PhD Candidate for national Study on Bleeding Disorders of Unknown Cause (BDUC-iN)

Welcome to Maastricht University
Are you passionate about haemostasis and advancing the understanding and care for persons with a bleeding disorder of unknown cause with a societal impact? Join our interdisciplinary team as a PhD candidate in the BDUC-iN study!

The position
Are you passionate about haemostasis and committed to advancing the understanding and care of people with bleeding disorders? Join our interdisciplinary team as a PhD candidate in the national BDUC-iN study.

Study summary
Over half of individuals referred to a haemostasis expert for evaluation of their bleeding symptoms receive a diagnosis of Bleeding Disorder of Unknown Cause (BDUC) when standard tests fail to identify a haemostatic defect. These patients face symptoms and risks similar to those with known coagulation disorders (such as von Willebrand disease), with major impact on their quality of life. The absence of clear guidelines for BDUC creates uncertainties around follow-up, treatment, and family planning.

The BDUC-iN study addresses these challenges by:

• Evaluating healthcare, patient-reported outcomes, and quality of life in BDUC patients.
• Investigating the best diagnostic strategies and treatment options.
• Exploring mechanisms of bleeding with innovative diagnostic tests, multi-omics, and fundamental research.

Main endpoints include: questionnaires on healthcare and patient outcomes, qualitative data on patient experiences, improved diagnostics using innovative laboratory methods, development of pathophysiology-based treatment plans, identification of biomarkers and haemostatic modifiers with multi-omics approaches, an AI-driven bleeding prediction model, and a cost-effective algorithm for bleeding evaluation.

All BDUC patients registered or investigated in the six Dutch Haemophilia Treatment Centres (HTCs) will be included.

• Our goal: The ultimate goal of the BDUC-iN study is to improve diagnosis, management, and quality of life for patients with BDUC by translating innovative diagnostics and research insights into personalised, evidence-based treatment strategies.
• Your colleagues: You will be part of the BDUC-iN working group, a close collaboration across six Dutch HTCs, Maastricht UMC+, and the international BDUC consortium. You will work with your supervisors and two current PhD candidates (in their final project phase), alongside clinicians, laboratory specialists, and researchers in haemostasis. This dynamic, multidisciplinary team offers both scientific depth and strong clinical connections.

Your role
We offer a position for a clinically oriented PhD candidate to contribute to both quantitative and qualitative projects. Together with your colleagues, you will coordinate the multicentre study, recruit and follow up patients, analyse retrospective and prospective data, and publish your results. You will also contribute to patient care, supervise students, and present findings at international conferences – while working towards your doctoral degree.

What you bring

We are looking for a motivated PhD candidate with the following profile:

• A Master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g. Medicine, Biomedical Sciences).
• Experience working with human subjects or patients in research or clinical care.
• Excellent communication and organisational skills.
• Basic statistical analysis skills and proficiency in relevant software.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English and Dutch.
• Willingness to travel to international network events and meetings with consortium partners.
• Most importantly, you are motivated to contribute to patient-centred, impactful research and thrive in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment.

If you are passionate about advancing the understanding and treatment of bleeding disorders of unknown cause and want to contribute to impactful research, we encourage you to apply. Join us in making a significant impact on the lives of patients with BDUC!

What we offer
As PhD Candidate at Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, you will be employed by the most international university in the Netherlands, located in the beautiful city of Maastricht. In addition, we offer you:

• Good employment conditions. The position is graded in scale P according to UFO profile PhD, with corresponding salary based on experience ranging from €3059,00 and €3881,00 gross per month (based on a full-time employment of 38 hours per week). In addition to the monthly salary, an 8.0% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year-end bonus apply.
• An employment contract for a period of 12 months with a scope of 0,8 - 1,0 FTE. Upon a positive evaluation, an extension of 3 years will follow. 
• At Maastricht University, the well-being of our employees is of utmost importance, we offer flexible working hours and the possibility to work partly from home if the nature of your position allows it. You will receive a monthly commuting and internet allowance for this. If you work full-time, you will be entitled to 29 vacation days and 4 additional public holidays per year, namely carnival Monday, carnival Tuesday, Good Friday, and Liberation Day. If you choose to accumulate compensation hours, an additional 12 days will be added. Furthermore, you can personalize your employment conditions through a collective labor agreement (CAO) choice model. 
• As Maastricht University, we offer various other excellent secondary employment conditions. These include a good pension scheme with the ABP and the opportunity for UM employees to participate in company fitness and make use of the extensive sports facilities that we also offer to our students. 
• Last but certainly not least, we provide the space and facilities for your personal and professional development. We facilitate this by offering a wide range of training programs and supporting various well-established initiatives such as 'acknowledge and appreciate'. 
   

The terms of employment at Maastricht University are largely set out in the collective labor agreement of Dutch Universities. In addition, local provisions specific to UM apply. For more information, click here.

Maastricht University
Why work at Maastricht University?
At Maastricht University (UM), everything revolves around the future. The future of our students, as we work to equip them with a solid, broad-based foundation for the rest of their lives. And the future of society, as we seek solutions through our research to issues from all around the world. Our six faculties combined provide a comprehensive package of study programmes and research.

In our teaching, we use the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) method. Students work in small groups, looking for solutions to problems themselves. By discussing issues and working together to draw conclusions, formulate answers and present them to their peers, students develop essential skills for their future careers.

With over 22,300 students and more than 5,000 employees from all over the world, UM is home to a vibrant and inspiring international community.

Are you drawn to an international setting focused on education, science and scholarship? Are you keen to contribute however your skills and qualities allow? Our door is open to you! As a young European university, we value your talent and look forward to creating the future together.

Click here for more information about UM. 

Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences
At the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML), everything revolves around healthy living. Our research and education are not solely focused on recovery, but place a strong emphasis on prevention, health preservation, and health promotion. Our aim is to use our knowledge and expertise to genuinely contribute to the well-being of individual people as well as society in total. 

In, research, and healthcare, FHML is closely collaborating with the academic hospital in Maastricht, together forming the Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC+).  FHML is strongly connected in education, research, and care with the Maastricht academic hospital, together with which it forms the Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC+). 

FHML, which is the largest faculty of Maastricht University, is formed by an (inter)national community of employees and students. The faculty offers a wide range of Dutch and English-taught bachelor's and master's programs in innovative educational concepts in which the emphasis is always on building bridges to practice.
 

The multidisciplinary research of the FHML focuses on a number of carefully chosen topical current themes. In addition to research aimed at gaining new insights, it also concerns research whose results can be directly translated into concrete applications and innovations. The implementation of the various research programs is organized in our six graduate schools and two institutes.

Organisation of bleeding disorder of unknown cause in the Netherlands
In October 2022, the Bleeding Disorder of Unknown Cause in the Netherlands (BDUC-iN) working group, was established. Chaired by Floor Heubel-Moenen (co-promotor), and in close collaboration with SYMPHONY (symphonyconsortium.nl), this group includes representatives from all academic haemophilia treatment centers and fundamental researchers from the SYMPHONY consortium. The first action of this group was to merge data from three existing BDUC cohorts (MUMC+, Erasmus MC, UMCU) into the retrospective BDUC-iN study (METC 2023-0047), in order to have a strong basis for pilot analyses, hypothesis formation and longitudinal analysis. The working group also prepared the prospective multicentre BDUC-iN METC study protocol for which ethical approval has been obtained (METC NL87370.068.24 / NL-005573 / METC24-034) and a PhD position is now vacant.

Curious?
Are you interested in this exciting position but still have questions? Feel free to contact dr. Floor Heubel-Moenen at floor.moenen@mumc.nl, or Caroline Mussert, one of the current PhD students on the BDUC-iN project, at c.mussert@erasmusmc.nl, for more information. 

Applying?
Or are you already convinced and ready to become our new PhD Candidate? Apply now, no later than 19 October 2025, for this position.
We look forward to receiving your application and welcoming you to our team!

The vacancy is open for internal and external candidates. In case of equal qualifications, internal candidates will be prioritized.

Maastricht University is committed to promoting and nurturing a diverse and inclusive community. We believe that diversity in our staff and student population contributes to the quality of research and education at UM, and strive to enable this through inclusive policies and innovative projects led by teams of staff and students. We encourage you to apply for this position.