POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ENGINEER (M/F)

European Federation Of Organizations For Medical Physics - EFOMP; Toulouse; On-site; EUR 36,000 - 48,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading cancer research center in Toulouse is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Engineer to work on advancing PET imaging through innovative research. The role involves developing medical physics projects, monitoring research activities, and facilitating the transfer of research outcomes into clinical practice. Candidates should hold a PhD in a relevant field with strong programming skills and must be fluent in French and English. Full-time position with a collaborative work environment.

Qualifications

• Strong academic background in Nuclear Physics, Radiation Detection & Measurement.
• Knowledge in nuclear medicine and PET imaging is appreciated.
• Ability to communicate and publish research results.

Responsibilities

• Promote and support research aligned with Oncopole’s mission.
• Develop and coordinate Medical Physics research projects.
• Monitor and analyze research activity indicators for the department.
• Facilitate transfer of validated research outcomes into practice.
• Maintain expertise through literature review and propose initiatives.
• Supervise research internships and co-supervise theses.

Skills

Programming for data analysis (MATLAB/Python)

Experience with medical imaging formats (DICOM)

Experience in clinical trial design

Fluency in French

Fluency in English

Education

PhD in Nuclear Physics or related fields

Tools

3D Slicer or equivalent

Python

DICOM

3D Slicer

Job description

Position: POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ENGINEER (M/F)

Application closes at: Mar 15th, 2026 13:18

About the Center

Oncopole Claudius Regaud is the Comprehensive Cancer Center (CLCC) for Toulouse and Western Occitanie. This private, non‑profit institution serves the public interest through patient care, education, and research. It brings together 1,230 professionals, including 160 physicians and researchers, and is part of the national network of 18 French cancer centres within UNICANCER. Oncopole resides on the IUCT‑Oncopole campus, alongside the Toulouse Cancer Research Center and teams from Toulouse University Hospital.

Role Overview

Oncopole Claudius Regaud is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Engineer Level 1 for a full‑time 18‑month fixed‑term contract, available immediately in collaboration with GE Healthcare and the TheraTEP consortium.

Background and Motivation

Positron Emission Tomography combined with Computed Tomography (PET/CT) is a cornerstone of modern oncology, providing key quantitative metrics such as the Standardized Uptake Value (SUV). Quantitative PET, however, is highly sensitive to scanner calibration, reconstruction algorithms and acquisition protocols, which vary across centres. Accurate delineation and quantification of low‑uptake or heterogeneous lesions remain major challenges in PET radiomics and metabolic tumour volume (MTV) segmentation. Reliable, scalable ground truth for evaluating and harmonising these systems is therefore essential, yet conventional phantom‑based quality control cannot replicate the heterogeneity and noise seen in real patient data. Large, annotated PET datasets with known ground truth are also scarce, limiting the development and validation of AI and radiomics tools that depend on reproducible imaging data.

Research Context

Our research group has developed complementary capabilities in physical phantom innovation and computational PET data simulation. In collaboration with GE Healthcare, we validated a synthetic lesion insertion methodology that embeds artificial lesions directly into raw PET sinogram data before reconstruction, benchmarked against physical phantom acquisitions and extended to clinical datasets. We have also demonstrated that 3D‑printed porous structures can complement traditional fillable spheres for performance assessment, with reproducible transfer and measurement across institutions.

Project Objectives

The proposed postdoctoral project will extend DUETTO to support heterogeneous, patient‑derived lesion modelling, generating a new clinical dataset with heterogeneous synthetic lesion insertion. The fellow will design and lead a retrospective clinical study that combines synthetic lesion insertion with real lesions from patient PET datasets and phantom experiments using 3D‑printed surrogates. The study will investigate how lesion heterogeneity, uptake patterns and scanner characteristics affect quantitative accuracy and lesion detectability, using the CASSOULET framework for lesion masking and 3D‑printing. Patients and lesions will be selected in close collaboration with a physician specialised in PET PSMA imaging, and qualitative and quantitative analyses will be performed using a Likert scoring method. Only static clinical exams will be analysed, with heterogeneity introduced in the lesions.

Responsibilities (Missions)

• Promote and support research activities aligned with Oncopole’s mission and Medical Physics objectives.
• Develop, coordinate and enhance Medical Physics research projects, including project design, funding applications, responding to calls, scientific writing and participation in national and international conferences.
• Monitor and analyse research activity indicators and reports for the Medical Physics Department.
• Facilitate the transfer of validated research outcomes into clinical practice, supporting medical physicists, physicians and RTTs, and organising internal or external training activities (webinars, symposiums).
• Maintain and expand expertise through continuous literature review and propose new research initiatives in one’s area(s) of specialization.
• Supervise research internships (e.g., Master’s students) and co‑supervise theses and post‑doctoral projects.

Candidate Profile

• Required coursework: PhD with strong academic background in Nuclear Physics, Radiation Detection & Measurement, and Interaction of Radiation with Matter; knowledge in nuclear medicine and PET imaging is appreciated.
• Preferred skills:
  • Programming for data analysis (MATLAB/Python).
  • Experience with medical imaging formats (DICOM) and analysis software (3D Slicer or equivalent).
  • Experience in clinical trial design and constraints.
• Qualities: strong theoretical foundation, meticulous, analytical, capable of independent research; able to communicate and publish results.
• Proficiency in French & English.

Location & Working Hours

Oncopole Claudius Regaud, IUCT‑Oncopole campus, Toulouse, Western Occitanie.

Full‑time, 9‑to‑5, Monday to Friday.

Contact

Please send your CV and application letter by email to: [e-mail]