utrecht university phd biology

Theoretical Biology & Bioinformatics

• Publications
• Positions available
• Bachelor program
• Master program
• PhD program
• Honours program (Qbio)
• Advanced courses
• Minor biology for math/physics students
• Useful links and documents
• Rob de Boer
• Berend Snel
• Kirsten ten Tusscher
• Paulien Hogeweg
• Monica Garcia Gomez
• Rutger Hermsen
• Michael Seidl
• Basten Snoek
• Daniel Tamarit
• Erika Tsingos
• Bram van Dijk
• Ronald Bontrop

Teaching programs

• Minor biology for math/physics students (in Dutch)

PhD program Computational Life Sciences (CLS)

The CLS PhD program is organized by the Theoretical Biology and Bioinformatics group of the Institute for Biodynamics and Biocomplexity performing interdisciplinary research that combines biology, physics, chemistry and mathematics to understand living systems at different organization levels from individual molecules, such as DNA, lipids and proteins, to cells and model organisms. Through close interaction between experimentation, theory and simulation, we aim to achieve a systems-level understanding of complex dynamic processes and their evolution. One possible route into this program is via the graduate program Quantitative Biology , which allows the best students to write their own PhD proposal.

Current expertise in the Computational Life Sciences PhD program involves a variety of biological disciplines and computational approaches. Biological areas that we cover are genome evolution, eco-evolutionary dynamics, gene regulatory networks, immunology, cell motility, development, and spatial pattern formation. This enables the PhD program to train students in Systems Biology in a variety of biological backgrounds. We cover computational approaches ranging from large scale bioinformatic data analysis, varying from genomic to gene expression data, mathematical analysis, to computational modeling, where the latter varies from the Cellular Potts model that is used to study development, evolutionary computation, to discrete-event agent based computer simulation models.

The main objective of the Computational Life Sciences PhD program is to train students to become excellent and independent researchers in Theoretical Biology and Bioinformatics, with solid expertise in modeling and bioinformatics, and a good interdisciplinary knowledge in the life sciences. Specifically, students should be able to

• critically read and judge both theoretical and experimental publications in their area of expertise,
• write scientific papers for international peer-reviewed journals, reporting their findings and interpreting these in their biological context,
• present their results on posters and presentations at international scientific conferences and workshops,
• be able to communicate with members of interdisciplinary research teams (students with a theoretical background have to understand the underlying biology, and biologists should master the innovations in computational biology),
• supervise master students, discuss scientific results with peer scientists, communicate with editors,
• formulate new exciting research questions from their own research and new findings reported by others,
• to participate in scientific discussions at an international level, and
• write competitive research proposals.

Program committee.

The Computational Life Sciences PhD program is part of the Graduate School of Life Sciences and the Life Sciences and Biocomplexity focus area of Utrecht University. The director of the program is Prof. Dr. Rob J. de Boer . All staff members of the Theoretical Biology and Bioinformatics group in this focus area will supervise PhD students, give courses, run journal clubs, and international seminars.

Admission criteria.

In the past we have attracted PhD students from all over the world and with various scientific backgrounds. The basic requirement for admission is a relevant and sufficient scientific background in Computational Life Sciences, and financial support to pay for the PhD position. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of our PhD program the admission criteria will have to be flexible and individualized. The track Theoretical Biology and Bioinformatics in the master program Biology and Biocomplexity of the Graduate School of Life Sciences provides an optimal preparation for a PhD in Computational Life Sciences. Students with a master education in mathematics or physics can also be admitted by taking additional courses in the relevant biological areas and/or modeling and bioinformatics. Similarly, students with a biological master, but an insufficient background in modeling and bioinformatics, will have to repair these computational skills to be admitted to the school. An excellent course for repairing deficiencies in background is the MSc course ``Bioinformatic Processes" that is mandatory for all MSc students in our MSc track Theoretical Biology and Bioinformatics.

Implementation.

PhD students will be supervised by at least one of the staff members of the Theoretical Biology and Bioinformatics group. We recommentd the PhD student and the supervising staff member to formulate an appropriate Course Plan together. The contents of the educational program, and the quality of the program, i.e., the scientific level of the courses the PhD student will attend, are the responsibility of the supervising staff member and the program coordinator. After the PhD has been completed, any PhD student with 20 ECTs is eligible for a Graduate School of Life Sciences certificate.

PhD students in our group attend the advanced courses that we give ourselves, and various other national and international courses. Examples of schools and courses attended by our PhD students:

• Summer school "Complexity" of the Santa Fe Institute
• Advanced immunology courses given by the Eijkmanschool
• Statistical and programming courses in R and Bioconductor
• "In Vivo Imaging - from Molecule to Organism" Optical Imaging Centre, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam.
• The EMBO Practical Workshop on Multilevel modelling of Morphogenesis given at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK.
• General courses on statistics, writing papers, and giving presentations.

In Holland PhD positions come with a salary. This means that the group has to have funding to hire you as a PhD student. Check our webpage Positions to check whether we have open PhD positions available. Note that we always require a solid background in Theoretical Biology and/or Bioinformatics and a genuine interest in biology. Theoretical Biology & Bioinformatics / Last modified on 20 July 2020 / Webmaster: R.J.DeBoer@uu.nl

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Environmental Biology

On this site you can find all the information of the Master's programme Environmental Biology.

The Master's programme in Environmental Biology offers you the opportunity to explore different organisational levels of life – from genes, cells, and organisms to populations and entire ecosystems. In this programme, you will study the fundamental life processes of plants, animals and microbes. The programme offers you considerable freedom to choose a specific field within Environmental Biology.

Career prospects

Environmental Biology trains you to a high academic level. You will, individually or in a team, be challenged to address fundamental and applied environmental problems. You will learn about the most modern experimental and mathematical methods and techniques and also how to apply molecular and genetic tools to a wide range of biological problems.

Our programme is directly linked to the PhD programme Environmental Biology of the Graduate School of Life Sciences.

Research and relations

The following examples illustrate typical research questions in environmental biology:.

• How does global change affect biodiversity?
• How can we manage our natural resources in a sustainable manner?
• How do plants adapt to biotic and abiotic stress?
• How do plants develop and respond to light?
• How can we learn from nature to design sustainable next-generation crops?
• What can we learn from microbes in nature and make them useful for mankind?
• How can animal behaviour be explained from an ecological and evolutionary perspective?

The following research groups at Utrecht University and external partners participate in the Master's programme Environmental Biology:

• Plant-Microbe Interactions
• Plant Stress Resilience
• Plant-Environment Signaling
• Translational Plant Biology
• Animal Behaviour and Cognition
• Ecology and Biodiversity
• Microbiology
• Palaeo-ecology  (Faculty of Geosciences)
• Energy and Resources  (Faculty of Geosciences)
• Animals in Science and Society  (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine)
• Netherlands Institute of Ecology
• The Antwerp Zoo Centre for Research and Conservation  of the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp

Follow the GSLS

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The research school Cancer, Stem Cells & Developmental biology (CS&D) is part of the Utrecht Graduate School of Life Sciences and combines about 100 research groups from Utrecht University, the University Medical Center Utrecht, the Hubrecht Institute for Developmental Biology and Stem Cell Research, and the Princess Maxima Center for pediatric oncology. The school offers two programmes:

• The Master's programme
• The PhD programme

Seminar Schedule

Qbio honours programme

• Qbio Research Proposal
• Qbio Symposiums
• Graduate School of Life Sciences
• Graduate School of Natural Sciences
• Qbio symposiums

Quantitative Biology & Computational Life Sciences

1. qbio honours master programme, the programme has the following components:, 2. qbio cls phd programme (closed), application:, more information, participating groups within the ibb, affiliated groups at utrecht university.

• Grant & Award News
• Research News
• Press release (in Dutch)
• Announcements
• Anna Akhmanova: Cellular Dynamics
• Lukas Kapitein: Biophysics
• Florian Berger: Theoretical Biophysics
• Agathe Chaigne: Cell division dynamics
• Ginny Farías: Neuronal Organelle Dynamics
• Martin Harterink: C. elegans neurobiology
• Casper Hoogenraad: Molecular Neuroscience
• Maarten Kole: Axonal Signalling
• Harold MacGillavry: Synapse organization
• Sabrina Oliveira: Molecular Targeted Therapies
• Ihor Smal: Image Analysis, Smart Microscopy and AI
• Frederik Verweij: Extracellular Vesicle Biology
• Teaching Staff
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• Bachelor Thesis/Research
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• Master Internships
• PhD Courses
• Summerschool
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• Past lab members
• Neuro retreat
• Positions available
• Publications
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Division of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Biophysics Department of Biology Faculty of Science Utrecht University Padualaan 8, 3584 CH, Utrecht The Netherlands Tel.: +31 30 2534230 Webmaster

Utrecht University Life Sciences Science for Life Institute of Biodynamics and Biocomplexity

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Utrecht University

Utrecht University provides high-quality teaching. All programmes meet stringent quality requirements. Students may expect challenging teaching by professional and inspiring teachers, who provide careful guidance and invite students to discuss scientific issues. A Graduate School consists of a number of graduate and PhD programmes dealing with related subjects. They create a meeting place for graduate students, PhD candidates and researchers. The graduate and PhD programmes of Utrecht University have been classified in six Graduate Schools: Graduate School of Geosciences Graduate School of Humanities Graduate School of Law, Economics and Governance Graduate School of Life Sciences connected to > Medical School > Veterinary School > School of Pharmacy Graduate School of Natural Sciences Graduate School of Social and Behavioural Sciences

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• Principal Investigators
• Research Units

UU Plants is embedded in the Institute of  Environmental Biology  in the  Department of Biology  at the Faculty of Science at Utrecht University.

Our mission is to discover novel molecular, genetic and physiological mechanisms of how plants interact with and adapt to their biotic and abiotic environments.

Our aims: Use this knowledge to address pressing societal challenges such as food security, biodiversity decline and the transition to sustainable agriculture. Train and educate the next generation of plant biologists.

Research groups

Plant Stress Resilience

“Exploring plant resilience to climatic stressors”

Plant-Microbe Interactions

“Exploring the plant’s natural immune system”

Experimental and Computational Plant Dev.

“Exploring plant development and its adaptation to environmental stresses”

Translational Plant Biology

“Exploring plant science to improve crops”

Recent articles

Fully automatic monitoring of plant growth, development and disease progression with helios.

Thanks to Helios, a new research installation that is part of the  Netherlands Plant Eco-phenotyping Centre (NPEC) , it is now possible to automatically monitor the growth and development of more than a thousand plants, while gaining insights into how microorganisms affect…

Recent news

Theoretical Biology & Bioinformatics

• Publications
• Positions available
• Bachelor program
• Master program
• PhD program
• Honours program (Qbio)
• Advanced courses
• Minor biology for math/physics students
• Useful links and documents
• Rob de Boer
• Berend Snel
• Kirsten ten Tusscher
• Paulien Hogeweg
• Monica Garcia Gomez
• Rutger Hermsen
• Michael Seidl
• Basten Snoek
• Daniel Tamarit
• Erika Tsingos
• Bram van Dijk
• Ronald Bontrop

Research groups

• De Boer group
• Ten Tusscher group
• Hogeweg group
• Garcia group
• Hermsen group
• Kesmir group
• Dutilh group
• Seidl group
• Snoek group
• Tamarit group
• Tsingos group
• Van Dijk group
• Bontrop group

Microbial Genome Evolution Team

Michael f seidl, curriculum vitae, work experience, phd research, diploma (dipl. biol. univ.).

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PhD Programmes

Phd vacancies.

See the job listings to find available PhD positions at Utrecht University. Please note that the job listing includes all university-wide vacancies.

See the types of PhD positions for the different ways you can start a doctoral program.

Utrecht University Heidelberglaan 8 3584 CS Utrecht The Netherlands Tel. +31 (0)30 253 35 50