Data engineer or bioinformatician

Are you an IT-professional excited about both data and neuroscience? Join the Netherlands Brain Bank’s development of a database and tools to support worldwide research.

The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN) is an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). We aim to explain how circuits of neurons enable us to see the world and act upon it. The Netherlands Brain Bank (NBB), a department of the NIN, registers brain donors and provides well-characterized human brain tissue to scientific researchers worldwide. The NBB operates with an open-access and non-profit policy, processing 200–300 tissue requests annually from both academic and pharmaceutical research groups.

The Netherlands Neurogenomics Database (NND) project, initiated by the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) and the NBB, aims to transform the extensive clinical and neuropathological information NBB donors into standardized assessments of clinical signs and symptoms and neuropathological traits and to integrate genetic data. The ultimate goal is to make these comprehensive datasets openly accessible to the scientific community. The NBB will renew and expand its ICT infrastructure and increase the accessibility of NND data, supported by the recently awarded ZonMW Hoofdzaken grant: the Netherlands Neurogenomics Database (NND) 2.0 project.

To support these activities, we are looking for a skilled and motivated data engineer or bioinformatician.

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Co-development of new database and database management systems (DBMS) for administration, sample storage and management, and donor data in collaboration with internal and external partners.
• Co-development of the interfaces for the visualization of multimodal donor data, such as clinical, pathological and genetic data in an Azure cloud based environment together with the project collaborators at UMCG and AUMC.
• Managing interoperability and data flow between the two environments, including developing API-based solutions and integrating NND algorithm derived data into the NBB’s tissue dissemination workflows.
• Interaction with NBB colleagues, UMCG bioinformatics collaborators, the IT department, and external parties in the co-development of the NBB IT infrastructure.

Requirements

• A completed BSc, MSc, or PhD in bioinformatics, computer science, or a related field
• Experience with database management (e.g., SQL), data integration and ontologies
• Knowledge of or interest in biological and clinical data, such as genetics, pathology, or neuroscience, such as electronic health care records
• Programming skills (e.g., Python, R, JavaScript, Git), and experience with data formats such as VCF, JSON, large image data is a plus
• Experience with developing software with DevOps mindset, e.g. streamlining automation, continuous delivery, and cross-functional collaboration
• Experience developing software using DevOps principles, including automation and continuous delivery
• Comfortable working in Linux-based environments; experience with cloud infrastructure (e.g. Azure, AWS, GCP) is a plus
• A team player with excellent communication skills in Dutch and/or English who enjoys collaboration with a multidisciplinary team.

We are looking for someone who brings a solid technical foundation and is eager to grow into the role. We acknowledge that candidates may not have all listed skills. However, whether your strength lies more in cloud infrastructure, data integration, or tool development, we encourage you to apply!

About us

The Netherlands Brain Bank (NBB) is driven by a dedicated team of 18 employees, based at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN) in Amsterdam. We collaborate closely with four pathologists and with technicians at the Amsterdam UMC, and with a team of 10 on-call autopsy professionals who perform autopsies during evenings and weekends. In addition, we closely collaborate with colleagues from the UMC Groningen and Amsterdam UMC on several projects.

At the NBB, we foster an informal yet professional working environment that emphasizes support and collaboration. Each tissue request brings unique challenges, which we meet with a solution-oriented and innovative mindset.

About the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience

The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience is the country’s leading fundamental neuroscience research institute, in the international and progressive city of Amsterdam. It provides a critical mass of scientists (spanning more than 27 nationalities) and neuroscience facilities, in a highly interactive, dynamic, multi-cultural environment, with English as the working language.

Diversity & Inclusion

The KNAW considers a working environment in which everyone feels welcome and appreciated of great importance. A working environment in which attention is paid to individual quality and where development opportunities are paramount. Together we strive for an inclusive culture in which we embrace differences. We would therefore like to invite candidates who want to contribute to this through their background and experience. In the event of equal suitability, preference will be given to the candidate who thus enhances diversity within the Academy.