevail. Prospective applicants are referred to the following pages:

General Information about the Erasmus Mundus programme:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/mundus/index_en.html

FAQs about Erasmus Mundus Scholarships:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/mundus/faq/index_en.html

FRAMEWORK
MERIT is a research oriented Master programme within the guidelines of the Bologna process whose scope is Information and Communication Technologies. The MERIT partners above have specific funding from the EU Erasmus Mundus programme to set up a scholarship scheme for third-country graduate students and scholars from the whole world. This scholarship scheme addresses highly qualified individuals who come to Europe to follow the MERIT Masters academic program. Students have to take two 1-year terms at two different institutions to complete the 2-year MERIT Master programme.

ELIGIBILITY
Applications are sought from students in their final year of university programs in engineering, sciences, or an equivalent university degree involving at least 3 years of coursework. Applications from persons holding university degrees in these disciplines will also be considered. In any case, applicants should hold a university degree by September 1st 2008.

Applicants should qualify as “third-country nationals”, as defined in the Erasmus Mundus programme, all countries of the world – with the exception of the EU Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia , Finland, France , Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom), the EEA-EFTA states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) and the candidate countries for accession to the EU (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Croatia and Turkey)- who are not residents of any of the above countries, and who have not carried out their main activities (studies, work, etc.) for more than a total of 12 months over the last five years in any of the above countries.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Students will be selected on the basis of their CVs, study and academic merits, recommendations, language skills (English), international test results (GRE), etc. Priority will be given to applicants whose background and interest matches closely with those of MERIT. To check this, prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to see the program description at the section Prospective Students at Merit Master website: http://www.meritmaster.org

In the case that the applicant has taken the GRE general test and, possibly, the GRE subject test in mathematics, scores from these tests should be sent to UPC directly by the organization administering these tests (ETS). To request this you should use the GRE institution code corresponding to UPC (7124). See http://www.gre.org for details.

DURATION, CONDITIONS AND AMOUNT OF THE SCHOLARSHIP
Scholarships will be awarded for two years. In each of these years, the student will receive a total of 16.000 Euro in 10 monthly grants per year, for a grand total of 32,000 Euro.

Note that the Erasmus Mundus scholarship also includes a yearly payment of 5,000 Euro for fees, travel expenses, relocation costs, etc. This payment will be used to cover the MERIT tuition fees for non-European students (5,000 Euro / year).

Note also that, if the scholarship is granted, no payments will be made until the grant recipient arrives at the host university. No payment advances will be sent abroad for covering travel and moving expenses.

CALENDAR

• Online Application System: 26th November 2007
• Deadline for online application: 10PM (GMT) January 21st 2008.
• Deadline for receiving supporting paper documents at MERIT admissions office: February 11th 2008.
• Notification of Scholarships: April-May 2008.
• Start of MERIT studies: September 2008.

APPLICATION-SUBMISSION
Application for MERIT-Erasmus Mundus has to be done as follows:

• Personal data and electronic copies of supporting documents have to be uploaded in the MERIT Erasmus Mundus Online Application Tool (MEAT), http://www.meritmaster.org/meat. This tool supports most current web-browsing software, and will be used to check the applicant’s eligibility, get his/her contact data, and upload relevant files such as CV, etc. MEAT allows applicants to enter their personal data and the electronic versions of documents to support the application (CVs, copies of academic certificates, recommendation letters, etc.). Only PDF, JPG and GIF formats will be allowed for upload to MEAT.
• All original supporting documents in the list INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED must be received by mail or courier in the MERIT admissions office by February 11th 2008.

INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED
MEAT will prompt the applicant to enter/upload the following information:

1. Citizenship and country of residence.
2. Periods of stay in Europe during the last 5 years (if any).
3. University degrees (held or currently studying) and universities where those degrees where obtained.
4. Gender
5. Name
6. Email
7. Birth date
8. Postal address
9. (Optional) GRE exam codes and GRE exam dates (General and subject test in mathematics).
10. Scanned image of your passport showing your picture (GIF/JPG/PDF).
11. CV-Resume (GIF/JPG/PDF)
12. (Optional) Name of a MERIT faculty member who knows you and knows the most relevant items in your CV1
13. Academic certificates (school certificate/diploma, University transcripts, University degree certificate) relevant to MERIT topics.
14. Description of the contents of the courses taken to obtain the degree of the previous point.
15. Two recommendation letters following the format of the form available at: http://www.meritmaster.org/meat/MERITRecommendationForm.pdf
16. Motivation letter, in which the applicant explains in English the reasons to study MERIT and how they relate to his/her career goals.
17. English degrees held / English exams passed.
18. Order of preference of the 4 MERIT institutions for the first year of studies.
19. Order of preference of the 4 MERIT institutions for the second year of studies.

VIA: official announcement

PhD student in Bioinformatics

To work on an Interuniversity Attraction Pole (IAP) Research Project entitled BioMaGNet (Bioinformatics and Modelling: from Genomes to Networks)

Job description

• scientific research towards a PhD degree (4 year period, starting asap) in the framework of an IAP research project
• assist/perform scientific research on simulation and modeling of birth-death dynamics of small- and large-scale gene duplications in plants and other organisms
• perform theoretical and simulation studies of saturation effects in KS (age) distributions of duplicated genes
• regular interaction with an established network of top-level researchers
• requirement of attending and presenting your work at international scientific meetings
• publish in peer-reviewed international journals

Your profile

• you have a master in Sciences (Bioinformatics, Biotechnology, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics), Engineering or Bioengineering
• you have a strong interest in mathematical modeling and biology
• you have good knowledge of Java and/or C
• good communication and writing skills
• proficient in English

To apply for the job send your CV by email to Prof. Dr. Yves Van de Peer (yves.vandepeer@psb.ugent.be). Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

VIA: official announcement

PhD student in Bioinformatics

To work on an Research Project focusing on the integration of sequence and expression data in plants

Job description

• Scientific research towards a PhD degree from 2008 onwards (4 year period) in the framework of a FWO funded research project
• provide bioinformatics support for the development and maintenance of an integrated plant comparative genomics platform (data warehousing facilities, web-design with integrated toolbox)
• tackle together with other PhD student specific questions about gene and genome evolution in plants
• requirement of attending and presenting your work at international scientific meetings
• publish in peer-reviewed international journals

Your profile

• you have a master in Computer Science, a degree of Bioscience engineering or a master in Biotechnology
• you have a strong interest in both computer science (i.e. data integration & web-development) and biology
• you have good knowledge of computer programming (Linux/Apache/MySQL/perl,PHP). Knowledge of JAVA is a plus!
• good communication, writing skills and teamplayer; proficient in English

Apply for the job Send your resume by email to Yves Van de Peer(yves.vandepeer@psb.ugent.be). Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

VIA: official announcement

Every year, with the support of the Belgian Directorate-General for Development Cooperation (DGDC), VLIR awards scholarships to students from developing countries to study one of the 15 ICPs or one of the 6 ITPs.

Each year there are a maximum of 180 scholarships available for first-year ICP students and a maximum of 70 scholarships for ITP participants.

Although these programmes primarily address students and professionals from developing countries, they are also open to other people.

For more information, please refer to the more comprehensive VLIR publication ‘International Study Opportunities in Flanders, Belgium’, available at the Belgian Embassies, at selected universities in Africa, Asia and Latin America and downloadable from the VLIR website (www.vliruos.be). It contains details on course contents and application requirements, and explains the VLIR scholarship programme and the application procedure.

The application form can be found in the publication ‘International Study Opportunities in Flanders, Belgium’. It can also be obtained directly from the respective university or downloaded from the VLIR website.

The application form should be returned to VLIR no later than 1 February 2008.

We sincerely hope that the exchange during your study in Flanders results in partnerships and improved understanding across frontiers, and that the knowledge you acquire will be invested and disseminated in the framework of long-term initiatives in your country of origin.

International Courses 2008-2009

• Master of Science in Biostatistics
• Master of Science in Aquaculture
• Master of Science in Environmental Sanitation
• Master of Science in Nutrition and Rural Development, Main Subject: Human Nutrition
• Master of Nematology
• Master in Physical Land Resources
• Master of Food Technology
• Master of Human Ecology
• Master of Molecular Biology
• Master of Ecological Marine Management
• Master of Water Resources Engineering
• Master of Human Settlements
• Master in Development Evaluation and Management
• Master in Globalisation and Development
• Master in Governance and Development in Sub-Sahara Africa

International Training Programmes 2008

• Beekeeping for Poverty Alleviation
• AudioVisual Learning Materials – Production and Management
• Governing for Development: Opportunities and Challenges for Development Actors
  under the New Aid Paradigm
• Dairy Technology: From Rural to Industrial Level
• Scientific and Technological Information Management in Universities and Libraries
• Optimisation in Diagnostic Radiology

For more information about the VLIR-UOS Scholarship Programme please contact Mr Mario De Meyer Assistant Scholarship Programme: mario.demeyer@vliruos.be

Download:

• Scholarship Flyer 2008-2009
• Brochure: International Study Opportunities

VIA: VLIR-UOS website

Research Assistant / Ph. D student (f/m)
Computational modeling of auxin dynamics during lateral root initiation

The department plant systems biology of the VIB has an opening for an ambitious and energetic research assistant in the new research group Plant Systems Modeling, that focuses on computational modeling of plant development biology. Systems biology is a relatively new approach in biology, that shifts focus from individual molecules, genes and cells to their dynamic interplay: how do molecules, genes and cells form a working mechanism, behaving in a predictable way? A crucial pilar in this approach at the interface of biology, physics and computer science, is computational modeling. Modeling the biological system in a computer simulation gives us insights into developmental mechanisms, and helps us identify the gaps in our understanding of the biological system. These insights suggest new experiments, which our experimental collaborators test in the wet-lab.

What will be your task?
You will be building and analyzing dynamical models of lateral root initiation, in close collaboration with molecular biologists in the research group Root Development headed by Dr. Tom Beeckman. Lateral roots originate from cells in the root basal meristem, a proliferating tissue region just above the root tip, forming a regular branching pattern with evenly spaced lateral roots. The crucial signal for initiating the lateral root is most likely the phytohormone auxin. Auxin levels oscillate at a period of around 15 hours, precisely coinciding with the rhythm by which new lateral roots appear. Our modeling project aims at unraveling the mechanisms behind these oscillating auxin flows, which may be driven by a dynamics interaction between auxin and the production and cellular localization of its transporter proteins, including PIN, AUX and LAX. In the second part of your project you will also include root growth and the tightly orchestrated cell divisions following lateral root initiation.

Your background
For this challenging project that should lead to a Ph.D dissertation we are looking for a motivated MSc in Biology or Biotechnology with interest and affinity for mathematics and computer science, or an MSc in physics, applied mathematics or computer science with interest and affinity for biology. Programming experience (C++ or similar) and experience in biological modeling are a big plus.

What do we offer?
This project gives you the opportunity to get a Ph.D in systems biology, in an energetic, international, multi-disciplinary environment. We have funding for four years, but we encourage you to apply for external funds. Interested? Send us your cv and motivated letter of application, to:

Dr. Roeland Merks / Plant Systems Modeling group
Departement Plant Systems Biology, VIB
en Moleculaire Genetica, Universiteit Gent
Technologiepark 927, 9052 Gent, België
Tel: +32 09 33 13695
roeland.merks@psb.ugent.be

VIA: official announcement