Transform your infectious disease modeling expertise into direct public health impact. Your mathematical models and statistical analyses will inform national health policy, intervention strategies, and outbreak responses that protect the Netherlands' 17+ million residents—collaborating with one of Europe's leading infectious disease research teams and access to world-class surveillance and research data.

What are you going to do

We are seeking an enthusiastic and highly-motivated scientist to conduct research on the spread of infectious diseases using mathematical, statistical, and computational models. You will lead and coordinate complex modelling projects, both in terms of content and project management. In these projects you develop models to describe the spread of infections and the impact of control measures, with an international team of modellers and health economists. The models will help interpret data collected in the field, be tested against epidemiological data, and lead to a rational basis for calculating the costs and benefits of interventions. You will get the opportunity to advise policymakers and improve public health. Recent examples of complex modelling projects include COVID-19 transmission modeling that influenced national policy, evaluating improvements of the pneumococcal vaccination programme, analyzing mpox outbreaks, and estimation of the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions.

The post is set within the Modelling department within the Center for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Surveillance. You will work in close collaboration with colleagues from other departments. You will be expected to develop and maintain effective collaborations with epidemiologists, microbiologists, health economists and policy-makers in a multi-disciplinary environment. You maintain and expand a relevant network with stakeholders, collaborate with academic and non-academic institutions, conduct research, initiate and successfully complete modelling projects. You will communicate study results to relevant stakeholders e.g. the Health Council of the Netherlands and advise policy makers. You are expected to monitor the scientific quality of models, advice, reports and manuscripts, and publish the methods developed and modelling results in high impact peer-reviewed scientific journals.

What makes this position unique

• Working closely together with colleagues from different expertise, such as epidemiologists, mathematical modelers, medical specialists, virologists, immunologists.
• Direct contribution to advice that informs Dutch national health policy
• Access to excellent data sources
• Work with internationally recognized team
• International environment with English as working language
• Possibility to fulfill this position as a part-time secondment (but at least 3 days a week)

More about the RIVM

At the RIVM over 3000 colleagues work together towards a healthy population living in a sustainable, safe and healthy environment. The center for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Surveillance (EPI), part of the Center for Infectious Disease Control, collects data to follow the situation regarding infectious diseases in the Dutch population. For this purpose, EPI uses data from surveillance to obtain timely insights into trends and risks related to infectious diseases. EPI conducts epidemiological research, including infectious disease outbreak investigation. Also we assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of control measures. EPI focuses on the effectiveness of the National Immunization Program, healthcare-associated infections, antimicrobial resistance, respiratory infections, enteral and vector-born infections, and zoonotic infections. This work is supported by strong methodological expertise in the area of surveillance, biostatistics, and mathematical modelling. The results of our work are used by, amongst others, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports, the Health Council and Municipal Public Health Services, to develop policy or advice. As RIVM we also provide recommendations on potential interventions. EPI consists of various professional teams, which are characterized by professional expertise and respect for everyone's input.

The team

You will be part of the Department for Infectious Disease Modelling within EPI. This is an open, dynamic, international and stimulating group of infectious disease modellers, health economists, a research software engineer and a research project manager. The group includes 10 senior researchers, 2 postdocs, 5 PhD students. We are an international group with 20 members coming from 6 different countries. We have English as our working language. We maintain numerous collaborative links with external academic and non-academic institutions, such as Imperial College London, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of Hong Kong. We work half of the time from home and the other half from the office in combination with flexible working hours. We nurture a collaborative, supportive atmosphere with respect for each other. In the team we connect with each other via our passion for the work that we do and the social impact we can make. We take our responsibilities seriously as we are one of the leading research groups in this field.

For more information, please visit the websites:

https://www.rivm.nl/en/coronavirus-covid-19/modelling.

https://www.rivm.nl/infectieziektebestrijding/modelleren

Apply and more information
You can fill in your application via this website (apply-button) and direct your motivation letter to Jacco Wallinga, head of the Modelling department. For more information about the job or the procedure, please contact via [email protected] .

At the RIVM we have one of the best collective labor agreements in the Netherlands, namely that of the national government. In addition to a good salary, we have attractive employment conditions such as an individual choice budget of 16.5% of your gross annual salary over which you are in control. You can have a part paid out every month or buy or sell extra days off. In addition, we offer tax benefits to pay off your student debt, for example. We are also a caregiver-friendly organization. Want to know more? Read more about it under the heading 'other employment conditions'.

Who are you

We are looking for someone with a PhD in physical sciences (physics, applied mathematics, computer science, mathematical biology, bioinformatics). Essential qualifications include on the one hand demonstrated scientific excellence in the field of infectious disease modelling and statistical analysis of infectious disease data, and on the other hand demonstrated leadership in modelling projects. You have an ability to deal creatively with rapid changes in this dynamic research field. You have an active interest in addressing epidemiological questions in order to improve public health, and willingness to work as part of an (inter)national and multi-disciplinary scientific team. You have political and organizational sensitivity. You are a strong communicator, and have experience in communicating modelling results with research teams, stakeholders and policy makers. You have a professional level of verbal and written communication in English. As you will encounter policy documents written in Dutch, we require a Dutch reading level of at least C1, and a professional proficiency in Dutch is recommended. Please make sure this is apparent in your resume.

Requirements:

• A publication record showing scientific excellence in the field of modelling infectious disease of humans, with at least 10 publications as first author in high-impact journals.
• Extensive experience with programming for modelling, data analysis and visualization, preferably using R.
• Extensive experience in supervising PhD students.
• A track record in acquisition and successful completion of research projects.
• A relevant international network with academic and non-academic partners.
• Demonstrated experience in maintaining an overview of various projects and coordinating them with each other.
• Ability to operate independently, make sound judgements, distinguish between main and secondary issues and act effectively - while coordinating with the head of the Modelling department when needed.
• Ability to navigate a complex environment with different interests and drives.
• Excellent communication skills in English, speaking and writing, and a Dutch reading level of at least C1.
• Ability to explain complex information to collaborating partners from multidisciplinary fields, and to the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports.

Bij het RIVM hebben we één van de beste CAO's van Nederland, namelijk die van de Rijksoverheid. Naast een goed salaris hebben we aantrekkelijke arbeidsvoorwaarden zoals een Individueel Keuzebudget van 16.5 % van je bruto jaarsalaris waarover je zelf de regie hebt. Je kunt iedere maand een deel laten uitbetalen of extra vrije dagen kopen of verkopen. Daarnaast bieden we fiscale voordelen om bijvoorbeeld je studieschuld af te lossen. Ook zijn we een mantelzorgvriendelijke organisatie. Meer weten? Lees er meer over onder de kop ‘overige arbeidsvoorwaarden’.

Vragen we in de vacaturetekst om een motivatiebrief en kun je wat hulp gebruiken om deze te schrijven? Lees dan deze tips.
Informatie over solliciteren bij het RIVM:

• Bij je indiensttreding vragen we altijd om een Verklaring Omtrent Gedrag (VOG);
• Als je solliciteert als 'van-werk-naar-werkkandidaat' of als 'herplaatsingskandidaat', stuur dan een kopie van je aanwijzingsbrief mee;
• Werk je nu via een uitzend- detacheringsbureau bij de Rijksoverheid, vermeld dit dan ajb in je brief;
• Het RIVM zet zich in om medewerkers in dienst te nemen die onder de doelgroep van de Wet Banenafspraak vallen. Meer weten? Klik hier;
• Bij het RIVM ben je welkom zoals je bent. Wij zijn ervan overtuigd dat diversiteit in een team de samenwerking en de uitkomst sterker maakt. Daarnaast wordt betrokkenheid van medewerkers bij medezeggenschap gewaardeerd;
• Wij volgen de Recruiter Code en gaan zorgvuldig met je persoonsgegevens om;
• Voor een volledig beeld van de zakelijke achtergrond van sollicitanten raadplegen we soms LinkedIn;
• Deze vacature gaat offline na de sluitingsdatum, vergeet dus niet om de tekst te downloaden en op te slaan. Het kan zijn dat na deze datum deze vacature nog (onbedoeld) vindbaar is op diverse jobboards. De sluitingsdatum op werkenvoornederland.nl is leidend.