Junior Scientist

Place in the Organization

At uniQure, we are delivering on the promise of gene therapy and delivering hope for patients facing urgent unmet medical needs. Every role in our organization carries profound purpose; whether you're in research, operations, access, or support, your contributions impact patients. We're seeking passionate professionals who thrive in high-stakes environments, uphold rigorous quality standards, and share our relentless commitment to transforming the lives of patients. Join us in making the impossible possible, where your expertise becomes a catalyst for life- changing treatments.

The Research department’s main commitment is delivering new technologies and therapeutic targets from idea to IND. The Research department also provides general support to other departments. 

We are looking for an enthusiastic and driven lab-based scientist with a strong background in molecular biology, who is comfortable with assessing and developing new therapeutic technologies. The candidate will be involved in applying advanced genome and epigenome editing technologies to support therapeutic programs within the Discovery team. The role requires creativity and advanced skills in the design, implementation/optimization, and execution of molecular biology, cell biology, imaging and/or NGS-based assays. The candidate will contribute to the broader department and organization as part of a cross-functional drug discovery team that includes discovery, capsid development, in vivo pharmacology, non-clinical development and bioanalytics. This is a unique opportunity to be part of a dedicated early genetic therapy research team whose goal is to build the next generation of therapies for severe life-limiting diseases.

• Responsible for the exploration and implementation of technologies for gene therapy and therapeutic gene replacement/editing/silencing research
• Scientific responsibility for experiments and projects
• Formulate, initiate and implement studies (biomarker, candidate identification, proof-of-concept and/or proof-of-mechanism) together with the project lead or line manager
• Formulate, initiate and implement together with the with the project lead or line manager the studies necessary for improvement or development of technologies
• Transfer of assays and technologies to the appropriate development group
• Maintain robust communication lines between all the relevant functions in the organization
• Writing patents, scientific articles and other reports

• PhD degree in molecular biology, genetics, cell biology, or similar
• 0 – 3 years work experience after PhD
• Experience with design and testing of gene editing and epigenome editing tools and approaches (such as CRIPSR, CRISPRi, CRISPRa or similar tools)
• Experience with epigenetic regulation and epigenome biology a plus. 
• Proficient at mammalian cell culture; experience with primary cells, iPSC-derived cell models and/or 3D models is considered a plus
• Strong laboratory skills, including transfection/transduction protocols, standard molecular biological methods, and next generation sequencing; experience with epigenetic profiling methods (examples including ChIP-seq, 3C bisulfite sequencing or ATAC-seq), is considered a plus
• Experience with (live-cell) imaging and/or immunofluorescence imaging is considered a plus
• Ability to independently analyze experimental data including large data sets and statistical analysis.
• Basic bioinformatics skills; experience with large datasets such as NGS or single cell data and knowledge of programming languages such as Python or R is considered a plus
• Proficiency in English, both verbal and written.

• Cooperative: ability to work within a team and with other teams to drive projects forward according to agreed timelines
• Ability to carry out tasks with an eye for completeness (e.g. results achieved according to agreed protocols), discuss results with team members, identify issues and provide solutions
• Ability to handle multiple tasks under performance and time-related stress
• Self-organized: ability to focus and to plan appropriately
• Detail-oriented: analytical mindset and ability to identify important details
• Problem-solving: ability to identify technical & other project-related problems, discuss them within the team, and propose solutions
• Versatile: accurate, dependable, proactive and flexible