PhD candidate: Optimisation of Paediatric CT Imaging

This PhD position is part of RHYTHM (“Radiation, Health, Safety and Quality for Youth: A Comprehensive Approach to Justification, Optimisation, and Education”), a European Union-funded research project aimed at improving the quality and radiation safety of medical imaging in children, adolescents, and young adults. The focus lies on CT, SPECT/CT, PET/CT, and CT for radiotherapy planning. Recognising the sensitivity of this population to ionising radiation and the critical need for optimised imaging practices, RHYTHM targets key challenges in justification, optimisation, availability, and accessibility of imaging services. The RHYTHM project addresses key challenges in justification, optimisation, availability, and access to imaging services. Key objectives include the development of evidence-based recommendations for referral guidelines, clinical guidelines, clinical decision support systems, and the development of optimised imaging protocols tailored to paediatric and young adult needs. The UMC Utrecht is the leader of the work package that will focus on the development of optimised protocols and guidance documents for diagnostic CT, radiotherapy planning CT, and hybrid CT imaging in children and young adults.

You will be involved in the development of optimised diagnostic CT protocols based on an European CT dose and image repository and phantom studies, and will work closely with imaging researchers, clinical researchers, and medical physicists. You will have a strong contribution to the success of the RHYTHM project requiring development, implementation, application, and evaluation of optimised imaging protocols and guidance documents for diagnostic CT in children and young adults.

In addition, the project must be completed with a PhD thesis, consisting typically out of several published journal peer reviewed papers which requires excellent English writing skills.

Your appointment will be divided between two locations: 0.6 FTE at the University Medical Centre Utrecht (UMC Utrecht) and 0.4 FTE at Erasmus Medical Center (Erasmus MC) in Rotterdam.

We are looking for excellent candidates to develop optimised protocols and guidance documents for diagnostic CT for children and young adults.

• You are a creative and enthusiastic researcher with an MSc degree in Physics, Engineering or Biomedical Engineering, or similar.
• You have a clear interest in developing imaging protocols and have affinity with medical topics.
• You have knowledge of CT dosimetry and radiation physics.
• You have good experimental skills and experience with image processing.
• You have some knowledge in programming (e.g. in python).
• You have good communication skills (in English) and strong affinity with working in a multidisciplinary and mutli-institutional environment.

Do you recognise yourself in the above and does this position appeal to you? Please send your CV and a combined PDF file containing your motivation letter and a list of the courses you followed, before Thursday, 23 October 2025 via the website. Please note that you may be invited for an interview before the closing date.

More information
For more information, you can contact:

• Prof. dr. R.A.J. (Rutger Jan) Nievelstein, Paediatric Radiologist – Telephone +31 (0)88-75 566 89
• Prof. dr. ir. H.W.A.M. (Hugo) de Jong, Medical Physicist – Telephone +31 (0)88-75 533 27
• Dr. ir. M. (Marcel) van Straten, Medical Physicist – Telephone +31 (0)10-703 1408

The maximum salary for this position (36 - 36 hours) is € 3.108,00 gross per month based on full-time employment.

In addition, we offer an annual benefit of 8.3%, holiday allowance, travel expenses and career opportunities. The terms of employment are in accordance with the Cao University Medical Centers (UMC).

You will be embedded in the Departments of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine at both UMC Utrecht and Erasmus MC.

At UMC Utrecht, the department is part of the Division of Imaging & Oncology, which brings together radiology, nuclear medicine, radiotherapy, and all oncology-related specialties.

At Erasmus MC, the department is part of the Theme Diagnostics & Advice and contains two large sections: Patient Care and Research & Education. The Research Committee forms the centre of all research activities of 30+ research groups organized within four main research focus areas, including Biomedical Image Acquisition & Analysis.

In both institutions, you will be a member of the Medical Physics team and will work closely with paediatric radiologists, imaging researchers, and other professionals.