Your function within the department

Radiotherapy is a treatment modality of cancer where patients receive a high radiation dose localized to the tumor, while minimizing the exposure of surrounding normal tissue. Accurate treatment of gastric cancer, however, is challenging as the stomach is a highly mobile organ, displaying deformation and motion due to breathing, gastrointestinal filling and peristalsis. The MR-Linac is a novel device that combines a diagnostic MRI scanner and radiotherapy delivery device (linac). The MR-Linac enables high quality imaging prior to, and also concurrent with, irradiation, thus allowing for continuous monitoring of the (changes in) anatomy. To improve gastric cancer radiotherapy, research is required to optimize MR sequences, develop algorithms to quantify anatomical changes and methods to adapt the treatment plan to these changes.

We are therefore looking for a motivated PhD student for a Dutch Cancer Society (KWF) funded project “Individualized image-guided adaptive radiotherapy for resectable gastric cancer: now and in the future”. The project is a collaboration between the Departments of Radiotherapy at the AMC and at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI-AVL). The work takes place in close collaboration with the clinic, as the endpoint of the project is clinical implementation of optimal individualized radiotherapy for gastric cancer patients.

Your profile

We are looking for an ambitious and talented PhD student with a passion for medical imaging. You hold a Master’s degree in medical physics, biomedical engineering, computer science or equivalent, are proficient in software development and fluent in English and have good communicative skills. Experience with radiation oncology or image processing is recommended.

Your career opportunities and terms of employment

You will have the opportunity to follow high-quality courses offered by the OOA oncology graduate school and the AMC graduate school throughout your PhD. Your temporary employment will be for a period of at least four years. The gross salary per month will be from € 2.665,- to € 3.282,- according to the standard PhD scales. The terms of employment will be in accordance with the CAO Ziekenhuizen (Collective Labour Agreement for Hospitals) and can be consulted at www.nvz-ziekenhuizen.nl/cao-kenniscentrum/cao/download.