Minimally invasive medical procedures, such as targeted drug delivery, cell therapy, microsurgery and micro-sensing, are extremely challenging because of the small length scales. Miniaturized robotic swimmers are promising candidates for carrying out these procedures and in the long-term hold great potential to treat diseases that are currently incurable. However, experimental attempts to develop them have been unsuccessful due to many unsolved challenges regarding their optimal rheological and mechanical properties, and because of the difficulty to actuate them in relevant in-vivo conditions. The swimming performance of microswimmers is, for example, usually tested in simplified phantom models, whereas their behavior in realistic in-vivo biological conditions and the interaction with their microenvironment is still relatively unexplored.
To gain more insight into the collective behavior of magnetically actuated microswimmers, this PhD project aims to study both the interactions between many magnetic microswimmers, as well as the interaction between the microswimmers and their confined microenvironment in relevant in-vivo biological conditions approaching those of the complex blood circulatory system. To achieve the objectives of this project, you will develop a computational framework with which you can study the magnetic and hydrodynamic interactions between microswimmers in a confined environment. To this end, you will build on available in-house code simulating flow of fluids containing deformable red blood cells. At the end of the project, you will be able to use this framework for computation-guided-design to bring microswimmers based medical interventions closer to reality.

Job Description

Are you fascinated by the concept of 'swallowable surgeons'?  
Are you passionate about computational fluid mechanics and fluid structure interaction?  
Are you eager to develop a numerical framework to help bring microswimmers based medical interventions closer to reality?  
We are looking for a motivated PhD candidate that will advance the fundamental understanding of the collective behavior of magnetically actuated microswimmers in relevant in-vivo biological conditions.

Microswimmers hold great potential for minimally invasive medical procedures such as targeted drug delivery for cancer treatment. By concentrating the drug at the tumor site and reducing systemic distribution, targeted drug delivery can significantly lower toxicity to non-cancerous tissues and therefore reduce the side effects compared to traditional cancer treatments. This could highly improve the quality of life for cancer patients.
Promising candidates for this application are magnetically actuated microswimmers, but there are currently no clinically approved microswimmer uses.

Numerical modeling is a powerful tool to gain more insight into the swimming behavior of microswimmers, to test their interaction with their microenvironment in in-vivo biological conditions and to exploit this knowledge for computation-guided-design of both, the microswimmers and their actuation. To date, most of the numerical research has been dedicated to study the behavior of a single microswimmer in highly simplified environments, while in reality, collective behavior or swarming of microswimmers in complex confined environments is highly relevant for applications like targeted drug delivery.

As a PhD working on this project, your primary objective will be to develop a numerical framework, building on existing in-house code, to study the physics involved in the collective behavior of magnetic microswimmers in conditions approaching those of the complex blood circulatory system. After modeling and studying the collective behavior of many magnetic microswimmers under the influence of a magnetic field, you will explore the interactions between microswimmers and deformable red blood cells, to gain more insight in how these microswimmers behave in biologically relevant microenvironments.

 The PhD student will be embedded in the Microsystems research section at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, headed by prof.dr.ir. Jaap den Toonder, and will be supervised by dr. ir. Michelle Spanjaards and prof. dr. ir. Jaap den Toonder. The Microsystems group manages the Microfab/lab, a state-of-the-art micro fabrication facility that houses a range of micro manufacturing technologies - microfluidics technology is one of the main research pillars of the group. There will be a strong collaboration with the BioFM group of prof. dr. Timm Krüger. The BioFM research group is part of the Institute for Multiscale Thermofluids at the School of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, UK.

• A master's degree (or an equivalent university degree) in (applied) physics, mechanical engineering, (applied) mathematics, biomedical engineering or a related field, with a background in mathematical modeling and numerical analysis.
• Experience with numerical methods for computational fluid mechanics such as the Lattice Boltzmann Method and the Finite Element Method.
• Experience with programming (C, C++, Python, Fortran or alike).
• A research-oriented attitude.
• Ability to work in an interdisciplinary team.
• Motivated to develop your teaching skills and coach students.
• Fluent in spoken and written English (C1 level).

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station. In addition, we offer you:

• An exciting job in a dynamic work environment and a multidisciplinary consortium.
• Full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate evaluation (go/no-go) after nine months. You will spend 10% of your employment on teaching tasks.
• Salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, paid pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale P (min. €2,901 max. €3,707).
• A year-end bonus of 8.3% and annual vacation pay of 8%.
• The possibility to present your work at international conferences.
• High-quality training programs and other support to grow into a self-aware, autonomous scientific researcher. At TU/e we challenge you to take charge of your own learning process.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children's day care and sports facilities.
• An allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs.
• A Staff Immigration Team and a tax compensation scheme (the 30% facility) for international candidates.

About us

Eindhoven University of Technology is an internationally top-ranking university in the Netherlands that combines scientific curiosity with a hands-on attitude. Our spirit of collaboration translates into an open culture and a top-five position in collaborating with advanced industries. Fundamental knowledge enables us to design solutions for the highly complex problems of today and tomorrow. 

Curious to hear more about what it's like as a PhD candidate at TU/e? Please view the video.

Information

Do you recognize yourself in this profile and would you like to know more?
To learn more about the project, please contact dr. Michelle Spanjaards, assistant prof., at m.m.a.spanjaards@tue.nl.

Visit our website for more information about the application process or the conditions of employment. For questions about the application process, you can also contact Sylvie van der Zanden, HR Advisor, at  s.p.n.v.d.zanden@tue.nl,  or +31 40 247 5902.

Are you inspired and would like to know more about working at TU/e? Please visit our career page.

Application

We invite you to submit a complete application by using the apply button.
The application should include:

• A cover letter in which you describe your motivation and qualifications for the position.
• A Curriculum Vitae, including a list of your publications and the contact information of three references.
   

We look forward to receiving your application and will screen it as soon as possible. The vacancy will remain open until the position is filled.