Junior Research Professor of Radiopharmacy

Research professor Radiopharmacy

As part of its dynamic research policy, and supported by the possibilities offered by the Flemish Government through the resources of the University Research Fund (Dutch: Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds, BOF), the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences has the following full-time vacancy:

Position

As a member of the senior academic staff (Dutch: Zelfstandig Academisch Personeel, ZAP), you will contribute to the University of Antwerp’s three core tasks: research, services and education. Your role may also include organisational and managerial aspects. As a research professor, your role will consist primarily of academic research with some limited involvement in the educational programmes for a maximum of 10 years.

Research

• You will develop high-quality scientific research research at an internationally competitive level in the field of Radiopharmacy. You are responsible for the development, validation and translation of PET and SPECT radiopharmaceuticals for in vivo imaging of cancer and neurological diseases.
• You will initiate new lines of research and coordinate the progress of scientific research projects. You will also participate in ongoing research programmes.
• You acquire and manage national and international research funding.
• You publish the obtained results at the highest scientific level in specialty international journals.
• You will cooperate with other research groups within the University of Antwerp, and develop an international scientific network.
• You will supervise master and PhD students, and postdoctoral researchers.
• You are able to identify and pursue potential valorization of your research results in cooperation with a valorization manager  

Services

• You play a role in the provision of both academic services and service to society, within the institution and externally. You provide relevant support to the Molecular Imaging Center Antwerp (MICA) and the Department of Nuclear Medicine (UZA).
• You participate in boards and commissions of the faculty or University, and in scientific communities.

Education

• You provide high-quality education in Radiopharmacy.
• Your limited teaching role evolves along with the study programmes. You participate in following courses : Radiopharmacy (3sp) (2012FBDFGO), Nuclear biomedical Imaging: focus on Oncology (2043FBDBMW) en “aanvullingen in de Nucleaire Geneeskunde” (3003GENNUC)
• You play a role in developing activating, student-centred and competence-driven programme components and study programmes.

Organisation and leadership

• You accept coordinating responsibilities <in the core tasks of research, services and/or education> and you contribute to policy.
• Your leadership style is motivating and coaching. You are attentive to your employees’ growth and development processes.

Profile

• You hold a PhD in (radio) Pharmaceutical Sciences. You have experience in the development, production and in vivo evaluation of PET and SPECT tracers.
• You can demonstrate a minimum of two years of postdoctoral experience (when you start work, at the latest) with development of radiopharmaceuticals (chemical design and synthesis, radiochemistry and characterization, in vitro and in vivo preclinical validation studies and translation to human use).
• You combine a strong chemical with an in-depth chemical biology expertise and you have relevant experience in developing and evaluating radiotracers for in vivo molecular imaging.
• You have an international academic portfolio and you conduct high-quality academic research.
• Your research qualities are in line with the faculty and university research policies.
• Your teaching competences are in line with the University of Antwerp’s educational vision. You are motivated to develop your teaching skills further through the professionalisation opportunities available.
• If you do not master Dutch, the administrative language of the university, you should be willing to obtain a CEFR B2 level of proficiency in Dutch within five years after your appointment. As soon as you take on teaching duties as a course unit coordinator, you should be able to demonstrate a CEFR C1 level of proficiency in the language of instruction. The University of Antwerp supports international staff members on an integration trajectory and offers tailor-made language coaching in compliance with Flanders’ statutory language regulations. 
• You demonstrate leadership potential and organisational skills.
• You act with attention to quality, integrity, creativity and cooperation.

What we offer

• We offer a full-time ZAPBOF appointment as a tenure track lecturer for a period of five years. Following a favourable evaluation, this period is followed by permanent appointment (tenure) as a senior lecturer.
• In the event of a positive evaluation after the first five-year period, you may continue in your role as a research professor with limited teaching responsibilities for a maximum of ten years in total, allowing you to further strengthen your research portfolio. This tenure track ZAPBOF period is then followed by a standard position as a member of the senior academic staff with a mixture of teaching, research and service responsibilities.
• Your gross monthly salary is calculated according to the pay scales for senior academic staff.            
• We offer an attractive starter package consisting of a four-year PhD project and € 50 000 of consumables
• The planned start date is October 1, 2021 or as soon as possible after that date.
• You will do most of your work at CDE and UZA (radiopharmacy and cyclotron unit), in a dynamic and stimulating working environment.
• Find out more about working at the University of Antwerp here and discover all the other benefits.

Want to apply?

• You can apply for this vacancy through the University of Antwerp’s online job application platform up to and including January 18, 2021 (by midnight Brussels time). Click on 'apply', complete the online application form and don’t forget to include the following documents: (1) your motivation letter, (2) the completed job application appendix for ZAP, (3) your academic CV, (4) a detailed research plan for the next five years (approx. 5 000 words, including a concise description (1 page) of the intended PhD research (see starter package), (5) a report on your previous scientific research activities (maximum 5 000 words), (6) two abstracts on the scientific content of the research plan (one scientific abstract and one abstract in layman’s terms of maximum 500 words or 4 000 characters each). All documents must be submitted in English.
• The selection committee will review all of the applications as soon as possible after the application deadline. As soon as a decision has been made, we will inform you about the next steps in the selection procedure.
• If you have any questions about the online application form, please check the frequently asked questions or send an email to jobs@uantwerpen.be. If you have any questions about the job itself, please contact  prof. dr. Steven Staelens, steven.staelens@uantwerpen.be or +32 3 265 28 20. If you have any questions about the typical appointment framework for this research role, please contact the (TT)ZAPBOF officer in the Department of Research Affairs & Innovation, Marianne De Voecht (0032 3 265 30 29).

The University of Antwerp received the European Commission’s HR Excellence in Research Award for its HR policy. We are a sustainable, family-friendly organisation which invests in its employees’ growth. We encourage diversity and attach great importance to an inclusive working environment and equal opportunities, regardless of gender identity, disability, race, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation or age. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds and with diverse characteristics to apply.