项目介绍

2025年4月11日

About the position

Are you motivated to take a step towards a doctorate and open up exciting career opportunities? As a PhD Candidate with us, you will work to achieve your doctorate, and at the same time gain valuable experience that qualifies you for a further career in higher education and research, in and outside academia.

Your immediate leader will be associate Professor Victorien Prot.

About the project

This PhD position aims to increase our understanding of the mechanics of heart valve diseases using cutting-edge computational mechanics and AI. This project will advance precision medicine through collaboration with experts in cardiology and machine learning.

The mitral valve (MV) ensures one-way blood flow between the left atrium and ventricle, preventing blood leakage (regurgitation) into the atrium when the ventricle’s pressure increases. Mitral regurgitation (MR) is the second most common valvular heart disease in Europe. Severe leakage can lead to death in the worst cases. This condition involves complex remodeling mechanisms, resulting in poor prognosis. Major clinical challenges include predicting disease progression and identifying which patients will benefit from surgical valve repair. To address these issues, better patient selection methods and deeper insights into disease mechanisms are needed. This project proposes innovative computational approaches, leveraging finite element simulations, AI, and clinical data, to better understand the mechanisms of MR. This aims to improve patient risk stratification and treatment outcomes. Computational biomechanical models of the MV will be developed to offer new insights, create mechanical markers for MR progression, and evaluate repair techniques through simulations. Despite advances, challenges like time-consuming segmentation and model complexity limit clinical adoption. This project aims to streamline segmentation and develop real-time biomechanical assessment tools, bridging the gap between numerical simulations and clinical practice.

The candidate will work alongside experts in solid mechanics, finite element analysis, and machine learning and cardiology, benefiting from ongoing collaborations with Haukeland University Hospital and the Institute of Biomechanics at TU Graz.

Duties of the position

• Develop segmentation methods and procedures of cardiac valves from 4D Ultrasound recordings.
• Numerical modelling and simulation of cardiac valves 
• Complete the doctoral education until obtaining a doctorate
• Carry out research of good quality within the framework described above
• Academic publications and popular science dissemination
• Participate in the research group Nano and Biomechanics
• Participate in international activities such as conferences and/or research stays at foreign educational institutions

Be prepared for changes to your work duties after employment.

Required selection criteria

• You must have an academically relevant background within structural engineering, mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, biophysics, applied mechanics or applied mathematics. 
• You must have a Master’s degree. Your course of study must correspond to a five-year Norwegian course, where 120 credits have been obtained at master’s level. Master’s students can apply, but the master’s degree must be obtained and documented before starting the position and no later than the first of October
• You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and have an average grade from your Master’s degree study, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared to NTNU’s grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic foundation. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be considered if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education.
• You must meet the requirements for admission to the PhD Programme in Engineering https://www.ntnu.edu/studies/phiv 
• You must be fluent in spoken and written English

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PLEASE NOTE: For detailed information about what the application must contain, see paragraph “About the application”.

If you cannot document skills in Norwegian, Swedish or Danish at level A2 upon employment, you will have the opportunity to complete Norwegian courses corresponding to 15 credits before the end of the employment period. NTNU will facilitate this. 

The appointment is to be made in accordance with Regulations for the Universities and Colleges Act (university and colleges regulations) and Regulations for the degrees philosophiae doctor (ph.d.) and philosophiae doctor (ph.d.) in artistic development work at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) for general criteria for the position.

Preferred selection criteria

• Experience in computational cardiovascular biomechanics
• Experience in medical image segmentation
• Experience in Python programming or a similar programming language
• Experience with machine learning models
• Good oral and written presentation skills in English

Personal characteristics

To complete a doctoral degree (PhD), it is important that you are able to: 

• Both work independently and to collaborate with other researchers
• Look for new perspectives and ideas to improve performance and stimulate innovation
• Approach others to develop new relationships or strengthen existing ones
• Develops comprehensive and realistic plans with both short- and long-term time horizons
• Be positive and enthusiastic, even in difficult situations
• Be flexible and open to adjusting the plan for the project as needed

Emphasis will be placed on personal qualities.

We offer

• An exciting job with an important mission in society
• Developing tasks in a strong and international professional environment
• Career guidance and follow-up during the PhD period
• Open and inclusive working environment with committed colleagues
• Working capital that can be used to implement the project
• Mentor programme as a new employee at NTNU
• As a public employee, you have favourable benefits as a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund (SPK)

You will be employed as a PhD Candidate at NTNU and will have access to employee benefits and discounts. 

Diversity

Diversity is a strength, and at NTNU we aim to be an employer that reflects the diversity in society and that makes use of the potential of the population’s collective skills. Our vision is Knowledge for a better world and our values ​​are creative, critical, constructive and respectful. We believe that an organization that is equal, diverse and gender-balanced is essential for us to achieve our goals. 

We strive to attract employees with different skills, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to even better problem solving of our societal mission in research and education. 

If you think this position is relevant and interesting, we encourage you to apply, regardless of gender, functional ability and cultural background, or whether you have been out of work for a period of time.

At NTNU we want to increase the proportion of women in scientific positions. We have a number of measures to promote equality. 

Salary and conditions

In the position of PhD Candidate, code 1017, your gross salary will normally be NOK  536 200,-  per annum depending on qualifications and seniority. A 2% statutory contribution to the State Pension Fund is deducted from the salary. 

The employment period is 3 years. If learning Norwegian (level A2 corresponding to at least 15 credits) is to be completed before the end of the employment period, the employment period can be extended by 10 weeks after completed and documented the Norwegian course.

For employment as a PhD Candidate, it is a prerequisite that you gain admission to the PhD programme in Engineering within three months of your employment contract start date, and that you participate in an organized doctoral programme throughout the period of employment.

As an employee at NTNU, it is important that you keep yourself up to date with academic and organizational changes and adapt to them.

For the necessary academic and social interaction, it is a prerequisite that you are physically present and available to the institution on a daily basis.

The appointment is carried out in accordance withthe principles of the State Employees Act, and Export control(legislation that regulates the export of knowledge, technologyand services). Candidates who, after assessment of the application and attachments, are considered to bein conflict with the criteria in the latter act, will not be able to be employed.

About the application

The attachments (including a description of your scientific work) must accompany the application as these documents form the basis of the application assessment. The documents must be in Norwegian/a Scandinavian language or English. 

Please note: the application will only be assessed on the basis of the information we have received by the application deadline. Therefore, make sure that your application clearly shows how your skills and experience meet the criteria described above. The application and all attachments must be sent electronically via Jobbnorge.no. If you are invited to an interview, you must bring certified copies of certificates The application must include: (decide on what must be included – remove what does not fit):

• Transcripts and diplomas for Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees
• CV 
• Copy of Master’s thesis. If you have recently submitted your Master’s thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed Master’s degree must be presented before taking up the position.
• Short letter of motivation (400 words/1 page)
• Possibly publications etc. other relevant research work
• Possibly certificates
• Names and contact information of three relevant referees

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both Bachelor’s and Master’s education, in addition to other higher education. If your institution uses “diploma supplement” (normal for most European institutions), you must attach this. A description of the documentation required can also be found here. If you already have a statement from Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir), please attach this as well. 

Joint works will be considered. If it is difficult to identify your contribution to joint work, you must attach a brief description of your participation.

When assessing the best qualified, we emphasize necessary qualifications such as education, experience and personal suitability. Motivation for the position, ambitions and potential for research will also count when assessing the candidates.

NTNU recognizes a wide range of academic contributions and has committed itself to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment and CoARA (responsible assessment of research and recognition of a greater breadth of academic contributions in accordance with NTNU’s social mission).

General information

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you wish to be exempt from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation. You will be notified if the exemption is not granted.

If you think this position looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, you are welcome to apply.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Associate Professor Victorien Prot, victorien.prot@ntnu.no . 

If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact HR-consultant, June Bentine Lund Hovde, e-mail: june.b.hovde@ntnu.no .

Application deadline: 30.04.2025

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For practical information about working at NTNU, please visit this webpage. 
 

The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the tech capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.