Doctoral student in Medical Radiation Physics with a focus on MR-Physics - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

The department of Medical Radiation Physics is engaged in research and education in ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and its use mainly in medical applications. The major areas are magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), radiation therapy, X-ray physics, and nuclear medicine.

 The MR physics research group (https://www.msf.lu.se/research/mr-physics-group), situated in the expanding Öresund region in southern Sweden, is active in the field of medical magnetic resonance, and has its primary focus on development of new techniques for assessment of functional information related to perfusion, diffusion, cortical activation/fMRI, flow, CEST as well as quantitative MRI in the brain and in the musculoskeletal system.

Description
Diffusion MRI (dMRI) measures microscopic properties in the tissue by studying random motion of water molecules. In dense tissue with small cells, diffusion is slow, while it appears to be faster in less dense tissue. dMRI can therefore detect aggressive tumors with dense tissue. However, today’s clinical dMRI lack the ability to distinguish specific characteristics of the tissue such as cell sizes and membrane permeabilities. By enhancing the approach by which microstructure features are encoded into the signal, we believe we can distinguish several different properties of the tissue, such as cell density, cell shape, blood volume, and cell membrane permeability, giving superior detail compared to previous technologies.

Job Assignment
The main assignment is to develop, validate and apply new dMRI methods using that use free gradient waveforms to map features of tumors such as the average cell size, membrane permeability and vascularity. Specifically, the tasks are to (i) develop new microstructure models, (ii) validate the models using Monte Carlo simulations and measurements in excised tissue, and (iii) deploy and apply the approach in early clinical studies to test the feasibility of the approach. Tasks may also include the development and validation of machine learning approaches for parameter fitting and image reconstruction.

Eligibility
Students with basic eligibility for third-cycle studies are those who have either completed a second-cycle degree, or completed courses of at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits are from second-cycle courses, or acquired largely equivalent knowledge in some other way, in Sweden or abroad.Additionally, to be accepted for third-cycle studies in Medical Radiation Physics the applicant must have a MSc degree in Medical Physics (or an equivalent foreign degree), or completed an alternative university education to achieve basic eligibility equivalent to 240 credits, of which courses of at least 60 credits are directly relevant for the doctoral studies announced here, and has completed a research project thesis (MSc thesis, or equivalent) corresponding to at least 30 credits.

Other requirements:

• Ability to communicate well in spoken and written English, to a standard that allows writing of scientific publications in a linguistically acceptable manner
• The holder of this position must have the ability to teach, as part of the departmental assignments.

Evaluation criteria: 

• Very good knowledge of MR physics
• Completed degree project aimed at diffusion MRI
• Previous experience of research in the field of diffusion MRI
• Documented good knowledge of various programming languages
• Ability to cooperate with colleagues 

Admission to third level (doctoral) studies is based primarily on the evaluated ability of the student to pursue and benefit from such studies.

The employment of doctoral students is regulated in the Swedish Code of Statues 1998: 80. Only those who are or have been admitted to PhD-studies may be appointed to doctoral studentships. When an appointment to a doctoral studentship is made, the ability of the student to benefit from PhD-studies shall primarily be taken into account. In addition to devoting themselves to their studies, those appointed to doctoral studentships may be required to work with educational tasks, research and administration, in accordance with specific regulations in the ordinance.

Type of employment
Limit of tenure, four years according to HF 5 kap 7§.

Application
The application is to be made online. An incomplete application will not be processed.

The application must contain: 

1. CV
2. A copy of the 30 credit master's degree project thesis (or equivalent)
3. Copies of certificates and documents that the applicant wishes to claim.