PhD Position in Bio-Inspired Design and Control

The Surgical Robotics Laboratory (http://www.surgicalroboticslab.nl) in the Department of Biomechanical Engineering (Faculty of Engineering Technology) at the University of Twente, The Netherlands has openings for a PhD students within the research area of Bio-inspired Design and Control.

Research project description

Minimally invasive surgery has revolutionized medicine by enabling interventions without large incisions, thereby significantly improving clinical outcomes. Such surgical techniques include insertions of needles, flexible snake-like continuum robots, and micro- and nano-robots. For effective medical diagnosis and treatment, the device must reach its intended target. In order to increase the targeting accuracy of the procedure and improve clinical outcomes, the goal of this research project is to develop new methods to design, manufacture, and control novel robotic systems that mimic motion of organisms. Techniques would be developed to track and control the path of the novel devices using images (magnetic resonance and/or ultrasound imaging modalities). You will build on the existing expertise in the lab in the micro-robotics and image-guided control of flexible surgical devices.

The present project will be conducted within the Surgical Robotics Laboratory (http://www.surgicalroboticslab.nl) and the Department of Biomechanical Engineering (https://people.utwente.nl/s.misra). In addition, there are excellent opportunities for collaboration with the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology (https://www.utwente.nl/mesaplus/), University Medical Centre Groningen, and several institutions abroad.

• CV (including contact information for at least two academic references)
• Transcripts from your Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degrees

We offer a contract for four years. The monthly salary of a PhD candidate, in accordance with the collective labour agreement for Dutch universities (CAO- NU), ranges from € 2395 gross in the first year to € 3061 gross in the fourth year.
Additionally, the University of Twente provides excellent facilities for professional and personal development, a holiday allowance and an end-of-year bonus, and a number of additional benefits. Your main responsibility will be to carry out research, but you will be given the opportunity to acquire some teaching experience as well.

The University of Twente. We stand for life sciences and technology. High tech and human touch. Education and research that matter. New technology which leads change, innovation and progress in society. The University of Twente is the only campus university of the Netherlands; divided over five faculties we provide more than fifty educational programmes. We have a strong focus on personal development and talented researchers are given scope for carrying out groundbreaking research.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status. Because of our diversity values we do particularly support women to apply.

The Faculty of Engineering Technology (ET) is one of the five faculties of the University of Twente. ET combines Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Industrial Design Engineering. Our faculty has approximately 1800 bachelor and master students, 400 employees and 150 PhD candidates. The departments of the faculty cooperatively conduct the educational programmes and participate in interdisciplinary research projects, programmes and the research institutes: Mesa+ Institute, TechMed Centra and Digital Society Institute.