The growth of trees, and the resulting wood microstructure, is substantially influenced by the mechanical loading to which the respective tree structure is subjected. The Austrian Science Fund (FWF – Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung) funds, within the scope of the 1000 ideas programme, a two-year project aiming at the development of computational tools which allow for predicting how and to which extent trees grow under certain mechanical boundary conditions. While so far the field of plant mechanobiology has been mainly driven forward through experimental studies, this project bears the potential of launching a completely new (sub-)field, namely computational plant mechanobiology, by reconciling the theoretical concepts of classical beam mechanics, multiscale wood mechanics, and multiscale systems biology.

More information can be found here: https://www.imws.tuwien.ac.at/fileadmin/mediapool-werkstoffe/Bilder/Forschung/Stellenausschreibung_aktuell.pdf

Are you an ambitious researcher looking for your next challenge? Do you have an established background in biomedical engineering? Do you want to further your career in one of the UKs leading research intensive Universities?

This project is part of a £4M EPSRC Programme Grant on Optimising Knee therapies, held within the Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (iMBE). The aim of the programme is to develop preclinical testing methods for early-stage treatments for knee osteoarthritis so their performance can be optimised. In the UK, one third of people aged over 45 have sought treatment for osteoarthritis. The knee is the most common site for osteoarthritis and there is a major unmet clinical need for effective earlier stage interventions that delay or prevent the requirement for total knee replacement surgery. Such treatments involve repair or replacement of diseased or damaged tissues in the knee joint, such as the meniscus, or a small region of cartilage and underlying bone.

The aim of this project is to develop, evaluate and apply an experimental simulation model of the natural human knee joint, specifically to investigate the biotribological and biomechanical function of early knee interventions.  Examples of interventions include total meniscus replacement and cartilage repair. You will have a strong background in biotribology, biomechanics, bioengineering or a closely related subject. Due to the environment within the iMBE, you will have a proactive approach to working in a multidisciplinary team with engineers, biologists and clinicians.

More information: https://jobs.leeds.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx?ref=EPSME1028

Context: In the framework of the ANR project QUSToFood (ANR-17-CE21-0004), a postdoctoral position is open at UMR SayFood. QUSToFood proposes to use Quantitative Ultrasound (QUS) methods for the study of texture perceptions resulting from the mechanical interactions between the tongue and the palate during the oral processing of food. These interactions induce the stimulation of tongue mechanoreceptors and enable the continuous evaluation of the mechanical status of food all along oral processing (from introduction into the mouth to the triggering of swallowing in safe and comfortable conditions). QUS are non-destructive, non-invasive and provide real-time measurement which can be employed both in vitro and in vivo, directly on the individual. The method developed in QUSToFood could thus help to characterize potential losses of sensory quality induced by food and agro ecological transitions, or to meet pleasure and health criteria for specific populations such as infants with sensory processing disorders or seniors suffering from swallowing disorders.

Keywords: Quantitative ultrasound; Biomechanics; Rheology; Tribology; Food; Tongue; Oral processing; Texture

Candidate: The ideal candidate must have completed a PhD in the field of physics, mechanics, biomedical or food engineering. Experience and interest in signal and image processing, and in the in-house design of experimental systems would be an advantage. In all cases, the candidate must have a strong interest and aptitude for multidisciplinary approaches, as this project combines biomechanics, acoustics, rheology, tribology, instrumentation, signal and image processing, food science and sensory analysis.

Contract and location: This contract is for 24 months and the start date is flexible, but shall not be later than January 1, 2021. The gross salary will be from 2500€, depending on the number of years after PhD. The project will be carried out in the labs of UMR SayFood located in the AgroParisTech center of Thiverval-Grignon (a short bus ride from the “Plaisir Grignon” train station, which serves the center of Paris in 25 min). The relocation of the laboratories to a new site in Palaiseau is planned for the second half of the year 2022. The work schedule will be adapted accordingly.

Application: The selection process will start immediately and go on until the position is filled. To apply or inquire further, please contact Vincent Mathieu at vincent.mathieu@inrae.fr. Please include a C.V. and a letter of motivation, along with relevant publications and the name of references.

More information can be found here:

We are looking for talented scientists and engineers to join the Synthetic Physiology Lab at the University of Pavia in Italy. Traditional synthetic biologists use DNA parts to program cell function. Similarly, we study how to control tissue function using extracellular matrix (ECM) components. Our first goal is to reverse engineer human heart development in a project funded by the European Research Council and entitled “Synthetic Matrix Biology: Designer matrices to program healthy and diseased myocardial morphogenesis.”

For this project, we are looking for a computational scientist. The ideal candidate will have experience working with mechanical models of soft materials and (dissipative) particle dynamics in synthetic or biological systems. Previous work in the cardiac field, with LAMMPS/Chaste packages, parallel programming (especially if GPU-enabled), or cloud computing is a plus. At the same time, we will be doing things differently than most efforts in this field, so anyone with great scientific programming skills and interested in using particle dynamics to describe cell and tissue mechanics is welcome.

More information in the attachment: