Postdoctoral position

Umeå University is one of Sweden’s largest higher education institutions with over 37,000 students and about 4,700 employees. The University offers a diversity of high-quality education and world-leading research in several fields. Notably, the groundbreaking discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool, which was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was made here. At Umeå University, everything is close. Our cohesive campuses make it easy to meet, work together and exchange knowledge, which promotes a dynamic and open culture.

The ongoing societal transformation and large green investments in northern Sweden create enormous opportunities and complex challenges. For Umeå University, conducting research about – and in the middle of – a society in transition is key. We also take pride in delivering education to enable regions to expand quickly and sustainably. In fact, the future is made here.

At the Department of Diagnostics and Intervention, we research and teach in nine different subject areas in close collaboration with the four Northern regions. We have internationally recognised research environments where the width of subject areas enables innovation and collaboration across borders. Most of our researchers and teachers work clinically, and our premises are located at the regional hospitals in Östersund, Sunderbyn, Sundsvall and Umeå – right in the centre of our organisation.

We are now looking for a postdoctoral researcher for the department within the project “Uncertainty estimates and automation in segmentation and planning in radiotherapy”. The employment period is two years and is full-time, starting on 20240501 or by agreement.

Description of the project and work responsibilities

Radiotherapy plays a critical role in the fight against cancer and is used in about half of all cancer cases. Its aim is to precisely target radiation to cancer cells, while trying to minimise damage to surrounding tissues and organs at risk as much as possible.

Today’s radiotherapy presents several challenges, most of which relate to how treatment can be tailored to each individual patient. A key part of this is to accurately segment tumours and risk areas in images of the patient. Recently, artificial intelligence tools have revolutionised this traditionally time-consuming task by offering automated segmentation. However, there is still much to explore, such as how these models can be applied to real-time segmentation during patient movement, and how uncertainties can be calculated and used to develop more robust treatment methods.

This research project addresses these challenges and also explores what the next step is, i.e. how treatment plans can be created and verified in real time to adapt to the patient’s position and anatomy.

Your role in the project will be the development of models and methods as well as evaluation of them. You will work in an interdisciplinary environment where your main contribution of expertise is to develop and apply state-of-the-art methods in machine learning. There will be opportunities to develop your own ideas if they are within the purpose of the project.

Eligibility

A person who has been awarded a doctorate or a foreign qualification deemed to be the equivalent of a doctorate in medical physics/engineering, computer science, physics, statistics, mathematics, or related fields is eligible for appointment as postdoctoral researcher. This eligibility requirement must be met no later than the time at which the appointment decision is made.

Very good knowledge of English, in both written and verbal communication is a requirement for the position. Previous experience in machine learning and programming is also a requirement. We are looking for a highly motivated researcher who is a quick learner and who has previously demonstrated the ability to work productively both independently and within a multidisciplinary team.

Additional useful qualifications

Since appointment as a postdoctoral researcher is a career-development position for junior researchers, we are primarily interested in applicants who completed their doctoral degree no more than three years before the application deadline. If there are special reasons, an applicant who has completed their degree earlier than that may be considered. Special reasons include absence due to illness, parental leave, clinical practice, appointments of trust for a trade union organisation or other similar circumstances, and for relevant duties/assignments within the subject area.

It is highly desirable to have experience in radiotherapy and analysis of medical images.

More information about the position

The appointment is a full-time, fixed-term position for full-time for two years (minimum two and maximum three years) in accordance with the terms of contract for fixed-term employment as a postdoctoral researcher from 1 February 2022.

More information about the group’s research can be found on our website.

Application

The application must include:

• A brief description of your research interests and a statement describing why you are interested in the position.
• CV
• List of publications
• Degree certificate from doctoral studies and other relevant degrees
• Contact details of two reference persons

The application must be written in Swedish or English. The application must be made via our e-recruitment system Varbi and must be received latest 20240301.

We look forward to receiving your application.