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Postdoc Computational modeling of kidney toxin transport

PublishedDeadlineLocation
25 Jun12 JulMaastricht

The department of Cell Biology-Inspired Tissue Engineering (cBITE) at the MERLN Institute for Technology-inspired Regenerative Medicine at Maastricht University in the Netherlands invites applications for a post-doctoral position. The post-doctoral researcher will perform cutting-edge research in computational modeling methods applied to regenerative medicine and more specifically, to kidney toxin transport in microfluidic set-ups, organoid culture systems and/or bioartificial kidney devices.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Regenerative medicine holds the promise to cure many of what are now chronic patients, restoring health rather than protracting decline, bettering the lives of millions and at the same time preventing lifelong, expensive care processes: cure instead of care. More specifically, at present, dialysis and transplantation are the only treatment options for end-stage kidney disease. In the Netherlands alone, 6,500 people currently depend on dialysis, approximately 1,300 of which will die this year. Regenerative medicine offers an alternative treatment in the form of a bioengineered kidney. As a first step, the partners of RegMed XB will work towards creating a functional subunit of a bioengineered kidney. This functional subunit is the nephron, of which there are approximately one million in the adult kidney. In order to inform the in vitro experiments as well as design a bioartificial kidney as an intermediate step towards a fully bioengineered kidney, this project will use computational models to simulate toxin transport and calculate the flow and geometry requirements for adequate toxin removal in various set-ups: microfluidic, organoid culture systems and bioartificial devices.

Project description:

  • Computational modeling of toxin transport, computational fluid dynamics, to inform the design of in vitro kidney organoid experiments and/or bioartificial kidney devices
  • Parameter optimization and sensitivity analysis
  • Analysis and integration of various in vitro/in vivo data for model calibration

What we offer:

  • Computational ecosystem at Maastricht University: Institute for Data Science (IDS), Department of Knowledge Engineering (DKE) and Maastricht Centre for Systems Biology (MacsBio)
  • Excellent computational and experimental facilities to validate the in silico analyses and predictions in vitro/in vivo
  • Interdisciplinary environment within MERLN and the RegMed XB consortium

Project embedding:

The project will be coordinated by the MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired Regenerative Medicine (http://merlninstitute.com/) at Maastricht University (UM), while closely collaborating with TU Eindhoven, Utrecht University and Leiden University as part of RegMed XB, which stands for “Regenerative Medicine Crossing Borders”. RegMed XB is a virtual institute composed of universities, health foundations, governments and private companies in the Netherlands and Belgium. The partners work together to tackle some of the greatest challenges in regenerative medicine, while building a community of researchers and companies to realize health and economic benefits. RegMed XB is best-suited for those scientists who are driven to make a difference in the lives of patients and who wish to join a growing initiative that promises to integrate entrepreneurial activities with the excellent scientific research performed within the universities. Joining RegMed XB means being part of a community working on research programs aimed to cure a chronic disease (for more information, please visit www.regmedxb.com).

REQUIREMENTS

Requirements and key expertise

  • PhD in data science, computer science, statistics, mathematics, bioinformatics, biomedical informatics, artificial intelligence, or equivalent
  • Demonstrated ability to work independently as well as in a team
  • Strong scientific background and publication record
  • Expertise in computational modeling, computational fluid dynamics
  • Good programming skills (for example Comsol, Matlab, Python, R, VCell)\
  • Basic knowledge of image processing and analysis
  • Affinity with regenerative medicine
  • Good oral and written English communication

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

Fixed-term contract: 1 year.

The position is temporary for the duration of the project (12 months). Depending on experience and qualification, the gross monthly salary is scale 10 (max. € 4.402,-), based on a full-time appointment.

The terms of employment of Maastricht University are set out in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO). Furthermore, local UM provisions also apply. For more information look at the website www.maastrichtuniversity.nl > Support > UM employees.

EMPLOYER

Maastricht University

Maastricht University (UM) is the most international university in the Netherlands and, with more than 18,000 students and 4,400 employees, is still growing. The university stands out for its innovative education model, international character and multidisciplinary approach to research and education. Thanks to its high-quality research and study programs as well as a strong focus on social engagement, UM has quickly built up a solid reputation. Today it is considered one of the best young universities in the world

DEPARTMENT

MERLN Institute

The MERLN Institute for Technology-inspired Regenerative Medicine focuses on developing novel and challenging technologies to advance the field of tissue and organ repair and regeneration through, amongst others, the development of high-throughput material platforms to screen cell-biomaterial interactions. MERLN consists of an interdisciplinary team of researchers including fields as (stem cell) biology, materials engineering, chemistry, micro/nanofabrication, additive manufacturing, etc. The scientists at MERLN have an extensive network of collaborators within research institutions in and outside the Netherlands as well as with a number of biomedical companies, including their own spin-off companies, as entrepreneurship is highly fostered.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The application should contain:

  • Cover letter with motivation, fit and preferred starting date
  • Statement of research interests and accomplishments, max 2 pages
  • CV including a list of publications
  • Contact information of two references

For more detailed information you can contact dr. A. Carlier: a.carlier@maastrichtuniversity.nl.

More details:

https://www.academictransfer.com/en/292752/postdoc-computational-modeling-of-kidney-toxin-transport/

2x PhD positions starting in November 2020 @University of Bologna

GENERAL INFORMATION

About this doctorate program

This PhD program has a duration of 3 years. The Doctorate in Health and Technology is an interdisciplinary program, where each PhD student has a supervisor from the technical area (engineering, chemistry etc) and one from the clinical or biological area.

https://www.unibo.it/en/teaching/phd/2020-2021/health-and-technologies

The objective of the interdepartmental Doctoral Programme in Health Sciences and Technologies is to train the next generation of leaders in industrial, clinical, and academic research. Our goal is to develop an organic research programme at the interface between engineering and medicine, which is inspired by the quantitative and integrative approach of physical sciences, and by the latest development in biomedical research, drive the development and clinical translation of disruptive health technologies.

The doctoral training programme will prepare students in conducting research which:

– Extend the comprehension of how human physiology and pathology work in term of physical and chemical mechanisms, and how these mechanisms respond when perturbed by external factors such as therapies, changes in life style, and environmental factors.

– Develop new technologies that by leveraging on this mechanistic understanding pursue a wide spectrum of applications relevant to human health, including prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and rehabilitation.

How to apply:

Formal application must be submitted through the UniBo portal:

https://www.unibo.it/en/teaching/phd/information-enrolling-phd-programme/how-to-apply-phd-programme

Each student, depending on their degree, will be able to apply only for a sub-set of projects among those advertised for this PhD program; among them each student will be allowed to select three projects, and name them in order of preference; however, in some cases it might not be possible to satisfy all requests, and some students might be offered a research project different from those they selected.

The full call is available online:

https://www.unibo.it/en/teaching/phd/2020-2021/attachments/cycle-36-call-for-applications/@@download/file/36thCycle_CallForApplications_Def_Web.pdf

Profile of the candidate

We are looking for a highly motivated young researchers with a Master degree (or equivalent) in Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Physics, Material Science, or related disciplines, willing to study and do research at the leading edge of biomechanical engineering, in close contact with a clinical environment.

Individuals expecting to obtain their Master degree before 31 October 2020 can conditionally apply. In order to be admitted to the selection, a student needs a five-year higher education degree, which includes at least one module for each of the following disciplines: mathematics, physics, computer science, biology, physiology, and anatomy.

Candidates must be fluent in English as it will be the language used to interact with supervisors and colleagues during the project, and to interact with partners. Although some understanding of Italian may be useful for daily living, this is not a mandatory requirement. Communication and team-working skills are required in our international team.

Deadline:

Applications must be submitted through the Unibo portal by 21 May 2020, 13:00 Italian time (UTC +1)

Selection procedure: selection takes place in two phases. First the documents submitted by the applicants are examined, with no interaction with the candidates (early June). The eligible applications are shortlisted and the candidates are informed. In the second stage, the shortlisted candidates are interviewed. All interviews are performed remotely, in videoconference (mid-June).

Salary: 19 367 € per year before taxes.

More information: Perspective applicants are encouraged to contact Professor Luca Cristofolini

luca.cristofolini@unibo.it for informal discussion about the research projects.


PhD PROJECT #1:

Biomechanical evaluation of knee mechanical behaviour and interface stresses with a new concept of alignment for total knee arthroplasty (NEW-KNEE)

Summary

At least one knee replacement out of 5 are dissatisfactory due to continuous pain. This is mainly related to inadequate joint kinematics with the current paradigm for prosthesis alignment, causing painful patellar motions and poor balance of soft tissue. Recently, a different rationale has been proposed based on kinematical alignment (KA). This PhD student will work under the joint supervision of an orthopaedic surgeon focusing on knee replacement, and of two engineers with a background in biomechanical in vitro testing, and numerical modelling respectively. During these three years, the PhD student will develop a numerical to estimate how the knee joint loads are affected by implant positioning, and a series of in vitro tests to measure how this affects the implant-bone interaction.

Objectives of this project

The overall objective of this PhD project is to evaluate in vitro the biomechanical effectiveness of the kinematical alignment (KA) method for total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

The following specific objectives will be tackled:

• How the stresses at bone-prosthesis interface change with the KA alignment respect traditional mechanical alignment (MA)

• How bone stresses propagate in the distal femur and proximal tibia during specific motor tasks

• How the KA alignment interferes with the kinematics of the knee and if there is a threshold of safety in degrees from a mechanical neutral axis

• if KA alignment requires a specific prosthetic design (from the already present on the market) to be successful

This project covers some basic science (improving the understanding of knee biomechanics), it focuses on technological development (implementing a modeling strategy for the human knee) and has clinical relevance (improving the outcome of knee replacement).

The research team

This candidate will have an engineering background. While this will facilitate him/her in grasping the technical part of the project, some time and effort must be dedicated at the beginning to improve his/her understanding of the clinical problem. This project is rooted between three groups:

– The group of Prof. Cristofolini (Department of Industrial Engineering) will provide “training through research” in the area of biomechanics and material characterization. Prof. Marco Viceconti will be the supervisor for all computational aspects.

– The group of Prof Traina will provide training and supervision on the surgical procedures for tendon and ligament repair, on complications, and will supervise the design of the implantation technique.

Prof. Traina and prof. Cristofolini have been intensively collaborating for over 15 years on research projects at the intersection between orthopaedic clinical application and biomechanics research, and specifically on total joint replacement. A strong integration of the two research groups has been achieved by involving the clinical staff in lab activity, and the lab staff in clinical research. This PhD candidate will enjoy this extremely stimulating interdisciplinary environment, and will share his/her research time between clinics (in tight collaboration with Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute) and biomechanics lab.

The Department of Industrial Engineering includes a large Biomechanics lab that is extremely active in the field of orthopaedic biomechanics. The focus of the biomechanics group directed by prof. Cristofolini within DIN is on the multi-scale biomechanical characterization of skeletal structures and orthopaedic devices, and on the integration of in vitro tests and numerical modeling. Their group, in collaboration with the Electrospinning group, recently developed and characterized innovative regenerative scaffolds. Furthermore, this group is acknowledged internationally for the applications of DIC to biomechanics.

The Dept. of hip and knee primary and revisions prosthetic surgery of Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute is nationally recognized for the treatment of severe hip and knee conditions primarily through joint replacements. Its activity is mainly focused on surgical treatment of complex cases, analysis and data collection of multiple type of joint replacement surgery through different surgical approach and procedures. Comparison between different procedures and cases are routinely performed in order to continuously improve the patient’s provision of care and to develop innovative implant design and surgical tools The Labs of the Department of Industrial Engineering are equipped with the testing facilities required for this project, including:

– Approved procedures and dedicated space and facilities for safe storage, preparation, testing and disposal of biological tissue specimens (both human and animal)

– Five universal testing machines

– A proprietary multiaxial simulator for biomechanical testing

– State-of-the-art digital image correlation (DIC) system (4-camera system, up to 100 frames per second).

– Access to the In Silico Medicine group computational infrastructure, including high-level workstations, secure storage for clinical data within IOR network, and to a collection of specialised software tools for musculoskeletal dynamics modelling.

Specific skills useful for this PhD project

The following skills will be considered during the selection: good laboratory practice; mechanical testing and experimental stress analysis; handling and testing of biological tissue; orthopaedic biomechanics; mechanical properties of living tissues; Bone biomechanics; Soft tissue mechanics; Prosthetics; in vitro biomechanical testing; experimental stress analysis (digital image correlation); statistics and design of the experiment.

References

1. Howell SM, Kuznik K, Hull ML, Siston RA. Results of an initial experience with custom-fit positioning total knee arthroplasty in a series of 48 patients. Orthopedics. 2008;31:857–863.

2. Abdel MP, Ollivier M, Parratte S, Trousdale RT, Berry DJ, Pagnano MW. Effect of Postoperative Mechanical Axis Alignment on Survival and Functional Outcomes of Modern Total Knee Arthroplasties with Cement: A Concise Follow-up at 20 Years. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2018 Mar 21;100(6):472-478.

3. Eckhoff DG, Bach JM, Spitzer VM, Reinig KD, Bagur MM, Baldini TH, Flannery NM. Three-dimensional mechanics, kinematics, and morphology of the knee viewed in virtual reality. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2005;87 Suppl 2:71-80.

4. Castagnini F, Sudanese A, Bordini B, Tassinari E, Stea S, Toni A. Total Knee Replacement in Young Patients: Survival and Causes of Revision in a Registry Population. J Arthroplasty. 2017 Nov;32(11):3368-3372.


PhD PROJECT #2:

Understanding the causes of junctional failure in lumbar spine fixation through retrospective clinical analysis and in vitro tests

Summary

Fixation of the lumbar spine is associated with a high failure rate, both in young and in elderly patients. This project is expected to improve the general understanding of spinal biomechanics, the effect of different treatment options, including the detrimental effect of some surgical treatments. The main focus will be on the failure of the disc caudal to the fixation (junctional pathology).

This project will start from a retrospective analysis of clinical cases available within the Rizzoli database. The focus will be on the determinants for failure after corrective spinal surgery, including both patient-specific ones (anatomical, radiographical, etc.) and surgical ones (type of correction used).

On the experimental side, we will apply digital image correlation (DIC, a powerful experimental technique to measure deformations during in vitro mechanical tests) to analyze functional spinal units (FSU) and multivertebrae segments. DIC allows investigating both hard and soft tissue at the same time, providing a full-field view of the spine specimen. The focus will be on the biomechanical condition of the intervertebral discs after a range of spine surgery procedures.

Objectives of this project

The purpose of this 3-years project is to improve the understanding about the mechanism leading to failure after fixation of the lumbar region of the spine, with a main focus on the instability associated with failure of the caudal disc (junctional pathology) [1. 2]. While the incidence and consequences of such failures are known, the biomechanical causes are still unclear. In fact, different approaches have been proposed to mitigate this problem, with limited success. One causes of failure for such attempts has been the lack of interdisciplinarity: the surgical technique and instrumentation has been modified, without a strong biomechanical background.

This PhD candidate will integrate his/her clinical background, with dedicated training in biomechanics. He/she will apply in vitro tests to analyze functional spinal units and multi-vertebrae segments. This will provide asystematic quantitative assessment of the determinants of fixation failures. This approach will also enable improving the understanding of the biomechanics of the intervertebral discs and ligaments after different procedures such as facetectomy, instrumentation, etc.

The research team

This candidate will have an engineering background. While this will facilitate him/her in grasping the technical part of the project, some time and effort must be dedicated at the beginning to improve his/her understanding of the clinical problem. This project is rooted between three groups:

– The group of Prof. Cristofolini (Department of Industrial Engineering) will provide “training through research” in the area of biomechanics and material characterization.

– The group of Dr Giovanni Barbanti-Bròdano will provide training and supervision on the surgical procedures for spinal correction, and about the most critical complications.

Dr Barbanti-Bròdano and prof. Cristofolini have been intensively collaborating in the last 5 years on research projects at the intersection between orthopaedic clinical application and biomechanics research, and specifically on spine pathologies. A strong integration of the two research groups has been achieved by involving the clinical staff in lab activity, and the lab staff in clinical research. This PhD candidate will enjoy this extremely stimulating interdisciplinary environment, and will share his/her research time between clinics (in tight collaboration with Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute) and biomechanics lab.

The Department of Industrial Engineering includes a large Biomechanics lab that is extremely active in the field of orthopaedic biomechanics. The focus of the biomechanics group directed by prof. Cristofolini within

DIN is on the multi-scale biomechanical characterization of skeletal structures and orthopaedic devices, and on the integration of in vitro tests and numerical modeling. Since the beginning (nineties), the focus of this group has been on joint replacement, and in the last decade the group has also been active in the spine area (basic science, osteoporotic fractures, vertebroplasty, fixation). Furthermore, this group is acknowledged internationally for the applications of DIC to biomechanics.

The Complex Structure of Spine Surgery prevalently Oncologic and Degenerative, operating at the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, is a division dedicated to the diagnosis and the treatment of rachis pathologies of oncologic, degenerative and post-traumatic origin. The clinical activity concerns the field of spinal column pathologies: primary and secondary tumors of the mobile rachis and the sacrum, hematopoietic tumors with vertebral localization; degenerative discopathy of the lumbo-sacral rachis, herniated lumbar disc, spondylolisthesis, thoracic-lumbar stenosis, herniated thoracic-rachis disc, pathologies of the cervical rachis; Deformities in adults; Traumatic fractures and insufficiency fractures (osteoporosis). This Complex Structure is the reference center for AOSpine International, a scientific association of vertebral surgeons gathering over 40.000 members worldwide, and favorite destination for all-around specialists for the study and in-depth analysis of the surgical techniquesapplied. The Division participates to the international multicenter Registry for the collection of data on primary tumors of the spinal column (PTRON) and to the international multicenter Registry for the collection of data on metastatic tumors of the spinal column (MTRON), both promoted by the international scientific Association AOSpine Foundation; to the international database for spinal column pathologies “SpineTango”, promoted by the International Association EuroSpine; to the international multicenter study promoted by the Italian Sarcoma Group on the comparison between surgical and radiotherapy treatment of the sacrum chordoma.

The Labs of the Department of Industrial Engineering are equipped with the testing facilities required for this project, including:

– Approved procedures and dedicated space and facilities for safe storage, preparation, testing and disposal of biological tissue specimens (both human and animal)

– Five universal testing machines

– A proprietary multiaxial simulator for biomechanical testing

– Top-of-the-range digital image correlation (DIC) system (4-camera system, up to 100 frames per second). Specific skills useful for this PhD project

The following skills will be considered during the selection: good laboratory practice; mechanical testing and experimental stress analysis; handling and testing of biological tissue; orthopaedic biomechanics; mechanical properties of living tissues; bone biomechanics; soft tissue mechanics; spine biomechanics; in vitro biomechanical testing; experimental stress analysis (digital image correlation); statistics and design of the experiment.

References:

1. Lee, G. A., Betz, R. R., Clements, D. H. & Huss, G. K. Proximal kyphosis after posterior spinal fusion in patients with idiopathic scoliosis. Spine 24, 795–799 (1999).

2. Park et Al. (Spine 29, 17, 2004).

3. Lau, D. et al. Junctional kyphosis and failure after spinal deformity surgery: a systematic review of the literature as a background to classification development. Spine 39, 2093–2102 (2014).

4. Smith, M. W., Annis, P., Lawrence, B. D., Daubs, M. D. & Brodke, D. S. Acute proximal junctional failure in patients with preoperative sagittal imbalance. Spine J. Off. J. North Am. Spine Soc. 15, 2142–2148 (2015).

5. Colangeli S, Barbanti Brodàno G, Gasbarrini A, Bandiera S, Mesfin A, Griffoni C, Boriani S. Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) rods: short-term results in lumbar spine degenerative disease. J Neurosurg Sci. 2015 Jun;59(2):91-6.

6. Yagi, M. et al. Characterization and surgical outcomes of proximal junctional failure in surgically treated patients with adult spinal deformity. Spine 39, E607-614 (2014).

7. Pipola V, Gasbarrini A, Girolami M, Griffoni C, Zaccaro R, Barbanti Bròdano G. Isthmic spondylolisthesis and interspinous process device. Hype, hope, or contraindication? Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2019: 2340-44.

8. Barbanti Bròdano G, Lolli F, Martikos K, Gasbarrini A, Bandiera S, Greggi T, Parisini P, Boriani S. Fueling the debate: Are outcomes better after posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) or after posterolateral fusion (PLF) in adult patients with low-grade adult isthmic spondylolisthesis? Evid Based Spine Care J. 2010 1(1):29-34.

9. Palanca, Ruspi, Cristofolini (2018) “Full-field strain distribution in multivertebra spine segments: An in vitro application of Digital Image Correlation” Medical Engineering & Physics 52: 76-83

10. Palanca, M., Ruspi, M.L., Cristofolini, L., Liebsch, C., Villa, T., Brayda-Bruno, M., Galbusera Fabio, Wilke, H.-J., La Barbera, L., (2020). The strain distribution in the lumbar anterior longitudinal ligament is affected by the loading condition and bony features: an in vitro full-field analysis. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227210

Computational Tissue and Material Mechanics Tenure Track Assistant Professor at TU/Eindhoven

Job description

The Department of Biomedical Engineering. There is an endless demand in modern healthcare for technologies to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of health problems. To meet this demand, TU/e has a strong focus on Health in its research and education programs and has a department devoted entirely to this socially vital area: Biomedical Engineering. Biomedical engineers improve human health by cross-disciplinary activities that integrate the engineering sciences with the biomedical sciences and clinical practice.

The Department of Biomedical Engineering presently consists of thirteen research groups, organized in 3 clusters and covers everything from regenerative engineering to biomedical image analysis to biomolecular engineering. With 58 (assistant, associate and full) professors, over 100 researchers and postdocs, 158 PhD candidates and circa 950 bachelor and master students, the Department of Biomedical Engineering provides high-quality academic education and cutting-edge research.

See here for more information about the department, and here or more information about the current research programs.

Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is ranked as one of the most innovative universities located in the heart of the high-tech industry in the Netherlands, the Brainport region. The unique positioning in one of Europe’s leading tech regions also means excellent job opportunities for spouses. TU/e actively facilitates career opportunities for partners of successful candidates. Eindhoven is the fifth largest city in the Netherlands, and including suburbs, it has about 420,000 inhabitants.  Our training and research programs are highly regarded, and we foster close relationships with companies, organizations, and research institutes in the Brainport region and beyond.  Fundamental and applied research are equally valued here.  The high rank of the TU/e is due to the impact of its scientific research and also to its scientific co-­publications with industry.  TU/e is a social and inspiring university with a vibrant culture.  Surrounded by people who share your scientific ambitions, we translate our basic research into meaningful solutions. The TU/e currently has nine departments, with over 11,000 students in total.

Job requirements

What we are looking for: We seek to appoint a scientist/engineer who is passionate about research as well as teaching. We are looking for a creative and pro-active team player to establish a complementary research line.

Computational tissue and material mechanics:

Natural systems, where evolution has crafted unique base materials into hierarchical structures with dynamic physical functionalities, can serve as a blueprint to create new materials with biomimetic structure-function properties that can sense, respond to and actuate their environment. Such materials can integrate with natural tissues to create systems that restore adaptive functions lost during disease. This position will utilize computational methods to develop and characterize such systems.

Conditions of employment

What we offer: We offer a Tenure Track, Assistant Professor position in a successful and internationally oriented department. The city of Eindhoven offers a relaxed, multicultural environment, high quality of life and many options for extra-curricular activities. The city has a mild climate, and it is well-connected by rail, air, and road links with major European cities. The city is at the heart of the Brainport region of Netherlands, a region with high growth, high innovation, and many permanent employment opportunities for expats. Candidates moving to the Netherlands from abroad may qualify for a tax incentive scheme, where 30% of your income is tax free for a (maximum) period of five years. Click here for more information.

Salary will be based on your background and working experience and according to the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities (CAO NU).  Monthly gross salary is in the range of € 3.637 to € 4.978 (on a full-time basis). Additionally, we offer a yearly holiday allowance of 8% of the annual salary and a yearly end-of-year bonus of 8.3% of the annual salary. In addition we offer a pension scheme, partially paid parental, commuting expenses, savings schemes, child care and excellent on campus sports facilitiesleave, Dual Career program for spouses (before and after arrival), flexible employment conditions, the possibility to participate in a collective health care plan, and other benefits such as support in moving expenses.

Information and application

Information:

How to apply: If you would like to apply, please send us your application by using the ‘apply now’ button on the TU/e website (see link below). Your application must include: 

  • One-page personal motivation letter
  • Curriculum vitae, including a list of your publications and the contact information of three references

Please keep in mind: you can upload only 5 documents up to 2 MB each.

https://jobs.tue.nl/en/vacancy/computational-tissue-and-material-mechanics-tenure-track-assistant-professor-849888.html

4th ESB Webinar reminder: “FEBio, a Nonlinear Finite Element Solver for Biomechanics “

We remind our members about the 4th webinar of the ESB Webinar Series which will introduce the FEBio Software SuiteThe webinar will take place on March 30th 2020 at 17:00 CET.

This seminar has been co-organised by the ESB and VPHi student committees.

FEBio is a freely-available finite element solver designed specifically for solving problems in computational biomechanics and biophysics. This webinar on the FEBio software project will be focused mostly on new FEBio users and aims to:

  • Introduce FEBio and provide an overview of its capabilities.
  • Introduce FEBio Studio, a new integrated environment for setting up, running, and analyzing FEBio models.

At the end of this webinar, attendees will have learned the basic steps for working with FEBio and FEBio Studio, including how to:

  • Import surface and CAD geometry into FEBio Studio and generate FE meshes.
  • Set up boundary conditions, material parameters, and analysis settings.
  • Run the FEBio solver from within FEBio Studio.
  • Visualize and animate the FEBio results.

The webinar will be conducted by Dr. Steve Maas. He received his Master’s in Physics from the University of Antwerp, Belgium, in 2002 and his PhD in Computing from the University of Utah, USA, in 2017. Since 2005, he has been employed at the Musculoskeletal Research Laboratory at the University of Utah where he has been the lead software developer on the FEBio software project. FEBio is a finite element solver designed specifically for solving problems in computational biomechanics and biophysics. It accomplishes this by focusing on constitutive models, loading conditions, and modeling scenarios that are relevant to these research domains. Steve Maas has also created the PreView and PostView supporting software packages, which are used for pre-processing and post-processing, respectively, FEBio models. He is also the lead on the new FEBio Studio project, which is a fully integrated environment that combines many of the pre- and post-processing and solver capabilities, in a single unified interface.

The seminar will last 45 minutes followed by 15 minutes of Q/A from the audience. You will have the chance to ask your questions which will be addressed by the speaker at the end of the webinar. However, it would be great if you could send your question in advance while filling the registration form or by sending to Ehsan.soodmand@charite.de and/or rodrigo.romarowski@grupposandonato.it  before the start of the webinar.

Click here to register for the webinar.

Please Subscribe to our YouTube channel! (https://www.youtube.com/esbiomech ) and set a reminder for yourself via YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFsosn8Cn0Y)

Looking forward to your attendance.

ESB Student Committee

Call for ESB Mobility award 2020

The ESB is happy to announce the call for the Mobility awards 2020.

The ESB Mobility Grant aims to provide ESB members with financial assistance to carry out collaborative research in a foreign country as part of their PhD or postdoctoral research. The applicant and the scientist responsible of the host laboratory must be ESB members in good standing for at least 6 months.

The application deadline is 30th June 2020 and the winners will be announced in August.

This year we have added at least one award dedicated to senior postdocs that is added to standard awards given to PhD students or junior postdocs.

There are at least three awards available for 2020 on a competitive basis:

-) Junior Awards: at least two awards for PhD students or postdocs maximum one year after receiving their PhD degree;

-) Senior Awards: at least one award for postdocs between 2 and 5 years after receiving their PhD degree.

More details about the application can be found here:

14 PhD scholarships within exciting ITN project!

Mediate – The Medical Digital Twin for Aneurysm Prevention and Treatment

https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/859836/it

MeDiTATe aims to develop state-of-the-art image based medical Digital Twins of cardiovascular districts for a patient specific prevention and treatment of aneurysms. The Individual Research Projects of the 14 ESRs are defined across five research tracks:
(1) High fidelity CAE multi-physics simulation with RBF mesh morphing (FEM, CFD, FSI, inverse FEM)
(2) Real time interaction with the digital twin by Augmented Reality, Haptic Devices and Reduced Order Models
(3) HPC tools, including GPUs, and cloud-based paradigms for fast and automated CAE processing of clinical database
(4) Big Data management for population of patients imaging data and high fidelity CAE twins
(5) Additive Manufacturing of physical mock-up for surgical planning and training to gain a comprehensive Industry 4.0 approach in a clinical scenario (Medicine 4.0)


The work of ESRs, each one hired for two 18 months periods (industry + research) and enrolled in PhD programmes, will be driven by the multi disciplinary and multi-sectoral needs of the research consortium (clinical, academic and industrial) which will offer the expertise of Participants to provide scientific support, secondments and training. Recruited researchers will become active players of a strategic sector of the European medical and simulation industry and will face the industrial and research challenges daily faced by clinical experts, engineering analysts and simulation software technology developers. During their postgraduate studies they will be trained by the whole consortium receiving a flexible and competitive skill-set designed to address a career at the cutting edge of technological innovation in healthcare. The main objective of MeDiTATe is the production of high-level scientists with a strong experience of integration across academic, industrial and clinical areas, able to apply their skills to real life scenarios and capable to introduce advanced and innovative digital twin concepts in the clinic and healthcare sectors.

For application to 12 already available ESR positions please visit:
https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/site/search?keywords=meditate

Post-doctoral researcher in Biomechanics at Uppsala University, specifically numerical analysis of injectable materials for spinal applications

Published: 2020-01-20

Uppsala University is a comprehensive research-intensive university with a strong international standing. Our mission is to pursue top-quality research and education and to interact constructively with society. Our most important assets are all the individuals whose curiosity and dedication make Uppsala University one of Sweden’s most exciting workplaces. Uppsala University has 44.000 students, 7.100 employees and a turnover of SEK 7 billion.

The Division for Applied Materials Science, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the Ångström Laboratory.

The position is for two years starting as soon as possible. 

Tasks: The overarching goal is to evaluate different implant materials for spinal applications, and in particular their suitability for treatment of vertebrae and intervertebral discs.Mainly numerical methods will be used, such as finite element analysis, although some experimental work also will take place. A natural part of the work lies in reporting results, both in scientific journals and at conferences. The project is funded by the EU, and in particular EIT Health.

Qualifications required: To qualify for an employment as a post-doctor, the applicant must hold a PhD degree or a foreign qualification deemed equivalent to a PhD, and the PhD degree must have been obtained no more than three years prior to the application date; however, for example, periods of sick leave or parental leave are deducted from the three-year period.

For this position a PhD degree in engineering physics, mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, or similar in nearby subjects, is required.

An interest in numerical modelling is a requirement, and experience in biomedical engineering is an advantage. The ability to lead and advance projects, as well as collaborative skills, is important.

Very good written and verbal skills in English is a must.

Uppsala University strives to be an inclusive workplace that promotes equal opportunities and attracts qualified candidates who can contribute to the University’s excellence and diversity. We welcome applications from all sections of the community and from people of all backgrounds.

For further information about the position please contact Professor Cecilia Persson, Cecilia.persson@angstrom.uu.se.

Salary: Individually negotiated salary.

Starting date: As soon as possible.

Type of position: Temporary position for two years.

You are welcome to submit your application no later than February 14 2020, UFV-PA 2019/4623. 

In case of disagreement between the English and the Swedish version of this announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.

Are you considering moving to Sweden to work at Uppsala University? If so, you will find a lot of information about working and living in Sweden at www.uu.se/joinus. You are also welcome to contact International Faculty and Staff Services at ifss@uadm.uu.se.

Please do not send offers of recruitment or advertising services.

Submit your application through Uppsala University´s recruitment system. More details:

https://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/join-us/details/?positionId=311258


Corporate members of the ESB:

AMTI force and motion logo
BERTEC logo
Beta CAE logo
BoB Biomechanics logo
Materialise logo
Nobel Biocare logo