With about 17,000 students, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences is one of the largest higher education institutions in Norway. A broad range of academic programmes are offered at Bachelor, Master and PhD levels, spread out on five campuses Førde, Sogndal, Bergen, Stord og Haugesund.
Our ambition is to build stronger and more solid academic and research environments that will interact nationally and internationally. The aim is to become a recognized actor on the international higher education arena. Increased international cooperation and engagement in externally funded projects will work towards this goal.
The Faculty of Engineering and Science has about 270 employees and about 3200 students. The faculty has a wide range of educational programs at both bachelor and master levels in engineering and science, as well as PhD education in computer technology.
Mohncenter for Innovation and Regional Development researches innovation and offers master programs in innovation and entrepreneurship. Diving education offers one-year vocational education.
The majority of the faculty's activities are in Haugesund, Bergen, Sogndal and Førde, but we also offer decentralized education in Florø, Kristiansund and at Stord. The faculty's activities are internationally established and work in close collaboration with regional companies, clusters, health care companies and the public sector, including other institutions in the university and college sectors. This applies to research, development, innovation and not least education with student projects at all levels.
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL), Faculty of Engineering and Science, has available position as Postdoctoral Reseach Fellow in Medical Physics
About the position:
Particle therapy (PT) is a promising radiotherapy modality for the treatment of cancerous tissue. Yet, range uncertainties caused by treatment planning, anatomical changes, patient motion and positioning, inter- and intra-fractional organ motion pose a significant challenge in clinical practice, which limit its true potential.
In December 2019, HVL was awarded a research grant from the Research Council of Norway for a project entitled “Neutron and gamma-ray imaging for real-time range verification and image guidance in particle therapy” (NOVO). The main aim of NOVO is to develop the proof-of-concept of a new imaging system based on densely stacked, optically segmented arrays of organic scintillators with sufficient sensitivity to secondary fast neutrons and prompt gamma-rays produced in nuclear interactions of incident particles with human tissue. The emission patterns of these secondaries encode valuable information on the range of incident particle beams, which will help to reduce potential adverse effects of range uncertainties through real-time Range assessment-based Treatment Verification (RTV).
The NOVO project is the result of a large collaboration with numerous respectable research institutions from Europe and the USA. Therefore, the hired candidate will have the opportunity to work in a highly international environment. The postdoctoral fellow is expected to focus on the development and deployment of a demonstrator prototype system including early steps relating to organic scintillator characterization. The postdoctoral fellow will also implement a digitizer-based multichannel data acquisition system and the corresponding data analysis framework that will be used for analyzing complex chains of neutron and photon interactions in the demonstrator. With this work, the postdoctoral fellow makes an important contribution to the development of a clinically applicable RTV system.
Workplace is campus Bergen.
Key duties- and responsibilities:
Tests and characterization of the organic detector elements with radioisotopes and at experimental photon and neutron beamlines at partner institutions.
Implementation of a digitizer-based multichannel data acquisition system.
Implementation of a data analysis framework to process event-by-event data.
Tests and characterization of a demonstrator array in photon, neutron and proton beams at the partner institutions (OncoRay, Germany, KU Leuven, Belgium, HollandPTC, The Netherlands, and Ruder Boskovic Institute, Croatia).
Publication of results in appropriate scientific journals and participation in scientific conferences/workshops.
Qualifications:
Applicants must hold a PhD or an equivalent degree within physics, nuclear engineering or electrical engineering or must have submitted his/her thesis for assessment prior to the application deadline. It is a condition of employment that the PhD has been awarded
Experience in characterization of organic scintillators coupled to photomultipliers or silicon photomultipliers for light read-out is desirable
Experience with data analysis strategies to process event-by-event data is desirable
Experience with digitizer-based data acquisition systems is desirable
Programming experience in python and/or C++-based data analysis framework ROOT is required for this position
Previous knowledge related to range verification in particle therapy will be considered an advantage
Applicants must have excellent skills in oral and written English
Personal characteristics:
Applicants must be able to work independently and must have the ability to cooperate with others in a team
Applicants must be open-minded
Applicants must perform their work in an ethical manner
Applicants must be outgoing and must not hesitate to communicate with other team members on a regular basis
Application procedure:
To apply for this position, please use the link “Apply for this job” (“Søk stillingen”).
The applications will be assessed by the information entered in www.jobbnorge.no at the application deadline. The applicants are responsible for ensuring that all the documentation is submitted before the closing date, including the scientific work (up to 15 pieces), complete publication list, certificates and diplomas. If the diplomas, transcripts or other documentation are not in a scandinavian language or English, the applicants must upload the certified transactions themselves. If the attachments exceed 15 MB, they must be compressed before uploading or attaching as a link.
The applications will be sent electronically to the expert committee. Based on the committee's recommendation, qualified applicants will be invited to an interview and an trial lecture. Applications cannot be sent by e-mail or to individuals at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences.
We offer:
Good occupational pension, insurance and loan schemes from The Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
Exciting academic environment with the possibility of competence enhancement and development
Opportunities for training within the working hours
The position as Postdoctoral Reseach Fellowi is paid according to the Government's salary regulation, in position code 1354 -Postdoctor.
There is a compulsory 2 % deduction to the pension fund (see this link for more information). The successful applicant must comply with the guidelines that apply to the position at any time.
General information:
The appointment will be made in accordance with the regulations for State employees Law in Norway ("Lov om statens ansatte)". Organizational changes and changes in the duties and responsibilities associated with the position must be expected.
State employment shall reflect the multiplicity of the population at large to the highest possible degree. Western Norway University of Applied Sciences Bergen has therefore adopted a personnel policy objective to ensure that we achieve a balanced age and gender composition and the recruitment of persons of various ethnic backgrounds.
Information about the applicant may be made public even though the applicant has requested not to be named in the list of applicants. The applicant will be notified if his/her request is not respected. Applicants may be called in for an interview.
Contacts:
1) Associate Professor Ilker Meric, phone +47 932 93 775
2) Assistant Head of Department of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Solfrid Paula Sjåstad Hasund, phone +47 55 58 76 08
