PhD student in Biostatistics - VIDI project “Prioritizing with confidence" LUMC

The position
As PhD student in Biostatistics you develop novel statistical methods for application in medical data as part of the VIDI project “Prioritizing with confidence”. We look for two PhD students for two distinct projects.

• Project 1: In this project you will focus on multiple testing issues in (generalized linear) regression models, both high-dimensional and low-dimensional. You will study high-dimensional confidence regions for regression parameters, and their use in prediction and in interpreting regression parameters.

• Project 2: is a project where you focus on the development of novel statistical methods for quantification of uncertainty in rankings of objects, such as arise for example in hospital quality data. This problem will be considered in turn from a multiple testing perspective and from empirical Bayes perspective based on shuffling of exchangeable objects.

As a PhD student you will be active in research, developing novel methodology under supervision of Prof. Jelle Goeman and Dr. E. van Zwet (Leiden University Medical Center) together with Dr. Aldo Solari (University of Milano-Bicocca). You will present your results locally and at international biostatistics conferences, and publish your results in statistics journals and a PhD thesis. You will collaborate with biomedical researchers and apply your methods on their data sets, and write software to make your methods usable by others. You will also be involved in teaching (bio)medical students.

The department
The Department of Medical Statistics and Bioinformatics at Leiden University Medical Center is the top ranking center for medical statistics in the Netherlands, with research e.g. in high-dimensional data, genetics, survival analysis and causality. Here, you will be embedded in a large department with 12 tenured research statisticians, 5 postdocs and 8 PhD students. Positioned within the applied context of the Medical Center, the group has intensive collaboration with medical researchers. Strong ties also exist with the mathematical statistics group at Leiden University. During the project there will be opportunities to go on extended study visits abroad, such as to Milan to visit Dr. Solari.


Your profile

You hold a master’s degree in mathematics, (bio)statistics or a closely related subject with a strong mathematical background. You have a profound interest in medical applications. You have good communicative skills in English and enjoy collaborating with researchers outside your own field. You have excellent programming skills in R or other (statistical) programming languages.
We offer

You will be employed on the basis of a 36-hour week. Appointment is for the duration of the PhD. Your salary will depend on your qualifications and experience, with a maximum of € 2,222 gross per month in the first year, progressing to € 2,846 gross per month in the fourth year based on a full time position (scale PhD students, CAO-UMC).  
More information

If you have any questions, or if you want more information about this position, please contact prof. dr. Jelle Goeman, professor of biostatistics, email: j.j.goeman@lumc.nl, telephone: +3171 526 85 69.

For this job, references will be requested. As part of the application procedure, you will be expected to give a presentation. The first interview is by Skype.

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