The Institute of Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine at the University of Twente, Netherlands has openings for three PhD student positions for the project MIRIAM.

Research project description
Needle insertion is one of the most common minimally invasive clinical procedures. It is used for diagnosis, localized drug delivery, and tissue sample removal from tumours deep within the body. These procedures are often performed under the guidance of magnetic resonance (MR) images. For effective medical diagnoses and treatments, the needle must reach its intended target. However, tissue inhomogeneity, organ deformation, and physiological processes cause the needle to deviate from its intended path. In order to increase the targeting accuracy of needles and improve clinical outcomes, the goal of this research project is to develop:

Established in 2009 by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC), the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS) aims at attracting the best and brightest students in the world to pursue their PhD programmes in Hong Kong’s institutions.

Eligibility
Those who are seeking admission as new full time PhD students in Hong Kong institutions funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC), irrespective of their country of origin and ethnic background, should be eligible to apply. Applicants should demonstrate outstanding qualities of academic performance, research ability / potential, communication and interpersonal skills, and leadership abilities.

You will investigate new methods to prepare fluorinated compounds, using transition-metal catalysis. You will work in a state-of-the-art organic chemistry laboratory. The offers consist in EPSRC stipend (£13,590 p.a. for 3.5 years) + tuition fees + 3 months of placement at an AstraZeneca site.

Start: from 1st October 2010 and preferably before end 2010.

Applications are invited for a fully funded MRC Doctoral Training Grant PhD Research Studentship starting from 1st October 2010 or as soon as possible thereafter. For applicants with a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree with a substantial statistics component, funding is available for students to take the one-year MSc course in Statistics at Lancaster University, prior to embarking on the 3 year PhD programme. Applicants who already have a relevant MSc degree can pursue the 3 year PhD programme directly.

During the PhD research programme, the student will be based at the MRC funded North West Hub for Trials Methodology Research (NWHTMR) at the University of Liverpool. Led by Professor Paula Williamson, the NWHTMR is a collaboration between the Universities of Liverpool, Lancaster and Bangor, involving experts in medical statistics, clinical trial methodology, pharmacoeconomics, sociology and clinical psychology.