Are you interested in a PhD in medical physics and proton therapy? Do you want to work in a multi-disciplinary team of physicists, medical physicists, and radiation oncologists at a world leading university medical center and in close collaboration with HollandPTC and TU Delft? And contribute to the improvement of cancer treatment with proton therapy?

If yes, continue reading, because the Erasmus MC Cancer Institute is now accepting applications for a PhD position on the project "Probabilistic planning and optimization".

Proton Therapy (PT) is a special type of radiotherapy, holding the promise of better preserving healthy tissues surrounding the tumor, due to the finite range of protons. However, its advantage also comes at the cost of increased sensitivity to uncertainties in patient alignment, changes in patient anatomy, and dose calculation, which can never be completely eliminated. To account for uncertainties, robust treatment planning has been developed, where possible errors are directly incorporated in the optimization to make treatments robust. In this way a balance is found between tumor control probability and complication risk in the presence of treatment errors.

This project, funded by RaySearch Laboratories, aims at further improving treatment planning robustness by the development of probabilistic optimization methods. Probabilistic optimization is a mathematical method that is computationally more efficient than the current treatment planning optimization methods. Therefore, it allows for modelling the impact of a wider range of uncertainties in patient positioning and anatomy. This will result in better quality treatment plans.

During this project, the newly developed probabilistic planning methods will be benchmarked against the current clinical practice of scenario-based robust planning and robustness evaluation. This is a collaborative project between TU Delft, Erasmus MC and HollandPTC in which 2 PhDs will work closely together with the 3 institutes and their staff.

You are a highly motivated candidate with a master degree in (Applied) Physics or Mathematics, Technical Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, or a related discipline. You are able to translate complex theoretical concepts into practical processes and guidelines. As you will be part of a multi-disciplinary team, good communication skills are essential. You are ambitious, result-driven and an excellent team player. Excellent technical skills as well as academic writing and presentation skills in English are required. You are enthusiastic when solving a problem via programming (Matlab, Python, and C/C++), and interested in mathematical modelling. Knowledge of the Dutch language is strongly preferred. Being able to present a certificate of good conduct is a condition for the appointment.

• You will receive a temporary position for 4 years. The gross monthly salary is € 2.631,- in the 1st year and increases to € 3.336,- in the 4th year (scale OIO).
• Excellent fringe benefits, such as a 13th month that is already paid out in November and a individual travel expense package.
• Pension insurance with ABP. We take care of approximately 2/3 of the monthly contribution.
• Special benefits, such as a in company physiotherapist and bicycle repairer. And there is also a gym where you can work on your fitness after work.

Erasmus MC

The Department of Radiotherapy of the Erasmus MC Cancer Institute is one of the largest Radiotherapy departments in Europe. On a yearly basis, more than 5.500 patients are treated for mainly oncological diseases. The department has an extensive and renowned research program in the field of automated treatment plan optimization, high-precision adaptive radiotherapy, robotic radiotherapy, molecular radiobiology, hyperthermia, and proton therapy. It has a large division of Medical Physics to lead and support physics, mathematics and computer science aspects of research projects.