2 Ph.D. fellowships available through the EU Marie Curie EST program
Eligibility criteria:
* Candidates should NOT have more than 4 years of research or R&D experience
(following the first university degree that allows them to enter a Ph.D.
program) and NOT yet hold a Ph.D.
* Candidates should NOT be Belgian (or, if Belgian, must have resided
outside the EU for four of the last five years).
* Candidates should NOT have resided in Belgium for more than 12 months in
the past 3 years.
* Non-EU candidates can apply (but competition is fierce because only 30% of the fellowships can be awarded to non-EU citizens).
* Non-EU candidates who have been residing in a European country for 4 of
the last 5 years are assimilated to EU candidates (and thus are not
constrained by the previous 30% rule).

DESCRIPTION:
Two 3-year Ph.D. fellowships supported by the European Commission are
available starting on 1st September 2005 with the Bioinformatics team
(http://www.esat.kuleuven.ac.be/~dna/bioi/) at the University of Leuven
under the supervision of Prof. Yves Moreau and Prof. Bart De Moor.
The research project, part of the EU funded BIOPTRAIN program, covers the
analysis of large-scale compendia of microarray data and genomic data
fusion, pattern discovery for the analysis of regulatory networks, and
Bayesian modeling of gene networks. Particular emphasis is set on the use of probabilistic graphical models (hidden Markov models, Bayesian networks, and so on) and Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods to tackle those problems. The use of kernel methods will also be considered.
QUALIFICATIONS:
The ideal candidate will have a master’s degree (or equivalent) with a
background in one of the following areas: engineering, computer science,
statistics, physics, chemistry, or biology. Knowledge of fundamental aspects of computer science (algorithms and data structures, programming languages) is required. Previous knowledge of artificial intelligence, statistics, or bioinformatics is highly desirable.
EMPLOYMENT AND SALARY:
Fellows will be recruited under an employment contract and will benefit from travel and mobility allowances. Additional details about these positions (in particular, salary and eligibility) can be found in the EST Handbook (http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/fp6/mariecurie-actions/pdf/est_hand.pdf;
pp.21-29). Women in particular are invited to apply. If several applicants
have approximately equivalent qualifications, EU rules on equal
opportunities will be applied.
HOW TO APPLY:
Applications should include your CV, a one-page statement of your research
interests and motivations for pursuing Ph.D. studies, and contact
information (including email addresses) for at least two references. Please
send your application preferably by email to Yves.Moreau@esat.kuleuven.ac.be
(using PDF or plain text for your attachments) or by surface mail to:
Prof. Yves Moreau
K.U.Leuven
ESAT-SCD (Bioinformatics)
Kasteelpark Arenberg 10
B-3001 Leuven
Belgium
Yves.Moreau@esat.kuleuven.ac.be
DEADLINE:
The positions will be filled a.s.a.p.
10 other EST positions are currently open with the other BIOPTRAIN partners,
see http://www.bioptrain.org/index.php/Applications.