PhD Studentship on the design, testing and performance assessment of advanced physical simulato[...]

Organisation/Company: Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies

Department: The BioRobotics Institute

Research Field: Engineering » Biomedical engineering, Engineering » Electronic engineering, Technology » Medical technology, Engineering » Mechanical engineering

Researcher Profile: First Stage Researcher (R1)

Positions: PhD Positions

Country: Italy

Application Deadline: 21 Mar 2025 - 12:00 (Europe/Rome)

Type of Contract: Temporary

Job Status: Full-time

Offer Starting Date: 1 Oct 2025

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - MSCA

Reference Number: DC6 Marie Curie Grant Agreement Number 101169012

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) Doctoral Networks are joint research and training projects funded by the European Union. Funding is provided for doctoral candidates from both inside and outside Europe to carry out individual project work in a European country other than their own. The Intelli-Ingest MSCA Doctoral Networks is made up of 4 beneficiaries and 6 associated partners, all coordinated by the Biorobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy.

The Intelli-Ingest Doctoral Network aims to empower 13 young scientists and engineers to become experts in ingestible medical device research and translation. Ingestible devices are minimally invasive, orally delivered medical devices that traverse the gastrointestinal tract, using electronic, mechanical, or smart material elements for diagnosis, therapy, surgery, or sampling. The program's key objectives include advancing the capabilities of ingestible devices by addressing current technical limitations, with a focus on improving diagnostic accuracy, reducing the need for additional interventions, creating environmentally sustainable devices, and developing simulators to reduce reliance on in-vivo testing.

The training network is interdisciplinary, integrating various fields such as physiology, electronics, robotics, microengineering, materials science, AI, and pharmaceutical science. The doctoral candidates (DCs) will receive comprehensive training through research projects, secondments, and interactions with industry and clinical environments, preparing them for diverse careers. Additionally, the network seeks to foster international, interdisciplinary, and intersectoral cooperation, contributing to European innovation capacity and advancing the field of minimally invasive, orally delivered medical technologies.

This project will overall develop a minimally invasive, orally delivered miniaturized device for Gastrointestinal Therapeutics, Diagnosis or Intervention. The candidate's work in this project area will focus on the design, testing and performance assessment of advanced physical simulators for endoscopic diagnostic and interventional procedures.

Where to apply

E-mail: gastone.ciuti@santannapisa.it

Requirements

Research Field: Engineering » Biomedical engineering, Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent

Research Field: Engineering » Electronic engineering, Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent

Research Field: Engineering » Mechanical engineering, Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent

Research Field: Technology » Medical technology, Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications:

• In accordance with the European Union’s funding rules for doctoral networks, applicants must NOT yet have a PhD
• A willingness to work as part of a collaborative, interdisciplinary and international team, liaising with academic, clinical and industrial partners as needed.
• Good communication skills, with an interest in presenting research outcomes to a variety of technical and non-technical audiences
• Proactive and self-motivated, taking the initiative in acquiring the skills and knowledge to achieve the objectives of their independent project and that of the overall team with a commitment to personal and professional development
• A willingness to embrace diversity, different cultural perspectives, and interdisciplinary approaches to research
• Expertise in the design of biomedical devices and mechatronics systems
• Capacity to translate medical/clinical needs and requirements into technical specifications
• Knowledge of CAD-CAM software and tools
• Knowledge of sensing principles, models and methods
• Knowledge of prototyping technologies to realise physical simulators (e.g., 3D printing, prototyping, silicones moulding and casting, etc.).

Specific Requirements:

• Candidates should meet all the eligibility criteria detailed below

Languages: ENGLISH Level: Good

Additional Information

You will have an employment contract from the recruiting beneficiary. You will benefit from a competitive salary, number of days off, remote work, social security coverage. The salary will be composed of:

• A living allowance (3400 euros per month – gross salary-) which is adjusted by applying a country correction coefficient to the living allowance of the country in which the researcher is recruited. The country correction coefficients are indicated in Table 1 of the MSCA Work Programme (link)
• Monthly mobility allowance: 600 euro/month
• Monthly family allowance, if applicable and depending on the family situation: 660 euro/month
• Enrollment in a PhD school
• Access to state-of-the-art research and supervision by recognised experts
• Participation in network-wide training activities, workshops and conferences
• Secondment periods in industry, clinical environments and other partner labs

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible, applicants must comply with all the following rules:

At the deadline date, applicants must possess or be finalising their Master’s degree or equivalent/postgraduate degree.

At the date of recruitment, applicants must have their Master’s degree or equivalent/postgraduate degree, which would formally entitle them to embark on a doctorate.

At the date of recruitment, applicants must fulfil the transnational mobility rule: applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the recruitment date – unless as part of a compulsory national service or a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention.

At the deadline date, applicants must be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research career (career breaks excluded) and not yet awarded a doctoral degree. Career breaks refer to periods where the candidate was not active in research, regardless of their employment status (sick leave, maternity leave, etc). Short stays such as holidays and compulsory national service are not considered.

Applicants must be available full-time to start the program in October 2025.

Interested candidates are advised to contact Prof. Gastone Ciuti, head of The Healthcare Mechatronics Lab. at The BioRobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (Pisa, Italy) as soon as possible with a CV using the contact details below before making a formal application.

Selection process

Our selection procedure is open, transparent, merit-based, impartial, and equitable, in line with the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers.

Applicants should follow the application criteria and instructions for the position(s) they are interested in. Candidates will be informed, before the selection, about the recruitment process for each position and the selection criteria.

The selection procedure will consist of the following steps:

• Eligibility check: The Recruitment Committee will check each application is complete and that applicants fulfil the eligibility criteria described in the previous section.
• Remote Evaluation: Each eligible application will be evaluated independently by the principal investigators of each institution in our network, according to the DC position options expressed by the applicants.
• Online interviews: The short-listed candidates will be interviewed by a Selection Committee that will include the recruiting Principal Investigators. Selection committees will bring together diverse expertise and competencies and have an adequate gender balance.

Applications will be reviewed for eligibility and suitability based on the criteria listed for each position.

The recruiting institution will notify the selection outcome after the interview. Candidates will be informed after the selection process about the strengths and weaknesses of their applications.

Your complete application must be submitted by email (to Gastone Ciuti: gastone.ciuti@santannapisa.it) between March 1st, 2025 and March 21th, 2025 (12:00 Rome time) in one zip file containing all the following documents:

• A letter motivating the application (cover letter)
• BSc and MSc diplomas along with their translations in English (if they are in another language), grade transcripts, and official description of grading scale.
• Up to two (2) letters of recommendation (optional)
• Scientific publications, degree or diploma theses, if any.

In case the zip file is too large > 5MB, please send it via a download link.