Postdoctoral fellow within Range and dose verification in proton therapy

Proton therapy has the potential to deliver the highly conformal radiation dose to patients, and the number of proton therapy centers worldwide continues to rise significantly over time. Adaptive proton therapy, which monitors and adapts to changes in patient anatomy between treatment fractions, is essential for ensuring safe delivery while sparing healthy tissues. However, truly personalized, dose-escalated proton therapy remains unattainable due to the lack of real-time dose verification technology—an aspect which is critical for improving survival and quality of life by enabling patient-centered cancer treatment.

The NOVO (Next-generation imaging for real-time dose verification enabling adaptive proton therapy) project aims to integrate real-time dose verification into proton therapy-based cancer treatment, allowing precise control over delivered radiation doses while preventing unintended damage to surrounding healthy tissues. We will develop the first proof-of-concept for a groundbreaking real-time dose verification system which is adaptable to different proton therapy treatment systems. This proof-of-concept detector system will be tested under preclinical conditions, advancing the technology to Technology Readiness Level 4.

Starting in March 2024 for a duration of four years, NOVO will receive nearly €3.8 million in funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) under Horizon Europe’s EIC Pathfinder Open program. EIC Pathfinder supports bold explorations of radically new technologies, financing high-risk, high-gain interdisciplinary collaborations at the cutting edge of scientific and technological breakthroughs.

In this project, the appointed Research Fellow will be working in Work Packages 1 (Development of the NOVO hardware) and 4 (Tests and Validation) and will contribute to the optimisation and testing of novel scintillator materials for use in the NOVO prototype. The candidate is also expected to contribute to Work Package 2 with particular focus on tasks related to AI-enhanced image reconstruction, and support NOVO staff working on numerical aspects with experimental insights. The candidate will collaborate with national and international experts on detector development, electronics and radiation transport simulations for particle imaging for proton therapy. The Research Fellow will be expected to characterise the properties of novel scintillator materials, including assessing their performance in terms of light yield, timing resolution, energy resolution and particle discrimination. Furthermore, the candidate is expected to support the collaboration in optimising data analysis algorithms for the raw detector data, including improving position reconstruction and pulse-shape discrimination algorithms which can be implemented on in the front-end electronics of the NOVO detector elements. The Research Fellow will also be expected to support the collaboration with the first experimental tests of the NOVO prototype, including the setup of the detector system, electronics, and data acquisition system. The Research Fellow will be responsible for implementing improvements to the data analysis software which analyses the raw detector data from the digitizers and prepares it for image reconstruction. The Research Fellow might also be asked to take on some minor administrative tasks and student supervision within the project.

Responsibilities and tasks:

Performing advanced tests and characterisation measurements of candidate organic scintillator materials.
Preparation of scintillator samples for use in radiation detectors.
Setup and operation of experiments with radioactive sources and at beamlines to test the performance of the NOVO prototype.
Contribute to the development and testing of AI-algorithms for image reconstruction.
Support NOVO staff working on numerical aspects with experimental insights.
Co-supervision of PhD candidates.
Performing administrative tasks.
Publication of research results in international scientific journals, conferences, and workshops.

Qualifications (requirements for the position):

Holds a PhD in nuclear physics, nuclear engineering or similar. Candidates with a PhD degree in computer science/engineering with experience within nuclear engineering, medical physics or related fields will also be considered. The candidate must have obtained the PhD degree prior to starting in the appointment as postdoctoral fellow.
Legally able to visit nuclear technology facilities and laboratories, participate in experiments involving radiation detection measurements (especially neutron detection).
Deep knowledge of radiation detection physics, ideally and especially pertaining to indirectly ionizing radiation (neutron and gamma ray) interactions in plastic organic scintillators.
Strong experience with preparing and running complex nuclear physics experiments, including setup of detectors, electronics, and data acquisition systems.
Experience analyzing complex experimental and Monte-Carlo simulated data to optimize the analysis of raw detector data in preparation for imaging
Strong programming experience with C/C++ and the ROOT data analysis framework is required

Desired qualifications (can be waived):

Understanding of data processing pipelines in nuclear physics experiments, including conversion of raw data from detectors in preparation for particle imaging
Knowledge of medical physics / radiation therapy concepts, ideally including those unique to proton (or heavy ion) therapy
Familiarity with image reconstruction methods, ideally applied to particle-camera-type radiation detectors such as those used for nuclear non-proliferation or medical imaging applications.
Radiation detector response measurement and characterization experience.
Familiarity with radiation transport simulation codes such as GEANT4 and PHITS.
Familiarity with AI-tools used for image reconstruction and pulse processing in conjunction with radiation detectors.
An interest in developing project management skills through assisting with the planning and coordination of regular meetings, annual workshops, and semiannual progress reports within the NOVO collaboration.
Previous knowledge related to range verification in particle therapy will be considered an advantage.

Personal characteristics:

Ability to work and collaborate in a multidisciplinary team, communicate effectively internally with colleagues of various backgrounds and in academic outlets (journals, conferences, etc.).
Excellent skills in oral and written English.

Stillingskategorien postdoktor er regulert av Forskrift om ansettelsesvilkår for stillinger som postdoktor, stipendiat, vitenskapelig assistent og spesialistkandidat, fastsatt av Kunnskapsdepartementet 31.1.2006 med heimel i Universitets- og høgskulelova. §1-4.

Application procedure:

Applications will be evaluated by an expert panel of three members.

Applicants are asked to submit their application and CV online. Please use the link “Apply for this job” (“Søk stillingen”).

The following documentation should be uploaded as an attachment to the online application:
- cover letter (statement of motivation, summarizing scientific work and research interest)
- a copy of the PhD thesiscopies of educational certificates, academic transcript of records
- names and contact details of 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and telephone number).

Applicants will be evaluated against their prospective starting date, capacity for dissemination, their ability to collaborate, as well as their
potential for establishing relevant national and international research contacts. Short-listed candidates might be required to give a research presentation, in addition to an interview. If the documents submitted are not in English or in a Scandinavian language, the applicants must submit the corresponding certified translations.

Applicants with a degree from a country other than Norway, need to attach a certified translation of the diploma and transcripts of grades to English or a Scandinavian language, in addition to the original documents, if the original is not in any of these languages. It is required that the applicant encloses a recognition document showing that their degree is equivalent to a Norwegian bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, or PhD. You can read more about applying for recognition of foreign higher education here.

The Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir) offers an automatic recognition document for certain degrees from selected countries. If the applicant’s degree is covered by the automatic recognition, it will be sufficient to attach this document. Read more about automatic recognition here.

As the HK-dir application process may take some time it is recommended to apply to HK-dir as soon as possible. If you have not received a recognition document from HK- dir within the application deadline, please enclose documentation from HK-dir showing that they have received your application.

Applicants should note that the evaluation will be based on the documentation submitted electronically via Jobbnorge within the submission deadline. The applicants are responsible for ensuring that all the documentation is submitted before the closing date. It is of utmost importance that all publications to be considered in the evaluation are uploaded as an attachment with the application, since these are sent electronically to the expert panel. Applications cannot be sent by e-mail or to individuals at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences.

Salary:

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.

Initial salaries will be offered at code 1352 - postdoctor in the Civil Service pay grade table scale.

There is a compulsory 2% deduction to the pension fund (see http://www.spk.no 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.

Short-listed applicants will be called in for an interview.

Employed on condition that you are granted a work and residence permit (must be considered individually).

Western Norway University of Applied Sciences is subjected to the regulation for export control system. The regulation will be applied in the processing of the applications.

Inclusion, challenging norms, collaboration

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