Project assistant research data management/IT

Job description

We are looking for a proactive project assistant in the large European cohort, biobank and rare disease projects for which we provide the IT infrastructure: FAIR data catalogues and analysis networks, multi-center cohort studies, patient registries, and large genomics datasets, federated analysis, mostly using open source software packages such as MOLGENIS. In large NL and EU research projects, you will be the link between the data managers of our data partners (cohorts, registries and hospitals), the researchers making use of those data, and our own data managers, software developers and project managers. We not only support the data partners and researchers technically, but we also need to urge them to make the necessary changes in their IT infrastructure to enable the cataloging (FAIR) and (federated) data analysis-ready making of the data. Your role will be to smooth and monitor that process. You will be part of a social, multi-site, multi-disciplinary team of data managers, software developers and project managers involved in large-scale EU-funded projects whose aim is to improve the ‘life course health’ of citizens and patients, and to make researchers happy.

Working environment

We offer an exciting multidisciplinary environment with many international collaborations in the area of biobanking, cohorts, (rare) disease, multi-omics and data science/bioinformatics. The position is part of the Genomics Coordination Centre (GCC), the ‘big data science’ research & service hub of the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG) and University of Groningen (rank 66 worldwide, 3rd best place to work in EU), hosted by the Department of Genetics. Our mission is to accelerate scientific discovery in health data with innovative methods and tools that expedite medical research and improve people's lives, using open source software and large computer ‘clouds’, in particular the MOLGENIS software that we lead, but also DataSHIELD, Singularity, RedCap, XNAT, OpenStack etc. GCC is at the heart of the exciting big data transformation in life sciences, with large population biobanks and patient cohorts and new biotechnologies producing terabytes of epidemiological genetic, molecular and imaging data, high performance computing and machine learning, offering unprecedented possibilities to diagnose disease and improve health status. You will be part of a social and ambitious team of 1 professor, 2 postdocs, 5 project/team leaders, 8 scientific software developers, 4 data managers and 4 Phd students, all on a mission to enable large scale integrated health data analyses towards better understanding and prediction of disease and health.

What do we need

The ideal candidate:

• has the ‘organiser gene’;
• is independent, proactive, outreaching and good at bringing people together;
• has experience in dealing with customers / users;
• has experience in project work, ideally in innovative data/software/computing intensive projects;
• communicates easily in speech and writing (most importantly in English, and in Dutch is a pre);
• training and experience as a scientist or engineer in genetics, informatics or bioinformatics is a pre;
• is prepared to travel;
• the ideal candidate also has experience in data management (Excel, CSV, possibly SQL, R and Python).

The UMCG has a preventive Hepatitis B policy. The UMCG can provide you with the vaccination, should it be required for your position.
In case of specific professions a ‘Certificate of Good Conduct’ is required.

What do we offer

An appointment of 0.8-1.0 FTE (32 - 36 hours a week) for 1 year with the intention to extend, embedding in a dynamic department of top biobank and genetic researchers, a large group of data scientists, and the opportunity to work internationally.
Your salary will be a maximum of €4.632,- gross per month (scale 9), depending on your qualifications and relevant experience, based on a full-time appointment. In addition, the UMCG will offer you 8% holiday pay, and 8.3% end-of-year bonus. The conditions of employment comply with the Collective Labour Agreement for Medical Centres (CAO-UMC).

For questions about the position

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