For a project called fastMRI in collaboration with the University Medical Centre Groningen, RadboudUMC and Siemens Healthineers, we are looking for a highly motivated, creative, and enthusiastic researcher who is driven by curiosity to fill a PhD position.

MRI scanners are widely used for the diagnosis of various diseases or for more novel applications like guiding minimal invasive therapeutic interventions. Advantages of MRI are being able to detect a disease while at the same time guiding therapies, which enables maximum disease treatment coverage while keeping unwanted side effects to a minimum. In the fastMRI project we will be investigating speeding up MRI in prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis and interventions. National and European guidelines have recently changed and recommend MRI as first-line diagnostic work up in all patients suspected of PCa. MRI is also expected to be more intensively used for surveillance in the setting of a watchful waiting strategy, in order to avoid overtreatment of PCa. Consequently, the number of MRI scans and associated cumulative costs will substantially increase. Therefore, new artificial intelligence (AI) techniques will be developed that will make MRI for the diagnosis and interventions in PCa targeted, and thereby faster and more accurate. Innovative harmoniously operating AI techniques will be developed for this purpose: detection, reconstruction, and steering AI, together with corresponding MRI sequence development.

The main objective of this PhD within the project is developing the fundamentals for fast MRI sequences with the input of AI strategies. There will be a close collaboration with employees from Siemens Healthineers to ensure a direct implementation of these complex methods. This will ultimately lead to fast and efficient MRI diagnostics and MRI guided interventions. During this work you'll also work with clinicians and researchers in the field of PCa, MRI and AI. You will publish in international refereed journals and present your work at scientific conferences. The collaboration project is co-funded by the PPP Allowance made available by Health~Holland, Top Sector Life Sciences & Health, to stimulate public-private partnerships.

We are looking for a highly motivated, creative, and enthusiastic researcher who is driven by curiosity and has - or will shortly acquire - an MSc degree in biomedical engineering, applied mathematics, applied physics, computer science, technical medicine, or a related field. The ideal candidate has clear affinity with cutting edge imaging technology and clinical applications. Solid experience with programming and knowledge of MRI physics is essential and should be evident from (online) courses the candidate has followed and projects undertaken. Experience with machine learning models such as convolutional neural networks is a plus. The candidate should have the ambition to push the boundaries of the medical field, the ability to translate complex theories into practical applications and the academic skills to turn resulting findings into scientific papers.

We offer a very challenging fulltime position in an inspiring multidisciplinary and international environment. The university offers a dynamic ecosystem with enthusiastic colleagues.

Salary and conditions are in accordance with the collective labor agreement for Dutch universities (CAO-VSNU).

• We provide a stimulating, modern research environment with world-class research facilities
• A starting salary of € 2.434 gross per month in the first year and increasing to € 3.111 gross per month in the fourth year
• An annual holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary, and an annual year-end bonus of 8.3%, a solid pension scheme and a minimum of 29 leave days in case of full-time employment
• We provide excellent mentorship and a stimulating research environment to accelerate your further professional and personal growth
• The University of Twente is situated on a green and lively campus with lots of facilities for sports and other activities

The TechMed Centre of the University of Twente houses several clinical environments for research, development and education that are flexibly extendable with additional clinical equipment, simulators and phantoms. It is equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure, ranging from research labs, preclinical testbeds to simulated hospital environments. TechMed is particularly active in the area of imaging and diagnostics, biorobotics, medical physiology, innovative bioengineering technologies, and the assessment of the effectiveness of personalized health technologies. The imaging labs are equipped with several clinical imaging devices including two MRI systems: 0.25T (for imaging in vertical in supine position), and a 1.5T clinical MRI.