Doctoral student in Biomedical Engineering with a focus on mechanobiological modeling of tendon tissues

Description of the workplace  

The biomechanics group is part of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. The interdisciplinary group currently includes 15 scientists. The research is focused on understanding the link between mechanics and biology in the musculoskeletal system, including related pathologies and repair of skeletal tissues. Experimental tissue characterisation methods, imaging and computational simulation techniques are used. The research is applied on direct problems in orthopaedics to develop better methods to understand and improve repair of musculoskeletal tissues. The group strives for an inclusive environment, largely based on collaboration and trust, where development towards an independent researcher is largely encouraged and supported.

The research is connected to the LTH profile area Engineering Health. More information can be found on the website: Research group Biomechasnics or through the Twitter channel @Lund_BioMech. 

Subject description

Biomedical engineering comprises theoretical and experimental activities based in engineering and addressing issues tied to medicine and biology.

This doctoral student project is focusing on soft musculoskeletal tissues (e.g. tendons) connect or transmit forces during movement in the body. The load-bearing capacity largely comes from the collagen network and an extensive amount of water. The Achilles tendon is the largest and the most injured tendon in the human body. Ruptures often occur during recreational sport activities but can also be a result of ageing. Mechanical loading is a prerequisite for tendon healing. Healing of tendon ruptures could be improved by elucidating how loading affects the mechanobiological aspects of tendon healing.The PhD student will work within a larger project with the scope to elucidate how mechanical loading affects tendon regeneration.

The project is funded by the European Research Council. 

Work duties

The main duties of doctoral students are to devote themselves to their research studies which includes participating in research projects and third cycle courses. The work duties can also include teaching and other departmental duties (no more than 20%).

Specifically, the PhD student will in this project focus on developing and validating adaptive computational models of how the tissues respond and adapt to mechanical loading over time, and specifically how mechanical stimulation affects the tissue’s regenerative capacity after damage and the degenerative degradation in response to injury. 

The goal is to investigate how mechanical loading influences healing tendon function, structure and composition. The project includes further development and validation of an existing adaptive mechanoregulatory model for tendon repair. This will be conducted based on collected experimental data from ongoing studies. The developed computational mechanobiological scheme will be key in the project to elucidate the mechanobiological mechanisms at play.

Detailed description of the work duties:

• You will be mainly conducting research activities within the project described above. The research includes designing, planning, and conducting numerical studies, as well as programming to develop the algorithms.
• You are expected to assist in supervision of MSc degree projects. 
• You are expected to collaborate with national and international partners, as well as travel to disseminate the research findings at, for example, scientific conferences.

Admission requirements 

A person meets the general admission requirements for third-cycle courses and study programmes if the applicant: 

• has been awarded a second-cycle qualification, or
• has satisfied the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second cycle, or
• has acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

A person meets the specific admission requirements for third cycle studies in Biomedical Engineering if the applicant has: 

• at least 45 second-cycle credits of relevance to the subject
  (see the full syllabus at General syllabus for Biomedical Engineering).

Additional requirements:

• Very good oral and written proficiency in English.
• Background in biomedical/mechanical engineering, engineering physics, or other relevant fields. 

Assessment criteria

Selection for third-cycle studies is based on the student’s potential to profit from such studies. The assessment of potential is made primarily based on academic results from the first and second cycle. Special attention is paid to the following: 

1. Knowledge and skills relevant to the thesis project and the subject of study.
2. An assessment of ability to work independently and to formulate and tackle research problems.
3. Written and oral scientific communication skills.
4. Other experience relevant to the third-cycle studies, e.g., professional experience. 

Other assessment criteria:

• Knowledge in constitutive modelling and the finite element method is considered highly desirable. 
• Knowledge in biomechanics, preferably musculoskeletal soft tissues, is is considered highly desirable. 
• Experience from modelling biological tissue is considered highly desirable.
• Experience with simulation software for material modeling (e.g.  Abaqus), and scientific programming (e.g. Matlab, Python, C++) is considered positive.
• Experience from multidisciplinary environments is considered positive.
• International experience is considered positive.
• Pedagogical skills/experience in supervision/teaching are considered positive.

Consideration will also be given to good collaborative skills, drive and independence, and how the applicant, through experience and skills, is deemed to have the abilities necessary for successfully completing the third cycle programme.

We offer

Lund University is a public authority which means that employees get particular benefits, generous annual leave and an advantageous occupational pension scheme. 
Read more on the University website about being a Lund University employee : Work at Lund University

Terms of employment

Only those admitted to third cycle studies may be appointed to a doctoral studentship. Third cycle studies at LTH consist of full-time studies for 4 years. A doctoral studentship is a fixed-term employment of a maximum of 5 years (including 20% departmental duties). Doctoral studentships are regulated in the Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100), chapter 5, 1-7 §§.

How to apply

Applications shall be written in English and include a cover letter stating the reasons why you are interested in the position and in what way the research project corresponds to your interests and educational background. The application must also contain a CV, degree certificate or equivalent, and other documents you wish to be considered (grade transcripts, contact information for your references, letters of recommendation, etc.).

We look forward to receiving your application!