European Society 
In 2021 the 26th Congress of ESB will be held in Milan, Italy. The congress will take place at the Politecnico di Milano from 11 – 14 July 2021.
For additional information see esbiomech2020.org
We look forward to seeing you in Milan!
Closing Date: Review of applications will commence on 1 August 2020 and remain open until filled
Department: Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering.
Applications are invited for an exciting fully-funded PhD studentship at the Faculty of Engineering, the University of Nottingham.
Research area. The research topic focuses on developing computer vision and machine learning based solutions that enable in-natura markerless motion capture for biomechanical modelling in Biomedical and Sports Engineering. Specifically, it addresses the fundamental research problem of reconstruction of person-specific human pose, kinematics, and surface geometry to enhance our understanding of the non-linear behaviour of human motion, musculoskeletal injury and disease and enable modelling of soft-tissue dynamics and human-object interaction.
The project. The candidate is expected to develop a fast and robust method for inferring and tracking 3D human pose and surface geometry. The method will be mainly based on visual sensing complemented by Inertial and force sensors. The method can use either or both of model-based and learning-based approaches, such as CNN based segmentation, geometric CNNs, or convolutional kernel filter based tracking. The candidate will have access to a newly established state-of-the-art motion capture laboratory.
The candidate. The ideal candidate will have;
The offer. The scholarship on offer (to eligible students) is for a minimum of three years and includes a tax-free stipend of 15,285 per year (for 2020/21) and tuition fees. It is available to students of UK and EU nationality. Applicants must obtain the support of the potential supervisor prior to submitting their application.
Informal enquiries about the project may be addressed to Dr Ami Drory. Please (i) insert your cover letter, CV, copies of academic transcripts, a list of publications, and contact details for two academic referees into a single pdf file. (ii) Name the file with your name as ”firstName_lastName_phd”. (iii) e-mail to: Ami.Drory [ at ] nottingham.ac.uk, with [3D shape reconstruction PhD application – lastName] as the email subject. Applications without academic transcripts or academic referees will not be considered. Applicants are advised to include copies of any publications or examples of their technical writing, such as code projects, project report or dissertation in support of the application.
Application instructions. With the support of the potential supervisor, formal applications are to be made via http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/pgstudy/apply/applyonline.aspx.
Closing date for applications. Review of applications will commence on 1 August 2020 and remain open until filled. A start date is expected to be as soon as practical thereafter.
The Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences (KL) offers a research position for three year (at the earliest from August. 2020) in the Department of Anatomy and Biomechanics (Division Biomechanics, Head: Univ.-Prof. Dieter Pahr):
Your responsibilities:
Your profile:
Your Perspektive:
You can expect a challenging job in a highly motivated team with the possibility to achieve the academic degree of a PhD (Dr. techn.) from TU-Wien.
People with disabilities who meet the required qualification criteria are expressly invited to apply and are given special consideration. The minimum classification is € 2,100 gross per month.
Applications should include a motivation letter, curriculum vitae, and credentials and should be mailed by 16 of June 2020 referring to jobnumber “2010” to Ms. Christina Schwaiger of the Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, Dr.-Karl-Dorrek-Straße 30, 3500 Krems, Austria (bewerbung@kl.ac.at).
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:
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
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.
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.
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:
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:
Please keep in mind: you can upload only 5 documents up to 2 MB each.
We remind our members about the 4th webinar of the ESB Webinar Series which will introduce the FEBio Software Suite. The 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:
At the end of this webinar, attendees will have learned the basic steps for working with FEBio and FEBio Studio, including how to:
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
We are currently recruiting a PhD student for a project that was funded by the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France. The project deals with the development of a computational model to better understand spinal growth and bone adaptation. In particular, the project addresses the question how vertebral bodies grow under normal and pathological loading conditions such as in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS), i.e. a spinal deformity that leads to abnormal vertebral loading, vertebral wedging and ultimately to a significant deformity of the spine. Furthermore, the altered loads on vertebral bodies may lead to a change in bone mass and re-orientation (i.e., adaptation) of the trabecular bone architecture which could play an important role for the development of osteoporosis at later stages in life. Access to longitudinal MRI data both from healthy and AIS subjects will allow for patient specific modeling of spinal growth and adaptation.
Candidates are expected to have a strong background in continuum mechanics and numerical simulations. A previous experience in a domain related to biomechanics and/or imaging techniques will be an asset.
The PhD project is a collaboration between Prof Vittorio Sansalone, Biomechanics team of the Multiscale Modeling and Simulation lab (CNRS UMR 8208), from the University of Paris Est Créteil (UPEC, France) and Professor Peter Pivonka, Director of Biomechanics and Spine Research Group, from Queensland University of Technology (QUT, Australia). The selected candidate will spend half of the time at UPEC, Paris and half of the time at QUT, Brisbane. The successful completion of PhD studies will lead to doctoral degrees both from the University Paris Est Créteil and Queensland University of Technology.
If you are interested in this position, please send your CV together with a cover letter to either Prof. Vittorio Sansalone (Email: vittorio.sansalone@u-pec.fr) or Prof. Peter Pivonka (peter.pivonka@qut.edu.au) by Friday, May 1, 2020.
Synopys has released a new product of interest to the ESB members. It uses Machine Learning for automated segmentation of medical image data.
Find out the details here:
https://www.synopsys.com/simpleware/news-and-events/simpleware-auto-segmenter.html?esb
A PhD position shared in collaboration between the Computational Mechanobiology Group at the Julius Wolff Institute (Charite Medical School in Berlin) and the Computational and Structural Mechanics group at the Institute of Mechanics in Technische Universität Berlin is vacant.
Topic
Bone has the ability to self-regenerate after injury, however, large bone defects often lead to delayed healing or non-unions. The treatment of these conditions remains a clinical challenge. To overcome the limitations of current bone treatment options, novel alternatives hold promise as the next generation of tissue engineering scaffolds. Experimental trial and error in the design of these scaffolds could be reduced by the development of a computer platform that could support the design of these scaffolds. The project therefore aims to develop suitable numerical models to investigate the behaviour and optimal design of tissue engineering scaffolds and their influence on the bone regeneration process.
Your tasks
You will employ engineering, mathematical and computational techniques (FEM) to determine the mechanical and electrical signals generated due to the physiological stimulation of a scaffold and to investigate how these signals influence the bone regeneration process. You will also investigate how different parameters influence the bone healing process. Using this understanding, the potential design optimization of scaffolds (concerning scaffold geometrical and material properties) will be also investigated. You have to be able to employ experimental data available to validate and qualify the numerical prediction.
Your profile
Highly motivated candidate with a Master’s or comparable degree in mechanical engineering/biomedical engineering/material science and engineering/mathematical biology or a related discipline
Strong skills in Finite Element Modelling (e.g. Abaqus)
Ideally knowledge or experience in material science in particular piezoelectric materials
Knowledge in Programming is advantageous (e.g. C/C++, Matlab, Python)
Willingness to work in a multidisciplinary project
Very good English language skills (oral and written)
What we provide
This position is fully funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for a period of three years (100%, E13 salary group). You will work in friendly teams of highly qualified researchers and in unique research environments. Expected start date is at the earliest convenience, ideally May 1st, 2020.
Application / Contact
Please submit your application before March 31st, 2020 via e-mail to Dr. Melika Mohammadkhah (Melika.mohammadkhah@tu-berlin.de). Your email should contain a single PDF document (subject: “Application: PhD position”) including the letter of motivation, your CV (with contact information of at least two references), transcripts of the bachelor’s and master’s diploma, proof of English language skills.
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 31st May 2020 and the winners will be announced at the ESB Congress, Milan, July 2020.
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:
Faculty of Technology
School of Mechanical and Design Engineering
Senior Scientific Officer in X-ray Microscopy
ZZ003837
Information for Candidates
THE POST
Please see the attached job description and person specification.
THE TERMS OF APPOINTMENT
Full-time
Permanent
The School of Mechanical and Design Engineering at the University of Portsmouth wishes to recruit a Senior Scientific Officer in X-ray microscopy. The role will be based within the Future Technology Centre and support X-ray microscopy at the Zeiss Global Centre (ZGC), including two Versa 510 and 520 microscopes as well as associated techniques such as extensive in situ facilities and digital resources. Further details of the facility can be found at https://www.port.ac.uk/research/research-centres-and-groups/zeiss-global-centre
The ZGC is at the forefront of advanced X-ray microscopy, particularly coupled with techniques such as in situ mechanics and digital volume correlation (DVC), for which is considered one of the reference centres in UK and abroad. The ZGC has an international reputation in producing high-impact academic outputs, securing significant external income and providing opportunities for collaborations across multiple disciplines within the university as well as nationally and internationally. Specific areas of excellence include imaging-based understanding of complex structures, bioengineering, bioinspiration and imaging-additive manufacturing relationships.
The successful candidate should have a strong background in one or more of the following areas: X-ray microscopy, mechanical behaviour of structures, image analysis and digital volume correlation (DVC). The ZGC has a number of external partners and strategic links, and the position is expected to contribute to maintaining and growing these links. Additionally, the post holder is strongly encouraged to develop his/her own research area.
We welcome applications from all qualified applicants, but applications are particularly encouraged from traditionally under-represented groups in science and engineering. The University of Portsmouth holds an Athena Swan bronze award and is committed to introduce organisational and cultural practices that promote gender equality and create a better working environment for men and women.
For informal enquiries about the post please contact Dr Gianluca Tozzi at gianluca.tozzi@port.ac.uk or phone +44 (0)23 9284 2514.
For Applications:
https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BYX407/senior-scientific-officer-in-x-ray-microscopy
