Post-doctoral fellow in Medical Radiation 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 radiotherapy physics, magnetic resonance imaging, X-ray physics, and nuclear medicine physics.

Subject description
Subject: Carotid Plaque x-ray micro-fluorescence study.
In the clinical routine it is difficult to differentiate hemosiderin and calcifications as components of atherosclerotic plaques. Proper quantification of the atherosclerotic plaque components can be difficult to do with histology, as many slices are broken and material is lost when cut in the microtome. To attempt a 3D quantification, we have scanned human carotid plaque samples with MRI (in vivo), and with micro-MRI and x-ray phase contrast CT (ex-vivo). Further data has been collected at the P06 beamline of the PETRA III synchrotron, providing x-ray fluorescence mapping (XRF) of the carotid plaque specimens in tomography mode.

This project will be a collaboration with the Cardiovascular Research group, where the research focus is atherosclerosis and cardiovascular complications. The research group has been at the forefront nationally and internationally in the field for several years. The group is led by Professor Isabel Goncalves and is located at CRC in Malmö.

The aim of this work is to correlate the images obtained with the above-mentioned methods and to bridge the resolution gap from clinical MRI to nano-XRF. With the element specificity of XRF, we can classify calcifications that are otherwise hard to identify in MRI alone.

Work duties
The main duties involved in a post-doctoral posistion is to conduct research. Teaching may also be included, but up to no more than 20% of working hours. The position shall include the opportunity for three weeks of training in higher education teaching and learning.

The employee is expected to disseminate their own and the group's research results by publishing scientific articles, presenting the research at international conferences and visiting institutions at other universities, e.g. by giving seminars. This involves some travel, for which there is a budget allocated, but the employee is also expected to seek their own funds from external funders.

The employee is expected to contribute to the daily scientific life of the group and to activities where collaborators in Lund and elsewhere meet and share their research results and engage in scientific discussions.

The tasks may also include:

• Teaching at the undergraduate, advanced, and doctoral levels.
• Supervising thesis projects and doctoral students.
• Working on external research funding applications.
• Administrative tasks related to the aforementioned responsibilities.

The main research task for the position will be to conduct data analysis of primarily tomography-XRF imaging data from experiments at P06 and do correlation with the x-ray phase contrast micro-CT data. The activities are mainly located at the Department of Medical Radiation Physics in Lund and sometimes in the Clinical Research Center, Cardiovascular Research - Translational Studies Group, Malmö.

Qualification requirements
Appointment to a post-doctoral position requires that the applicant has a PhD, or an international degree deemed equivalent to a PhD, in physics, medical radiation physics, or similar, completed no more than three years before the date of employment decision. Under special circumstances, the doctoral degree can have been completed earlier.

Furthermore, the acceptance is based on the estimated ability to accomplish advanced data analysis and publication of the results.

Additional requirements:

• The applicant must be fluent in speaking and writing English.
• Good knowledge in programming (e.g. C, python or MATLAB).

Assessment criteria
This is a career development position primarily focused on research. The position is intended as an initial step in the career, and the assessment of applicants will primarily be based on their scientific merits and potential as researchers. Particular emphasis will be placed on scientific competence in the subject area.

When appointing a postdoctoral researcher, the following shall form the basis for assessment:

• Strong ability to develop and conduct high-quality research.
• Pedagogical skills.
• Experience of work in XRF (in particular XRF tomography), or other element speciation modalities based on electronic or nuclear interactions, evidenced for example by a PhD thesis in the topic.
• Experience in synchrotron based XRF.
• Experience in micro-tomography.
• Experience in qualitative and/or quantitative analysis of XRF data.

Consideration will also be given to good collaborative skills, drive and independence, and how the applicant’s experience and skills complement and strengthen ongoing research within the department, and how they stand to contribute to its future development. The selection of the successful candidate will be based on the results of studies at the basic and advanced levels, the requirements indicated above, and the ability to cope with the challenges outlined in the anticipated assignments.

Terms of employment
This is a full-time, fixed-term employment of 2 years. The period of employment is determined in accordance with the agreement “Avtal om tidsbegränsad anställning som postdoktor” (“Agreement on fixed-term employment as a post-doctoral fellow”) between Lund University, SACO-S and OFR/S, dated 1st February 2022.

Instructions on how to apply
Applications shall be written in English and be compiled into a PDF-file containing:

• A cover letter in which applicants describe themselves and their particular research interests
• A CV
• A copy of the applicant’s PhD thesis (or a summary text if the thesis is not yet completed)
• Contact details of at least two references
• Copies of the doctoral degree certificate, and any other documents that the applicant wishes to refer to.

Incomplete applications will not be considered.