Postdoc Clinical Artificial Intelligence to Transform Intensive Care Medicine

Working at Amsterdam UMC

Postdoc Clinical Artificial Intelligence to Transform Intensive Care Medicine

Are you passionate about leveraging artificial intelligence to transform healthcare? We are looking for a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to join our multidisciplinary team at the forefront of intensive care medicine and machine learning.

The project

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the world, and intensive care medicine provides an ideal environment for its application. Caring for critically ill patients requires frequent, high-stakes, sequential decision-making based on vast amounts of highly granular data from electronic health records—drawing on laboratory results, imaging, clinical notes, and a broad range of monitoring and life-support devices.

At the multidisciplinary Center for Critical Care Computational Intelligence, within the Department of Intensive Care Medicine, our mission is to harness these data to improve outcomes for future critically ill patients. Our "bytes to bedside" approach spans data sharing, data science, machine learning, model development, and integration into clinical decision support systems. We focus not only on developing and deploying these models and tools at the bedside but also on rigorously evaluating their impact on outcomes that truly matter to patients and their families.

About your role

In this position, you will develop, validate, and implement AI models that support and improve decision-making in the intensive care unit (ICU). Projects may include predictive models for patient deterioration, treatment policy optimization using reinforcement learning, and explainable AI for clinical decision support. The focus is on clinically relevant, ethically sound, and practically implementable AI that can be translated into real-world practice.

You will also play a key role in mentoring PhD students within our Center and contribute to grant writing activities that advance research in this rapidly evolving field. You will collaborate closely with intensive care medical specialists, junior doctors, PhD students, data scientists, and clinical information technologists. Depending on your background and interests, the position can be tailored towards methodological development, clinical validation, or real-world implementation.

About you

• PhD in machine learning, computer science, biomedical engineering, or a related field.
• Strong programming skills (e.g., Python, PyTorch, scikit-learn).
• Affinity with clinical applications and interdisciplinary collaboration.
• A proactive and independent research attitude.
• Excellent communication skills in English (Dutch is a plus, not required).

In addition to that, having experience with reinforcement learning and healthcare data (EHRs, ICU data) are a plus.

Our offer

• Put your AI skills to work on challenges that truly matter—to people and society.
• Work at the forefront of artificial intelligence and intensive care medicine.
• Plenty of room for your drive to shape tomorrow's healthcare.
• Work on highly visible large scale projects with colleagues from all over the world.
• We offer a 24-month fixed-term contract, with the intention to transition to a permanent position contingent on successful joint grant acquisition.
• Holiday hours: 190.4 per year for full-time and a possibility to save additional hours.
• Pension accrual with BeFrank, a modern, comprehensible and fairly priced pension.
• For >7 km each way, 100% reimbursement for public transport travel costs and, for private transport, €0.18 per km up to a maximum of 40 km each way.
• Do you prefer walking or cycling? Take advantage of our good bike scheme. Moreover, you will receive a reimbursement of €0.18 per km.

About your workplace

The Center for Critical Care Computational Intelligence, led by Dr. Paul Elbers (intensivist and associate professor of intensive care medicine), enjoys international recognition in the fields of data science, data sharing, and artificial intelligence in intensive care. The Center is world-renowned for bringing data-driven models to the bedside of critically ill patients and for pioneering large-scale data sharing initiatives — including the release of the world’s first freely available intensive care database. Currently, more than ten PhD candidates are affiliated with our Center, where there is close collaboration between intensivists, residents, data scientists, PhD students, and clinical informaticians. The working atmosphere is informal, with flexibility in working hours and location.

The center boasts an extensive network and collaborates with leading national and international groups, such as the machine learning departments of Vrije Universiteit (Prof. Mark Hoogendoorn), the University of Cambridge (Prof. Mihaela van der Schaar), and the Laboratory for Computational Physiology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Dr. Leo Celi). Additionally, our group is closely involved with Amsterdam Medical Data Science and Amsterdam AI.

The Center is embedded within the Department of Intensive Care at Amsterdam UMC, a tertiary referral center for intensive care medicine for all specialties at two locations. The department holds a top international position in several research areas. In the ICU, we collaborate on research within a large team led by seven principal investigators (PIs). In total, around 40 PhD students and 5 postdocs are affiliated with the department. The collaboration among PhD students across all PIs is unique. There are weekly research meetings and many social activities.

Amsterdam UMC Research BV supports non-profit scientific research. It provides researchers with everything they need to excel. Our principal investigators (PIs) and project leaders offer support in project management, finance, and human resources. For medical-scientific research projects, legal support is also provided.

Amsterdam UMC has an open culture. This means that we hope that everyone feels welcome in our organization and that we strive to offer equal opportunities to everyone. We therefore cordially invite all interested parties to respond to this vacancy.

"The collaboration among PhD students across all PIs is unique. There are weekly research meetings and many social activities." Dr. Paul Elbers, Intensivist and Associate Professor of Intensive Care Medicine