Scholarships aims at developing new instruments for the quantification of the severity of Crohn’s disease

Study Subject: Science

Employer: Delft University of Technology

Level: PhD

Scholarship Description: We are looking for a PhD student to develop automatic image processing techniques to measure descriptive features of Crohn’s disease activity in both MR and microscopy (histopathology) images. Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) constitute one of the largest healthcare problems in the western world, affecting over 1 million European citizens alone, 700,000 of whom suffer from Crohn’s disease. Grading of Crohn’s disease severity is important to determine treatment strategy and to quantify the response to treatment. Colonoscopy is considered the reference standard for diagnosis of all IBDs. However, the procedure is invasive and is considered very burdensome by most patients.

The PhD project is part of the VIGOR++ project, which aims at developing new instruments for the quantification of the severity of Crohn’s disease. These tools can support early diagnosis, improved therapy planning and a better quality of life for patients. VIGOR++ is funded by the European Union and involves leading European groups in abdominal radiology, medical image analysis, modelling, scientific visualisation, gastroenterology and commercial diffusion. The PhD student will collaborate closely with other PhD students involved in the VIGOR++ project.

Requirements

We are looking for a talented and enthusiastic candidate with an MSc degree in (applied) physics or a related subject. He/she must have an excellent knowledge of written and spoken English and a top 20% ranking during his/her BSc and MSc. Experience in image processing is helpful. Good programming skills in MATLAB and C are a necessity.

Scholarship Application Deadline: 31-12-2010