PhD: Implementation strategies for safe virus research in EU labs

Amsterdam UMC is seeking a doctoral candidate to join the EU-funded MERIT Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions doctoral network, focusing on biosafety and implementation science in high-risk pathogen research. The project explores the gap between biosafety guidelines and everyday laboratory practice by identifying key drivers and barriers to safety compliance using qualitative and mixed methods. The successful candidate will collaborate with laboratory staff, supervisors, and international partners to pilot and evaluate context-sensitive implementation strategies across European institutions. This four-year position offers comprehensive multidisciplinary training, secondments across Europe, and participation in specialized entrepreneurial and biosafety programs.

• Identify behavioral, social, and organizational determinants of safety compliance using literature reviews, qualitative interviews, questionnaires, vignettes, and observations.
• Examine how identified determinants influence the mechanisms through which laboratory implementation strategies operate.
• Collaborate directly with laboratory personnel, fellow doctoral candidates, and supervisors to design and tailor context-specific implementation strategies.
• Pilot and evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness of safety interventions in real-world laboratory settings across multiple European partner institutions.
• Participate in secondments at partner institutions in Poland, Austria, and Sweden.
• Engage in network-wide training programs, workshops, and pre-MBA entrepreneurial activities.