About your role
We are looking for a PhD candidate who will significantly improve magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the clinical evaluation and treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). Currently, there are several clinical challenges in the treatment of AAAs that require the development of imaging guidance at different stages of the disease. The progression of the AAA can be followed with advanced MRI methods; the procedure to place stents in the AAA can be performed in the MRI scanner requiring real time MRI and finally the success of the stent placement can also be monitored with MRI.

Your tasks will be:

• Implementing and testing new approaches to quantitative and real-time MRI. You will work on the complete MRI chain.
• You will operate state-of-the-art MRI machines (3 Tesla), acquire MRI data, write and modify the MRI scanner software to improve acquisition (C++), develop and perform post-processing, and analyse the MRI data.
• You will perform new scientific research combining AI and medical physics.
• Your research will be published in high impact, peer-reviewed journals. Besides you will also regularly present your work at (international) conferences and assist with relevant teaching activities.
• You will collaborate with your fellow PhD students in medical physics and assist your fellow PhD students in clinical sciences in their experiments.

The project
In this project, we will develop quantitative MRI methods (e.g. flow and perfusion determination) together with real-time MRI for visualisation and localisation of markers during an interventional procedure. To achieve this, new MRI postprocessing and reconstruction methods will be developed. Over the years, the Applied MR Physics group of the Amsterdam UMC in close cooperation with clinical partners has pioneered compressed sensing to speed up quantitative imaging and several artificial intelligence (AI)-based methods are currently being evaluated. Implementation of these methods for MRI in AAAs requires a next step, as both temporal and spatial resolution limitations are greater than in current applications.
Our group has expertise in a wide variety of advanced MRI methods, creating the perfect environment to bring this project to a successful conclusion. In addition, we work closely with physicians (vascular surgeons and radiologists) and clinical PhD students, allowing for rapid development and validation of the techniques.

About you
A candidate must have:

• An MSc degree in (Medical) Physics, Mathematics or a related discipline (please mention your average grade)
• An interest in healthcare and in particular MRI
• An interdisciplinary attitude; open and proactive in dealing with researchers from different disciplines (e.g. physicians, medical researchers and other technical researchers)
• Experience with programming (programming skills in Python and/or C++ are preferred)
• Excellent English communication, presentation and writing skills
• Highly motivated and creative

 Additional skills we would like to see:

• Experience with AI and with MRI and MRI physics (or other medical imaging approaches)

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

Our offer
Working at the Amsterdam UMC means working in an inspiring and professional environment in which developing one`s talents and skills are encouraged. As PhD candidate, you have access to the Graduate School to further develop your skills. We offer a salary in line with the Collective Labor Agreement for University Medical Centers in the Netherlands (CAO UMC).

• PhD students (Researcher in Training) are placed on scale 21, with a full-time gross salary that ranges from €2.495,- to €3.196,- based on qualifications and experience.
• In addition, there is an annual bonus of 8,3% and a holiday allowance of 8%.
• The position is for 4 years. Starting with a contract for 12 months, to be extended for another 36 months upon evaluation).
• There is a range of added fringe benefits, such as collective discounted rates for several insurances, an attractive bicycle scheme and/or public transport allowance, and free parking.
• Pension is built up at BeFrank.

Academic Medical Center (AMC)

Amsterdam UMC has arisen from the (administrative) merger of Amsterdam’s two academic hospitals, the Academic Medical Center (AMC) and the VU University Medical Center (VUmc) in 2018. Amsterdam UMC represents the medical faculties of the two universities associated: the University of Amsterdam and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

MRI-physics group

You will be part of the MRI-physics group at the Amsterdam UMC (location AMC). Dr. Oliver Gurney-Champion and Dr. Pim van Ooij will be daily supervisors and prof. Aart Nederveen will be the promotor. Dr. Kak Khee Yeung, will be the (co-)promotor from the clinical side. The MRI-physics research group offers a resourceful and stimulating scientific environment. We are an energetic and enthusiastic team of roughly 15 BSc/MSc students, 20 PhD candidates, 3 postdocs, 5 assistant professors and two professors. The MRI-physics group is part of the department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine.
At the Amsterdam UMC, we are equipped with 10 state-of-the-art 1.5/3 Tesla MRI scanners and a 7 tesla MRI scanner. We have reserved MRI research hours on most scanners.