Pre-Doctoral Research Position (PhD): Flow Dynamics Research to Optimize Extracorporeal Circuits

Fundació per a la Recerca Sant Joan de Déu; Esplugues de Llobregat; Presencial; EUR 30.000 - 50.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

Una institució de recerca innovadora busca un investigador pre-doctoral apassionat per unir-se a un projecte d'avantguarda en dinàmica de fluids. Aquesta posició ofereix l'oportunitat de treballar en un projecte multidisciplinari que combina mesures experimentals i simulacions numèriques per optimitzar circuits extracorpòreus per a nadons prematurs. Els candidats seleccionats contribuiran al desenvolupament d'un sistema de monitorització en temps real i eines d'IA per millorar protocols clínics. Si estàs interessat en la recerca aplicada i vols fer una diferència significativa en la medicina fetal, aquesta és la teva oportunitat.

Formación

• Experiència en dinàmica de fluids i simulacions CFD.
• Coneixements en processament de senyals i anàlisi AI.

Responsabilidades

• Validar i calibrar sensors existents i integrar nous tipus de sensors.
• Desenvolupar un sistema de monitorització per registrar fluxos de dades.

Conocimientos

Dinàmica de fluids

Simulacions CFD

Processament de senyals

Anàlisi AI

Experimentació

Educación

Màster en Enginyeria

Doctorat en curs

Herramientas

Software de simulació CFD

Eines d'anàlisi AI

Descripción del empleo

Pre-Doctoral Research Position (PhD): Flow Dynamics Research to Optimize Extracorporeal Circuits.

BCNatal | Fetal Medicine Research Center is carrying out an ambitious project in the field of fetal surgery and therapy for the development of an artificial placenta, which involves animal experimentation. We are looking for an enthusiastic individual to join the team as a pre-doctoral student (PhD) in a multidisciplinary applied research project. This research position is in collaboration with the Department of Fluid Mechanics of the UPC Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.

The position is primarily funded through STEP FI postdoctoral research grants, and the selection of the candidate is contingent upon the resolution of the STEP FI funding. However, candidates interested in other postdoctoral funding opportunities are also encouraged to apply and may submit a motivation letter indicating their interest in exploring alternative funding sources.

Context
BCNatal | Fetal Medicine Research Center, led by Prof. Eduard Gratacós, is a multidisciplinary research center focused on perinatal and fetal medicine, recognized as one of the leading teams in the world in this field. It is accredited by the Spanish government as a center of research excellence, working to find solutions for diseases of perinatal origin.

BCNatal-FMRC is the research division of the clinical area of BCNatal, which consists of the maternal-fetal and neonatal medicine departments of two university hospitals: Hospital Sant Joan de Déu and Hospital Clínic de Barcelona. BCNatal provides a privileged environment for the development of applied clinical research with direct translation into medical practice.

Job Description
We are seeking a highly motivated pre-doctoral researcher to join our team in the study of flow dynamics in extracorporeal circuit systems for extreme premature babies within a Liquid Incubator system. This project aims to optimize extracorporeal circulation by combining experimental measurements in a devoted circuit and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) numerical simulations combined with AI-driven analytics. The expected research outcomes are a real-time monitoring system, a physics-based numerical model and the AI tools suitable to develop a reliable digital twin.

Key Responsibilities

1. Validate and calibrate existing sensors (flow, pressure, temperature) and test and integrate new sensor types.
2. Create a monitoring system capable of registering continuous data streams of the circuit.
3. Conduct flow dynamics studies of the circuit with CFD to obtain a physics-based model providing a good agreement with the experimental measurements.
4. Perform a series of experiments and CFD simulations to understand patient adaptation to different conditions through time.
5. Develop suitable signal processing and AI analytic tools to detect anomalies, predict behaviours and support decisions.
6. Integrate all the previous results to develop a digital twin to optimize extracorporeal circuit design and clinical protocols.