12 PhD positions - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Candidates within the “MetacMed - Acoustic and mechanical metamaterials for biomedical and energy harvesting applications” Doctoral Network

MetacMed is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) Doctoral Network (DN) that will provide world-class interdisciplinary training to 12 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) in the area of “Acoustic and mechanical metamaterials for biomedical and energy harvesting applications” (MetacMed). It consists of a well-balanced consortium that spans four countries member of the European Union, plus Switzerland and the UK, and incorporates academic, research centers and SMEs, interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral aspects of DC skill development. The starting date of the project is 1st of March 2024. 

ABOUT THE RESEARCH PROGRAMME

MetacMed aims to link basic research on acoustic and mechanical metamaterials (MMs) to health and well-being issues. DCs will each consider ways in which human health can be improved using MMs, e.g. improvement in the resolution of biomedical ultrasound imaging for e.g cancer diagnostics, the design of better spinal implants, monitoring of bone healing, and the use of insoles to aid human walking. Another area of interest is to develop MMs that can be used for energy harvesting, to better power e.g. medical devices, and reduce reliance on conventional power sources. These are all backed up by fundamental studies into the MMs themselves to provide the background to achieve these tasks. The balance of the network has thus been carefully considered in terms of basic science and applications, with input from industry in areas such as MMs fabrication and exploitation. Associated with the above is a strong set of training events and tailored secondment periods at both associated partners and beneficiaries. For further details, please visit www.metacmed.eu or refer to the “Call for applicants” document

Beneficiaries:

• Università della Calabria (UNICAL), IT
• Instytut Maszyn Przeplywowych Im Roberta Szewalskiego Polskiej Akademii Nauk – (IMP-PAN), PL
• Universita Degli Studi Di Messina (UNIME), IT
• Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique Cnrs (CNRS), FR

Associated Partners recruiting via SERI and UKRI:

• The University Of Warwick (UOW), UK
• University of Leeds (UNIVLEEDS), UK
• OrthoSens SA (OSens), CH
• Eidgenössiche Materialprüfungs- und Forschungsanstalt (Empa), CH

Associated Partners:

• Politecnico Di Bari, IT
• Amazemet SP. Z O.O., PL
• Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne, CH
• Universite De Lille, FR
• Skills4Science, ES

WHY APPLY?

DNs are financially supported by the European Commission (and from SERI and UKRI where applicable) because they provide excellent research, training and career aspects. The benefits of being a PhD student in a doctoral network include:

• You will get the chance to participate in specially developed courses (e.g. on specific techniques, academic soft skills, etc.);
• You can already at a very early stage start building your personal professional network due to the embedding of our PhD projects in an extended academic network, including the possibility to collaborate and being seconded at SMEs partners, and to collaborate with other DCs;
• You will be advised by excellent group leaders – they are all outstanding in their research and trainings.

BENEFITS AND SALARY

The MSCA DN programme offers a highly competitive and attractive salary and working conditions. The successful candidates will receive a salary in accordance with the MSCA regulations for early stage researchers.

Exact salary will be confirmed upon offer and will be based on:

• Living Allowance of €3400/month to be paid in currency of country where based and with a correction factor to be applied per country.
• Mobility allowance of €600/month to be paid to all DCs recruited.
• Additionally, researchers may also qualify for a family allowance of €660/month
  depending on family situation.

Taxation and Social Contribution deductions based on National and Institutional regulations will apply and will be deducted from the gross payment highlighted above. In addition to their individual scientific projects, all fellows will benefit from further continuing education, which includes the opportunity to register for a PhD degree, scientific skills courses, transferable skills courses, active participation in workshops and conferences, and secondments to partner labs.

ESSENTIAL ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Applicants need to fully comply with four essential eligibility criteria:

Academic Qualification: The applicant has obtained a degree that formally entitles them to enrol for a doctorate in the host country. The degree should be in the area of Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aeronautical/Aerospace Engineering, Material Science/Engineering or Physics (or related disciplines), Applied Mathematics, Electrical and electronic engineering, Mechatronics, computer science. Any other with any other related experience/education might contact us at info@metacmed.eu 

Doctoral Candidates: In order to be recruited to the network as a doctoral candidate, applicants must not already be in possession of a doctoral degree at the date of the recruitment.

Conditions of international mobility of researchers: At the time of appointment by the host organization, researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their recruiting organization for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to their recruitment. Short stays, such as holidays, are not taken into account.

DC ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

All DCs recruited will be expected to carry out the following tasks

• To manage and carry out their research projects within 36 months
• To write a PhD dissertation within the requested time frame of the specific university where the DC pursues his/her PhD (duration of PhDs varies from a country to another);
• To participate in research and training activities within the MetacMed network;
• To write articles for scientific peer reviewed journals;
• To participate in meetings of the different MetacMed consortium bodies;
• To disseminate their research in the scientific community (international conferences) and non-scientific community, by outreach and public engagement;
• To liaise with the other research staff and students working in broad areas of relevance to the research project and partner institutions;
• To write progress reports and prepare results for publication and dissemination via journals, presentations and the web;
• To attend progress and management meetings as required and network with the other research groups;
• To work 100% of their time for the research activities specified in their Individual Research Project;
• You cannot take on any additional paid responsibilities to supplement your income as part of your duties;

For further details please check www.metacmed.eu  and refer to the “Call for applicants” document 

LIST OF AVAILABLE POSITIONS WITH LINKS TO APPLY

IMPORTANT: At the present time (late June 2024), 8 out of 12 positions are opened, and the link to apply to them are shown below each of the positions. The remaining four positions will be opened in the next few months. Note that different deadlines apply. Please, check regularly www.metacmed.eu to stay up to date on the opening of the remaining positions, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook. For formal enquiries, please contact info@metacmed.eu or the Project Coordinator Dr. Stefano Laureti stefano.laureti@unical.it. 

Positions:

DC1 - “Metamaterial lenses for ultrasonic sub-wavelength imaging in water” at UNICAL, Italy;

EURAXESS application link: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/248617 

DC2: “Artificial Intelligence for discovering novel acoustic/mechanical metamaterials designs and properties” UNICAL, Italy;

EURAXESS application link: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/248617 

DC3: “Noise reduction and energy harvesting from walking via metamaterials”, CNRS, FR. 

To be opened.

DC4: “Metamaterial-based devices for energy harvesting and metamaterial insoles”, CNRS, FR.

To be opened.

DC5: “Metamaterial-enhanced ultrasonic GW monitoring for osseointegrated implants and fractured bone healing”, IMP-PAN, PL.

EURAXESS application link: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/229052

DC6: “Metamaterial adaptive filters for harmonic imaging in clinical applications”, University of Leeds, UK. 

To be opened.

DC7: “Filtering acoustic waves with multiphysics”, University of Messina, IT.

EURAXESS application link: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/246604

DC8: “Metamaterials and metasurfaces for improved ultrasonic clinical screening”, University of Warwick, UK.

EURAXESS application link: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/232273 

DC9: “Guiding and confining wave energy in 3D chiral metamaterials”, EMPA, CH.

EURAXESS application link: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/229171

DC10: “Metamaterials for spinal implants”, OrthoSens, CH.

To be opened. 

DC11: “AI-aided topology optimization of phononic crystals”, IMP-PAN, PL.

EURAXESS application link: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/229058

DC12: “Additively-manufactured metamaterial with embedded FBG sensors for human joints monitoring and rehabilitation”, IMP-PAN, PL.

EURAXESS application link: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/229064

This project was funded in the framework of the Horizon Europe Programme - MSCA DN (grant agreement n. 101119738)