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Two Doctoral Student (Ph.D.) positions in Medical Photonics for Neurology and Oncology (ITN, Marie-Curie-Actions)



ICFO is offering a predoctoral fellowship to a well-qualified, highly motivated and dynamic graduate student who wishes to enhance his/her scientific career in a friendly and stimulating environment, as well as to obtain a doctoral degree in Photonics in collaboration with the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC). The students at ICFO benefit from the extensive course offerings of local universities and focused instruction by ICFO professors while carrying out research activities at ICFO groups with local and international collaborators.

The successful candidate will be part of the Medical Optics research group (http://www.icfo.es/groups/tdurduran), led by Prof Turgut Durduran. The group focuses on the development of optical methods for biomedical and clinical applications in neurology and oncology.

The position is part of the EU Marie Curie Initial Training Network (ITN) project Optical Imaging and Laser Techniques for Biomedical Applications (OILTEBIA). Within this project, the candidate will be part of an international team from eight European countries working collectively on all the major state-of-the-art optical imaging methods.

As part of the OILTEBIA network, the successful candidate will have access to the various training activities organized by the network. OILTEBIA seeks to provide advanced training to early stage researchers in novel biomedical optical imaging and laser techniques for applications spanning from basic research and drug discovery to pre-clinical imaging and clinical translation, from the bench to the bedside. The main objective of the network is to provide a training framework by establishing a crossroad among the different technical domains that overlap on this multidisciplinary topic, gathering experts in the domains of biomedical applications, laser optical sources, ultrasound sensors, signal processing and imaging algorithms from physics, chemistry, biology and engineering backgrounds . To that end, the trainees of the network will join a variety of technical schools, specialized classes, secondments to small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as large industrial partners.
Candidates must hold an internationally-recognized master degree (or evidence of its completion in the nearest future) in physics, bio-engineering, electrical engineering or a related field.

Selection is based on merit and potential, measured in terms of the academic record and personal achievements. Academic excellence is a must. Pro-activity, participation in community activities, and capacity for team-work are also taken into account.

The candidate should hold appropriate expertise from her/his studies or MSc project to contribute to the research field in OILTEBIA, e.g. in biomedical optics.

Due to the rules of Initial Training Networks, eligible candidates for the positions as early-stage researchers (PhD students) must come from abroad, have not resided more than 12 of the last 36 months in Spain, and hold less than 4 years of research experience after the MSc degree.

The successful candidates will be paid according to EU standards for Early Stage Researchers. The fellowship is offered for a period of three years.
Application procedure
To apply, suitable candidates are requested to submit (in English):
- A presentation letter with declaration of research interests,
- A Curriculum Vitae, including contact details,
- Scanned copies of your complete (Bachelor and Master equivalent) University academic transcripts in English or Spanish,
- Scanned copies of the degree certificates, if available at the time of application,
- Three letters of recommendation, for which the candidates should contact their referees, asking them to submit the recommendation letter directly to Prof. Turgut Durduran, at turgut.durduran@icfo.eu.
- If available, scanned copy of standardized test results (GRE, TOEFL, etc.). Note that submission of test results is optional, but they can be particularly helpful for evaluating candidates with degrees obtained outside the European Higher Education Area.

Note that the applications shall be submitted exclusively online via http://jobs.icfo.eu. Required application material (see above) must be complete in order to be considered.

Please note that candidates should be willing to be contacted by phone during the entire selection process.


Deadlines and contacts
Review of applications will be accomplished on a rolling basis and continue until the position is filled. The expected start date is winter/spring 2013.

Candidates may contact icfojobs@icfo.eu for informal inquiries regarding the application procedure. Informal (project-related) inquiries may be addressed to Prof Turgut Durduran at turgut.durduran@icfo.eu.
30th of June, 2013
(posted on 2013-06-30)