Uppsala universitet – Postdoctoral position in Biomedical Engineering with focus on machine learning for organs-on-chip

at the Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Uppsala University

Full-time temporary position for two years starting as soon as possible or as agreed upon

Join us!

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering aims to be an environment for successful and valuable research and education with a focus on materials science solutions for important societal challenges. Our department is an exciting workplace with research in a broad technology-related area, from basic research to large-scale applied research, and close contacts with students through the department’s involvement in engineering and master’s programs. Our research and teaching is conducted within seven divisions with different research focus.

Read more about us here

About the division
The Division of Biomedical Engineering is part of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Ångström Laboratory. We perform research within the development and evaluation of new materials in interaction with biological systems to understand the underlying principles. For us, it is equally important to study the impact of materials on biological processes as well as the impact of biological processes on materials. Our ambition is to foster a dynamic teaching and research environment that is internationally recognised for its excellence in connecting basic research with clinical applications.

The interdisciplinary research group EMBLA, led by Professor Maria Tenje, conducts successful and internationally recognized research in organs-on-chip and droplet-based microfluidics in collaboration with research teams at several different Swedish and overseas universities. Research funding has been obtained through several prestigious grants, including from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and the European Research Council (ERC). Read more about the research group here.

More information about the division can be found here.

Research project
Organs-on-chip is a growing field of research with the ambition to eventually replace traditional animal experiments. Based on earlier and on-going research on automated data collection in organs-on-chip, a new project is now being initiated to explore how machine learning and the combination of different types of data (optical and electrical) can be utilized to improve decisions during on-going experiments as well as its potential for identifying new biological information. This project is part of a research strength initiative in Molecular Life Science and Health Technologies (MLSHT) and is conducted in collaboration with Prof. Nataša Sladoje at the Department of Information Technology. We are now looking for a postdoctoral fellow with expertise in machine learning who is eager to work in an interdisciplinary research project and who is driven by scientific curiosity.

Tasks
The tasks within this interdisciplinary research project include conducting high-quality research focusing on AI-driven information fusion for improved organs-on-chip. Collection of data, in terms of spatio-temporal optical and electrical data from organs-on-chip, will be performed in collaboration with other researchers in the group. You will be responsible for developing methods for data analysis using supervised learning and multimodal information fusion that, for example, assist decision-making during ongoing experiments. In addition, you are expected to, in collaboration with others, explore if additional biological information can be gathered from the data as compared to current methods.

In addition to research, some participation in the supervision of doctoral students, master’s students and project students, as well as communication of research results through scientific articles in well-established scientific journals and presentations at international conferences, are also included as important aspects of the employment. Some participation in teaching may also be included. You are also expected to contribute to applications for external research funds.

Qualification requirements
To qualify for an employment on a postdoctoral position you must have a doctoral degree or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD degree. The degree needs to be obtained by the time of the decision of employment. Those who have obtained a PhD degree three years prior to the application deadline are primarily considered for the employment. The starting point of the three-year frame period is the application deadline. Due to special circumstances, the degree may have been obtained earlier. The three-year period can be extended due to circumstances such as sick leave, parental leave, duties in labor unions, etc.

For this position, a PhD in computer science, signal processing, applied mathematics, machine learning, biomedical engineering, or an equivalent degree in a related field is required.

We require documented knowledge and experience in developing, implementing and evaluating methods in image analysis, machine and deep learning. Experience of programming in Python and working with deep learning in the PyTorch environment is a requirement.

We require very good written and oral skills in English as well as very good skills in writing scientific publications.

Read more about the Postdoctoral position, rules and regulations at the Swedish Agency for Government Employers here (Only in Swedish).

Additional qualifications
Documented knowledge and experience in the following areas are meriting:

• Organs-on-chip, microtechnology and sensors
• Multimodal data analysis and spatio-temporal data analysis
• Release management with Git, use LaTeX, and use and administration of Linux computers
• Applying machine learning for biomedicine

We attach great importance to your personal qualities. You must be self-motivated and proactive and have the ability to independently plan and run an interdisciplinary project. You must also have excellent communicative skills, both towards people in different subjects and with different roles. It is important that you are pedagogical, structured, pay attention to details, and able to work effectively both individually and in groups.

Instructions for application
Your application should contain
1) A short letter describing yourself, your goals and why you want to take this a postdoctoral position.
2) CV (max 2 pages)
3) Copy of the PhD, master’s degree (or equivalent) and course grades
4) Names and contact information (e-mail and telephone) to two reference persons who have agreed to act as reference for you.
5) Copies (or drafts thereof) of thesis work and other documents, such as publications, which you wish to invoke.

The application can preferably be written in English. During the application period, we will continuously read applications and call for interviews.

 About the employment

The employment is time-limited for 2 years according to the central collective agreement. The position is full-time. Start date by agreement. Location: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: Dr Sofia Johansson (sofia.m.johansson@angstrom.uu.se) or Professor Maria Tenje (maria.tenje@angstrom.uu.se)

Please submit your application by 17th of June, 2024 UFV-PA 2024/1473

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