PhD in 'medical image analysis and artificial intelligence'

We are currently seeking a PhD candidate for a Research Grant position of the Faculty of Engineering, Department of Electronics and Informatics, research group ETRO.RDI. The Department of Electronics and Informatics (ETRO) at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) is looking for a highly motivated PhD student to conduct research under the supervision of Prof. Jef Vandemeulebroucke in the field of medical image analysis and artificial intelligence. The selected candidate will work on ELEVATE, a multidisciplinary research project developing the next generation of generative AI methods for medical image generation and dimensionality enhancement. The project focuses on musculoskeletal (MSK) imaging of the lower limbs, with the aim of bridging the gap between research imaging (e.g. 3D/4D CT, fluoroscopy) and routine clinical input (e.g. affordable 2D/3D data and surface scans) by generating anatomically faithful, patient-specific 3D/4D representations from simple measurements such as X-rays and surface scans. Within ELEVATE, the PhD student at ETRO will contribute to the core of the AI pipeline by designing and validating generative models (e.g. latent diffusion-, autoencoder-, and GAN-based approaches) that can infer missing anatomical information and realistic, biomechanics-aware transformations. The work will be carried out in close collaboration with clinical and imaging partners at UZ Brussel, as well as with other academic and industrial partners in the ELEVATE consortium, ensuring strong alignment with real-world clinical workflows and subsequent valorisation pathways. In addition to this research, you will also be expected to contribute to the functioning of the department. This includes:

• Supervising exercise sessions or practical classes;
• Representing VUB at events, information days, and SID-ins.

For this position, the VUB Main Campus in Etterbeek will be your primary home base (Brussels, Belgium). However, close collaboration and regular presence at the VUB Health Campus in Jette will also be expected. Where to apply E-mail jakub.ceranka@vub.be Website

Research Field Engineering » Biomedical engineering Education Level Master Degree or equivalent Research Field Computer science Education Level Master Degree or equivalent Research Field Engineering Education Level Master Degree or equivalent Skills/Qualifications

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Biomedical Engineering, Electronics & Informatics Engineering, or a closely related field.

• You have strong scientific writing and communication skills; ability to work in an interdisciplinary team with clinicians and engineers;

• You have strong programming skills in Python;

• You have knowledge of medical image processing, and machine learning and deep learning techniques;

• Written and spoken proficiency in (scientific) English is required.

• The following requirements are an asset for this function:

• You have experience with medical imaging packages (e.g. SimpleITK/ITK, nibabel, …) and evaluation metrics for anatomy/shape (e.g. surface distance, temporal consistency);

• You have hands-on experience with PyTorch and/or MONAI (or an equivalent deep learning framework);

• You have experience with programming (Python, C++, etc.) and machine learning and signal processing libraries;

• You have HPC/GPU computing experience, including running deep learning workloads on compute clusters (CUDA-compatible GPUs, multi-GPU training, Slurm).

Specific Requirements

• Your master's degree awarded by a recognized institution in the EEA or Switzerland;
• For non-EEA diplomas (including the UK): an official NARIC equivalence certificate or written confirmation from a Flemish university that gives the diploma access to a doctoral programme;
• Your master's degree must have been obtained 24 months before March 2027.
• You have not performed any works in the execution of a mandate as an assistant, paid from operating resources, over a total (cumulated) period of more than 12 months.
• As a (non-)EEA national, meet the conditions for obtaining a valid permit for VUB and comply with the VUB residence requirements (see job offer at jobs.vub.be for more information).

Languages ENGLISH Level Excellent