PhD in Department of Biology

 

The Laboratory of Protistology and Aquatic Ecology (Ghent University) and Comparative Network Biology group (VIB) invite applications for a fully-funded PhD studentship for 1 year and extended with another 3 years (after positive evaluation) to study diatom speciation and adaptation.

Our understanding the processes underlying speciation and the genetic/phenotypic diversity of diatoms and other microalgae remains very limited, yet it is of crucial importance to predict their response to global change. The successful applicant will employ a combination of field, laboratory and population-genomic approaches to quantify gene flow in diatom metapopulations, to study local adaptation and to reconstruct the impact of past and ongoing gene flow on the evolution of their pan-genome. We offer an intellectually stimulating and international research environment, high-quality training to develop hard and soft skills, opportunities to participate in sampling campaigns and international scientific conferences, and a competitive salary including a bicycle commuting reimbursement. Ghent University is among the top global universities according to several international rankings.

The PhD project includes:

• Further elaboration of a global collection of isolates of the benthic diatom species complex Seminavis robusta,
• Quantifying the levels of introgression and pan-genomic differentiation based on genome resequencing of global isolates,
• Developing and applying assays to quantify local adaptation and the strength of intrinsic reproductive barriers,
• Characterizing divergence in the pheromone signaling cascade,
• Writing scientific publications and presenting research at international conferences,
• Supervising bachelor and MSc students during projects and practical courses.

Job profile

• You hold a Master’s degree in Sciences: Biology, Bio-informatics, Bioscience Engineering, Oceanography or equivalent diploma. Holders of a PhD degree cannot apply.
• You obtained excellent grades in your bachelor and MSc degree (i.e., you belong to the top 10% of your cohort).
• You have a keen interest in both wetlab experiments as well as population genomics.
• Practical expertise in aquatic microbial ecology and/or NGS data analysis/bio-informatics is strongly recommended.
• You have excellent programming skills in Python or another scripting language and hands-on experience with R.
• You have good communication and writing skills and have an excellent knowledge of written and spoken English.
• You are self-critical, you work with rigor and attention for detail, and you work accurately.
• You combine being a team player with a strong sense of autonomy and responsibility.
• You are willing to participate in sampling campaigns and apply for additional funding when eligible.

What we offer you

• A PhD scholarship of 1 year which can be extended with another three years after positive evaluation.
• Your appointment will start by 01/09/2022 at the earliest.
• You will receive a PhD scholarship according to the general conditions at Ghent University. The tax free scholarship includes full social security coverage. More information about this can be found on the Ghent University website.
• You will work in a dynamic, international research group. All Ghent University staff members enjoy a number of benefits, such as 37 days of paid leave, a wide range of training and education opportunities, bicycle commuting reimbursement, etc. A complete overview of all our fringe benefits can be found on our website.

How to apply

All applications must be received no later than August 1st 2022 at biology-applications@ugent.be with the following documents attached as one file:

• application letter
• curriculum vitae
• a transcript of the required degree
• names and contact details of at least two reference persons

Attention: Late applications are not accepted. As Ghent University maintains an equal opportunities and diversity policy, everyone is encouraged to apply for this position.

For more information about this vacancy please contact Prof. Wim Vyverman (Wim.Vyverman@UGent.be, +32 (0) 9 264 85 01) of Prof. Klaas Vandepoele (klaas.vandepoele@psb.vib-ugent.be, +32 (0)9 3313822).

PhD candidate @ HortiCell - Protoplast regeneration

 

PhD candidate @ HortiCell - Protoplast regeneration

We are looking for an enthusiastic early career researcher or diploma student who is passionate about plants and with an interest in advancing agriculture in line with the sustainable development goals. You will isolate protoplasts from several major food crops and learn how to recognize the right stage and cellular type that has the capacity to start to divide and produce new plants. For this you use tissue culture technology and microscopy tools. You record with a good sense for detail how cells behave and what is required to identify and isolate the competent cells. Molecular tools and markers will be used to help with the selection and to understand what processes take place during protoplast regeneration. In a second face of the project, you will develop a new device and define conditions for protoplast regeneration. A parallel project involves a similar study using microspores instead of protoplasts. The job is challenging and exciting and will come with the thrill to be part of a research teams dedicated to achieving the set goals.

About the project:
CRISPR-CAS technology is a fantastic tool to edit and mutate genes and sequences in a targeted manner. Its easy set-up and approach opens the possibility to modify any sequence in any organism that can be transformed. However, it creates a new bottleneck and that is the capacity of the transformed cell to regenerate into a new plant. Although that it can be applied to tissue, ideally, we want to start from a single cell because it ensures the creating a new genotype. At HortiCell we have developed a new concept that aims to improve the regeneration of plant protoplasts. By identifying the cells that have the capacity to regenerate, the process of gene editing in crops can be dramatically improved. With this method, we can generate much faster and many more lines than currently possible, allowing breeders and plant biotechnologists to accelerate their research and genetic engineering programs. In this project, you will work on a new and innovative method to identify and select the protoplasts that are regeneration competent. You will work in a team that is exclusively involved in the development of the new technology using state of the art equipment. The team consists of a team leader, a technician, and several other PhD students with related topics. If successful, the technology will be implemented in a start up company.

Job profile

Profile:

• You are dedicated to obtaining a PhD degree
• You can work accurately and like to work in a lab environment with cells, microscopes, and molecular equipment
• You are keen to learn, open to share results and experience and work with team members to the benefit of all
• You can work independently with a great sense of responsibility
• You report on regular meetings for the team and for other stakeholders
  
  

We offer:

• An open ended contract with a biding of 4 years (time for completing a PhD program)
• Opportunity to follow trainings and workshops
• Training in advanced cell techniques
• A stimulating and supportive environment
• A flat management organization
• An open minded environment receptive to human diversity

How to apply

Please submit your application by email to horticell@ugent.be before 1 August 2022.
The reviewing starts immediately, applications are welcome until filled.
Applications must be submitted in Englishand should include:

• A detailed CV
• A one page motivation letter
• Your diploma scores and ranking in your cohort
• If you have working experience, provide 2 references
  
  

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

For more information about this vacancy, please contact Danny Geelen (Danny.Geelen@UGent.be, +32 479940252) or Steffen Vanneste (Steffen.Vanneste@UGent.be).

PhD in Virtual Commissioning of Industrial Machines through Bayesian Optimization

 

PhD title: Virtual Commissioning of Industrial Machines through Bayesian Optimization

Our research group works on modelling, control and optimization for Mechatronic systems, Industrial robots and processes. We are part of the department of Electromechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering within the Faculty of Engineering of Ghent University (www.ugent.be/ea/emsme/en). Ghent University is a top 100 university worldwide and one of the major universities in Belgium, with more than 44000 students and 15000 staff members. Our campus is situated in Ghent, a lively city at the heart of Europe (visit.gent.be/en/HOME). Our research group is also associated to Flanders Make (www.flandersmake.be/en), a non-profit organization, funding precompetitive research for the betterment of the Flemish manufacturing industry. The candidate will be directly embedded in an international research group, working together as a team and will have the possibility to collaborate with many other people active at Ghent University and within Flanders.
You will work on REXPEK, a Strategic Basic Research project funded by Flanders Make. The project resides in the virtual commissioning paradigm where (near) first-time-right commissioning of machines is pursued by means of model based design approaches. The key idea is to determine optimal machine settings through virtual experiments. For this concept to work, the reality gap between the virtual and physical experiments needs to be minimized. Further, in order to reduce the remaining physical experiments, each attempt must be chosen so to yields as much information as possible. The project takes a unique angle to this problem by taking into account the human as a valuable resource both as a knowledge base, a performance sensor or critique as well as a discriminator between what could be good or bad settings. The project has the overall aim to develop new methodologies to assist operators with machine commissioning and real-time tuning.
Your specific research challenge lies in the development of new Bayesian Optimization (BO) techniques. BO is a black-box optimization strategy that operates on function evaluations alone originally developed to optimize functions that could be evaluated only through physical experimentation. You will pursue BO methods that can exploit a model based prior whilst simultaneously identifying a context probability that cannot be observed directly. In the past years our research group has accumulated critical expertise and laboratory infrastructure to support this PhD.

The candidate will be expected to

• Perform described research and strive towards successful project execution.
• Develop machine learning methodologies and software (Python) for probabilistic optimization & identification.
• Present research at conferences and in journals.
• Cooperate with researchers active within the research group and outside.
• Contribute to the teaching related to modelling and optimization.

Our offer:

• A 4 years period doctoral position.
• An internationally competitive salary that corresponds to the salary scales for Doctoral Research Fellows as established by the Flemish government.
• Access to state-of-the-art tools and facilities, a network of Flemish companies active in the manufacturing industry, and the possibility to collaborate with other research groups.
• The time to apply and improve your knowledge and skills on state-of-the-art machine learning, (probabilistic) modelling, system identification and numerical optimization.
• Starting date 01/10/2022.

Job profile

We are looking for a team member with a background in (probabilistic) machine learning, numerical optimization methods and experience with system identification concepts. You are quick-witted, have an appetite for the theoretical and are keen on applying and/or improving your programming skills.

• You hold a M.Sc. in electromechanical engineering or related engineering fields such as control & automation.
• You have proven experience with numerical optimization methods in machine learning or system design.
• You have proven experience in Python.
• You have experience in or understanding of artificial intelligence and (probabilistic) machine learning methods.
• You have a team player mindset, a strong personality and work in a result-oriented manner.
• You are creative and willing to work in a multidisciplinary context.
• You are proficient in oral and written English and have strong communication skills.
• You are willing to extend your network and able to talk on technical matters.

How to apply

Send your CV, containing 1 or more references and a motivation letter to dr. Tom Lefebvre (Tom.Lefebvre@ugent.be) and dr. Saeideh Khatiry Goharood (Saeideh.KhatiryGoharoodi@UGent.be) including ‘REXPEK OPTIMIZATION PHD’ in the email subject. If you pass the pre-selection, you will receive further instructions on the selection process and will be invited for an online job interview.

PhD position on high-speed IC design for optical I/O

 

Ghent University is one of the most important education and research institutions in the Low Countries, ranked 71 in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (http://www.shanghairanking.com/). On a daily basis, over 15,000 staff members and 49,000 students implement its motto "Dare to Think". Ghent University's mission statement is characterized by qualitative education, internationally renowned research and a pluralistic social responsibility.
The IDLab research group is also a core group of imec. Imec is the world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. Imec is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium and also has distributed R&D groups at a number of Flemish universities, in the Netherlands, Taiwan, USA, China, and offices in India and Japan.
All of these particular traits make IDLab a top-class research employer.
Description of post: The Design group of the Ghent University-imec IDLab research group is currently looking for several new PhD and post-doc researchers. The Design team is internationally recognized as a leading research group on high-speed and high-frequency integrated circuits for next-generation communications systems. At this moment, the Design group is for example active in nine European projects, one ESA project and in direct research contracts with world-leading industry partners. These collaborations form the perfect basis for high-level and industry-relevant research in an environment with expert peers and top-notch test and measurement equipment. The main research lines focus on wired (fiber-optic, radio-over-fiber), wireless (5G, mmWave) and instrumentation for which custom CMOS or SiGe BiCMOS chips are developed and integrated in system demonstrators.

To strengthen our design team, this vacancy is looking for a strong research profile on analog and mixed-signal circuit design for next generation high-speed driver, receiver and equalizer circuits with very-low power consumption for high-density optical I/O to provide Terabit per second connectivity in GPU-based computing systems. To realize compact, low-power, high-performance optical transceivers extensive co-design of photonic and electronic chips has become a necessity, one of the specialties of the research group. Furthermore, optical switching is envisioned in the optical network to efficiently distribute the workloads among computing units, requiring dedicated burst-mode circuits to handle such data packets efficiently.


Our offer
We offer a fully funded PhD position for full-time research in a highly international, renowned and friendly working environment, with a competitive salary at Ghent University. As a researcher you will publish and present your research results at major international conferences and in scientific journals in order to pursue your PhD degree and you will receive the possibility to follow various advanced training courses in Belgium or abroad.
Typical research projects in the Design group involve multiple researchers with different specialties working as a team. Hence, a good team spirit, a good knowledge of English and effective communication skills (such as presenting and reporting) are of major importance for a successful collaboration.

Job profile

Your profile

• You need to hold a relevant master’s degree e.g., Master of Science in Electrical Engineering or Electronics Engineering
• Strong background in the design and realization of analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits using advanced SiGe BiCMOS or CMOS processes
• Proficiency with design tools such as Cadence, Mentor Graphics, electromagnetic simulators, parasitic extraction and verification tools
•  Additional experience considered as a plus:
  
  • Work experience (academic or industrial) or publications
  • Experimental characterization of high-speed, high-frequency components and (sub-) systems
  • Principles of optical Communications, signal processing, optical devices and photonics circuits
•  Your English is fluent, both speaking and writing
•  You are a team player with good networking and reporting skills
  
  

How to apply

Interested?

Send your application or any questions concerning this vacancy to Prof. Johan Bauwelinck, johan.bauwelinck@ugent.be
Applications should include a CV, a personal motivation letter, and contact information of three reference persons. After screening, selected candidates will be invited for an online interview as a first contact in a multi-stage selection process. Applications remain welcome until the position is filled.

PhD position on RF/analog electronics-photonics circuit co-design

 

Ghent University is one of the most important education and research institutions in the Low Countries, ranked 71 in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (http://www.shanghairanking.com/). On a daily basis, over 15,000 staff members and 49,000 students implement its motto "Dare to Think". Ghent University's mission statement is characterized by qualitative education, internationally renowned research and a pluralistic social responsibility.
The IDLab research group is also a core group of imec. Imec is the world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. Imec is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium and also has distributed R&D groups at a number of Flemish universities, in the Netherlands, Taiwan, USA, China, and offices in India and Japan.
All of these particular traits make IDLab a top-class research employer.

Description of post: The Design group of the Ghent University-imec IDLab research group is currently looking for several new PhD and post-doc researchers. The Design team is internationally recognized as a leading research group on high-speed and high-frequency integrated circuits for next-generation communications systems. At this moment, the Design group is for example active in nine European projects, one ESA project and in direct research contracts with world-leading industry partners. These collaborations form the perfect basis for high-level and industry-relevant research in an environment with expert peers and top-notch test and measurement equipment. The main research lines focus on wired (fiber-optic, radio-over-fiber), wireless (5G, mmWave) and instrumentation for which custom CMOS or SiGe BiCMOS chips are developed and integrated in system demonstrators.

To strengthen our design team, this vacancy is looking for a strong research profile on RF/analog and photonics circuit co-design for next generation high-speed transmitters and receivers. https://www.ugent.be/ea/idlab/en/research/electromagnetics-rf-and-high-speed-circuits-and-systems/fiber-optic-transceivers.htm The integration of photonics and electronics is gaining considerable traction in industry. The GOA large-scale multidisciplinary project “Integration of novel thin films with circuits for telecom, quantum optics and neuromorphic computing” brings together five professors and their teams at Ghent University with a unique complementarity of expertise ranging from material science, fundamental physics, photonic integration, neural networks to electronic design. Together they have access to a very extended research infrastructure, including state-of-the-art tools for the deposition of new materials, the most advanced tools for micro- and nanofabrication of photonic and electronic devices, optical testing equipment for fundamental material properties characterization as well as ultra-high speed device characterization and a very broad range of simulation tools.

Our offer
We offer a fully funded PhD position for full-time research in a highly international, renowned and friendly working environment, with a competitive salary at Ghent University. As a researcher you will publish and present your research results at major international conferences and in scientific journals in order to pursue your PhD degree and you will receive the possibility to follow various advanced training courses in Belgium or abroad.
Typical research projects in the Design group involve multiple researchers with different specialties working as a team. Hence, a good team spirit, a good knowledge of English and effective communication skills (such as presenting and reporting) are of major importance for a successful collaboration.

Job profile

Your profile

• You need to hold a relevant master’s degree e.g., Master of Science in Electrical Engineering or Electronics Engineering
• Strong background in the design and realization of custom integrated circuits using advanced SiGe BiCMOS or CMOS processes; Knowledge of photonics is a plus.
• Proficiency with design tools such as Cadence, Mentor Graphics, electromagnetic simulators, parasitic extraction and verification tools
• Additional experience considered as a plus:
  
  •  Work experience (academic or industrial) or publications
  •  Experimental characterization of high-speed, high-frequency components and (sub-) systems
  •  Principles of optical Communications, signal processing, optical devices and photonics circuits
• Your English is fluent, both speaking and writing
• You are a team player with good networking and reporting skills
  
  

How to apply

Interested?
Send your application or any questions concerning this vacancy to Prof. Xin (Scott) Yin xin.yin@ugent.be
Applications should include a CV, a personal motivation letter, and contact information of three reference persons. After screening, selected candidates will be invited for an online interview as a first contact in a multi-stage selection process. Applications remain welcome until the position is filled.

PhD in Department of Criminology, Criminal Law and Social Law

 

We are recruiting one full-time PhD student with an interest in applying network theory and agent based modeling for the FWO research project “Interdependencies of Serial and Co-Offending Networks in Space and Time”.
You will be expected to complete a PhD study on the topic of “Interdependencies of Serial and Co-Offending Networks in Space and Time”. The main goal is to develop an understanding of how serial and co-offending behaviors are interdependent in space and time. To do so, you will apply network theory and agent based modeling on an integrated dataset of police recorded crime data and forensic biometric data. You will take primary responsibility for the scientific preparation, follow-up, implementation, and completion of this project. This includes the collection, processing, and analysis of police recorded crime data and forensic biometric data, as well as presenting intermediate results at international conferences and publishing findings in academic journals.

As a PhD student, you will be supervised by Prof. Christophe Vandeviver (Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy, Department of Criminology, Criminal Law and Social Law) and Prof. Luis Enrique Correa da Rocha (Complex Systems Institute, Department of Economics and Department of Physics and Astronomy). You will be based at the Department of Criminology, Criminal Law and Social Law, and will be also member of the Complex Systems Institute. Ultimately, this should allow you to complete an interdisciplinary PhD and obtain the combined degree of Doctor in Criminological Sciences and Doctor in Applied Economics.

Your key tasks as a PhD fellow are:

• To manage and carry through your research project;
• To collect and analyze data for the project;
• To write peer-reviewed articles in English and merge them into a PhD dissertation;
• To disseminate your research results by presenting intermediate results at scientific conferences and publish findings in academic journals;
• To participate in a PhD training program.
  
  

In addition, you will participate in the activities of Prof. Christophe Vandeviver’s research team (see below, About Prof. Vandeviver and the research team). As part of your supporting the research team, you may occasionally be asked to support teaching activities and contribute to commissioned research.

English will be your main working language.

About the project

Serial offending and co-offending are two of the most prevalent offending behaviors in society. Evidence increasingly suggests that serial offending and co-offending are interdependent. However, extant research has generally studied both offending behaviors separately, misrepresenting the nature and extent of serial and co-offending and their potential interdependencies.

To resolve this, we leverage the recent availability of forensic biometric data to crime researchers. This allows us to uniquely distinguish offenders and link offences and co-offenders across space and time, without the need for offenders having been identified by the police.

By integrating police data and forensic biometric data into a single robust crime dataset we are able to study the serial and co-offending behaviors of identified and unidentified offenders—which is not possible when only using police data.

Network theory offers a holistic perspective of offending behavior by representing serial offending and co-offending in a single dynamic network that evolves in space and time. Agent based modeling is a computational method that allows to simulate interactions between offenders and within offender groups via simple behavioral rules that are rooted in real-world observations obtained from our integrated dataset. Combining the outcomes from the network analysis and agent based modeling, we generate a quantitative behavioral framework on serial and co-offending behaviors.

In the project, you will closely collaborate with Prof. Christophe Vandeviver and Prof. Luis Enrique Correa da Rocha, as well as other scholars as appropriate. The project benefits from proximity to ongoing network criminology research supervised by Prof. Vandeviver and Prof. Rocha (see, e.g., here and here).


Conditions of employment

• We offer you a full-time PhD Fellowship (Dehousse-bursaal) of definite duration, consisting of an initial period of 12 months, which—upon positive evaluation—will be extended to a maximum of 48 months.
• Your contract will start on 1 November 2022 at the earliest and 1 January 2023 at the latest. The exact starting date will be determined by mutual agreement.
• Your remuneration will be determined by salary scale WM1 to WM4. Several elements, including prior experience and family situation, will be factored into the calculation of the salary offered. Click here for more information about our salary scales.
• As a reference, the net amount of the scholarship will be approx. € 2,250.00 per month, supplemented with a holiday allowance and an end-of-year bonus. Click here for more information about cost of living in Belgium.
• On top of your salary, Ghent University also offers a number of social benefits, including 36 days of paid holiday leave (on an annual basis, for a full-time job) supplemented by annual fixed bridge days, hospitalization insurance, a wide range of training and education opportunities, access to university restaurants and university sports facilities. Click here for more information about our staff benefits.
• It is possible to make arrangements for remote work and flexible office hours.
• We strive to achieve a healthy work-life balance and nurture a healthy and rewarding work environment in which individual differences are welcomed and valued.

Job profile

In order to be eligible, applicants must:

• Hold a MSc degree (e.g., statistical data analysis, statistics, computational physics, computer science engineering, applied mathematics, criminology, applied economics, experimental psychology), or convincingly demonstrate that they will have this degree in hand by their preferred starting date (Note: other disciplines and final-year students are encouraged to apply as well);
• Be ready to relocate to Belgium as their main residence for the time of their contract;
• Be willing to spend (a) period(s) of time abroad as appropriate and to participate in international conferences;
• Be fluent in English as their primary working language, both passively and actively.

In addition, applicants are expected to demonstrate the following:

• Excellent academic writing and presentation skills;
• Experience in quantitative analysis and/or computational modeling;
• Experience in at least one advanced programming language (R, Python, C/C++, Matlab, etc.);
• An interest in issues related to crime and place;
• Ability to work both independently and as member of a multidisciplinary and international team.
  
  

Preference will be given to candidates who can demonstrate one or more of the following:

• Be fluent in Dutch and/or French (speaking and writing);
• Experience with publishing their research (Note: any publishing experience is valued, although experience with publishing in academic journals with peer review is preferred).

How to apply

Application procedure

To apply, please send:

• A cover letter in English (single spaced, font Calibri 11, max. 2 pages) in which you address the following questions: Why do you wish to pursue a PhD in this area? How you propose to complete your main task? How does your expertise match the research? What is your prior experience (if applicable)?
• A detailed CV, including a list of your publications (if applicable);
• A full transcript of your degrees and grades
  
  • If you your diplomas are in a language other than Belgium’s national languages (Dutch, French or German) or English, please add a translation in one of the afore-mentioned languages.
    
    

Applicants are asked to submit these documents as one pdf labeled “Application_FirstnameLastname_PhD2022” via email to christophe.vandeviver@ugent.be with the email subject line: “Application_FirstnameLastname_PhD2022”.

The deadline for submission is 31 August 2022. The expected starting date is 1 November 2022 at the earliest and 1 January 2023 at the latest.

As Ghent University maintains an equal opportunities and diversity policy, everyone is encouraged to apply for this position.


Evaluation procedure

The submitted documents will be used to shortlist candidates. Shortlisted applicants will be invited for a (video conference) interview on 15 or 16 September 2022.

Prior to the interview, shortlisted applicants will be asked to complete a programming or computational task at home. The interview will consist of a presentation of the results of the programming task followed-up by a Q&A, and a selection interview. During the selection interview, the quality and relevance for this position of the academic and practical experience of the candidates will be assessed.
The selection process will be carried out by Prof. Christophe Vandeviver (selection chair), Prof. Luis Enrique Correa da Rocha, Dr. Laure De Cock, and/or Dr. Kural Arasan. They may invite additional colleagues as appropriate to aid in their assessment. Prior to the interview, a definite list of interview participants will be shared with the candidates.

Any candidate who may require special facilities should indicate this in their application, and we will try to accommodate their request.

We aim to notify all candidates of the results of the selection process no later than the end of September.


Institutional embedding

About Ghent University

Ghent University is a top 100 university. It is one of the major universities in Belgium and one of the largest universities in the Dutch language area. Our 11 faculties and more than 80 departments offer a broad spectrum of high-quality research-based educational programs and conduct in-depth research within a wide range of scientific domains. Several of our research groups, centers and institutes are renowned worldwide and you will find many eminent scientists among our alumni, including multiple Noble prize winners. Ghent university is known for its scientific expertise in life sciences and medicine, materials and agricultural science, veterinary medicine, psychology and history, and many more.

Ghent University occupies a specific position among the Flemish universities. We are a socially committed and pluralistic university that is open to all students and staff, regardless of their ideological, political, cultural or social background. Our credo is ‘Dare to Think’, challenging everyone to question conventional views and to dare to take a nuanced point of view.

About the Faculty of Law and Criminology

The Faculty of Law and Criminology provides academic teaching and services based on innovative scientific research. The education within these programs is supported by the innovative scientific research performed within the 3 faculty departments encompassing all possible disciplines within the fields of law and criminological sciences. The Faculty is housed in the historic center of Ghent.

About the Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy

The Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy (IRCP) has a decades-long tradition of conducting high-quality independent scientific research. It provides advice to policy and practice and participates in societal debates. The Institute is integrated into the Department of Criminology, Criminal Law and Social Law of the Faculty of Law and Criminology at Ghent University and consists of 12 professors, 2 visiting professors, 10 post-doctoral researchers, and many pre-doctoral researchers and teaching assistants. The IRCP has grown out of a group of lawyers and criminologists, but now houses scientists with a very diverse scientific background and education.

About Prof. Vandeviver and the research team

Prof. Christophe Vandeviver is a Research Professor of Criminology at the Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy (IRCP), Ghent University, Belgium. He is an International Research Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), and an elected Fellow and Co-President of the Young Academy of Belgium. Prof. Vandeviver holds a PhD and Master's degree in Criminology and a Master of Science degree in Quantitative Analysis in the Social Sciences.

Within the IRCP, Prof. Vandeviver supervises an international and multidisciplinary team of postdoctoral and pre-doctoral researchers, with backgrounds in a variety of disciplines, including criminology, geography, psychology, sexology, and law. The research of Prof. Vandeviver’s team focuses on multiple themes, including spatial and temporal dimensions of crime and crime control, violence against police officers, and sexual violence victimization. The team members are passionate about applying cutting-edge technologies and quantitative methodologies in their research. The research of Christophe and his team is supported by multiple competitive grants awarded by e.g., Research Foundation Flanders, Ghent University Research Council, and Belgian Science Policy Office.

About the Complex Systems Institute

The Complex Systems Institute is an interdisciplinary research group for the study of critical events in complex social and economic systems (www.csi.ugent.be). The Complex Systems Institute brings together scholars from various areas with a joint interest in the dynamics of complex social and economic systems and find common concepts, methodology and interests to tackle complicated and usually interdisciplinary challenges together. The team consists of specialists in the study of dynamic networks and experts in the analysis of very large datasets interested in applying their expertise outside their own field, scholars in search of new methodology for reconceptualising their own field and reinterpreting the data to which they have access, e.g. stability of financial systems, systemic risk in interbanking networks, paradigm shifts in collaborative citation networks, emergence of epidemic outbreaks, and social networks.


More information

For informal inquiries, contact Prof. Christophe Vandeviver (christophe.vandeviver@ugent.be) and/or Prof. Luis Enrique Correa da Rocha (luis.rocha@ugent.be).

Should you wish to talk to one our current PhD students, you are welcome to contact Joke Geeraert (joke.geeraert@ugent.be).

PhD position Machine Learning for Biomedical Engineering

 

Vacancy: PhD position Machine Learning for Biomedical Engineering

SUMOLab – IDLab (Ghent University, Belgium)

IDLab is a core research group of imec, a world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, with research activities at Ghent University. IDLab performs fundamental and applied research on data science and internet technology, and is, with over 300 researchers, one of the larger research groups at imec. Our major research areas are machine learning and data mining; semantic intelligence; multimedia processing; distributed intelligence for IoT; cloud and big data infrastructures; wireless and fixed networking; electromagnetics, RF & high-speed circuits and systems.
The activities of SUMO Lab are embedded in this stimulating environment and include predictive analytics, hybrid AI, machine learning, time series analysis, anomaly/event detection, etc., with applications in the health care and biomedical engineering sector.

Job Description

The omnipresence of sensors causes an explosive growth of data that offers the potential for a revolutionary transformation in the health care sector. As biomedical monitoring devices are becoming more widespread, continuous measurements of critical biomarkers can be collected for the purpose of screening, medical diagnosis and prediction of disease progression. The availability of this time series data makes it possible to develop new systems, such as wearables, that can extract insights from data and transform them into actionable knowledge.
Furthermore, hybrid AI will be considered to bridge the gap between purely data-driven machine learning models (such as artificial neural networks, or deep learning models) and physics-based mechanistic models that describe complex underlying disease processes. Possible examples of illnesses that will be considered in the PhD project are either respiratory related (such as COPD, sleep apnea, asthma,…) and/or heart conditions (such as heart failure, atrial fibrillation,…).
The proposed PhD research is defined within the context of several national and international collaborations on the application of machine learning to biomedical data. You are expected to actively work and significantly contribute to research projects in this area.

Job profile

Your profile

• Highly creative and motivated PhD student with the following qualifications:
• You have (or will obtain in the next months) a master degree in Computer Science, or a master degree in Biomedical Engineering with excellent ('honors'-level) grades.
• You have strong computer science skills (python, C++, etc.)
• You have a strong interest in machine learning and biomedical engineering, and are eager to advance the state-of-the-art.
• Experience with machine learning algorithmic approaches or frameworks (such as PyTorch, Tensorflow, GPFlow, etc.) is considered a significant plus.
• Experience with analysis of biomedical data (e.g. ECG, MMG, EEG,…) is a significant plus.
• You are a team player and have strong communication skills.
• Your English is fluent, both speaking and writing.
  
  

Our offer

We offer the opportunity to do full-time research in an international (with over 17 nationalities at IDLab, part of imec and Ghent University) and friendly working environment, with a competitive salary at Ghent University. While grounded in fundamental academic research, as a PhD candidate you will also participate in collaborative research with industrial and/or academic partners in Flanders and/or on a wider geographic scale (e.g., EU H2020 projects), in the framework of new/ongoing projects. Furthermore, you will publish your research results at major international conferences and in journal papers, as part of meeting the requirements for your PhD. The PhD position is available starting May 2022.

How to apply

Interested?

Send your application by email or any questions concerning this vacancy to prof. Dirk Deschrijver (dirk.deschrijver@ugent.be) and Prof. Tom Dhaene (tom.dhaene@ugent.be), indicating “Job Application: Machine learning for biomedical engineering” in the subject. Applications should include (1) an academic / professional resume, (2) a personal motivation letter, and (3) transcripts of study results, and (4) at least two reference contacts. After a first screening, selected candidates will be invited for an interview as a first contact in a multi-stage selection process.

• Application deadline: August 31th 2022 or until the vacancy is filled.
• Type of contract: Full-time
• Employment: Temporary (4 years), with yearly progress evaluation
• Earliest starting date: May 2022

PhD vacancies on social robots, consciousness and value-aware AI

 Ghent University is an international top 100 university in Belgium situated in the historical and trendy city of Ghent. With 41,000 students and 9,000 staff, the university is one of the largest universities in the wide region. Ghent University’s mission is to combine high-quality education with internationally leading research and a pluralistic social responsibility. You will join the AIRO group, a group of 25 PhD students exploring the edges of AI and robotics, supervised by Tony Belpaeme, Francis wyffels and Joni Dambre.

The AIRO group (Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, airo.ugent.be) of IDLab-imec (idlab.technology) at Ghent University is excited to be offering two fully-funded PhD scholarships to help with our research on social robotics under the supervision of Tony Belpaeme.
Social robots are robots that interact with people in a natural manner by, for example, using speech, gestures, facial expressions and language. By using natural communication, these robots are easier to interact with and have many applications in entertainment, services, education, collaborative robotics and therapy [1].
You will join an international project called VALAWAI (short for Value-Aware AI) studying consciousness, values and AI. “Value-aware AI” is AI that includes a component performing the same function as human moral consciousness: a system that helps decide whether or not certain actions are morally acceptable. This system will be based on the Global Neuronal Workspace model developed on the basis of neurophysiological evidence and psychological data [2]. At Ghent University we will look at how social robots can become value-aware and how people respond to social robots that have have some level of consciousness.
You will be supervised by Prof. Tony Belpaeme (www.tonybelpaeme.me) and will be part of a vibrant and interdisciplinary research team, focusing on human-robot interaction, unconventional robotics, cognitive systems and machine learning. You will have access to the full facilities of IDLab, including high-performance computing/GPU clusters and the robot labs.
Additional reading
[1] Introduction to HRI at https://www.human-robot-interaction.org/
[2] Dehaene, S., Changeux, J. P., & Naccache, L. (2011). The global neuronal workspace model of conscious access: from neuronal architectures to clinical applications. Characterizing consciousness: From cognition to the clinic?, 55-84.

Job profile

Profile of the candidate

• A MSc in computer science, electrical engineering, (technical) cognitive science, Human-Computer Interaction, psychology or areas relevant to the research topic (for example, computational linguistics with a keen interest in robotics and AI).
• Good programming skills are required (C++, Python, or other) as you will programming robots and equipment and will be running data analyses.
• Very good English language skills (spoken as well as written).
• As the PhD position is highly interdisciplinary, an interest or understanding in (neuro)psychology and social sciences and other themes related to consciousness is desirable.

Further details
The position start date can be negotiated, but is tentatively set for 1/10/2022 and runs until 30/9/2026 (you will start with a one year scholarship which can be extended to 4 years).
The net amount of the scholarship will be approximately €2250 per month. You will also receive a holiday allowance, an end-of-year bonus and –if you cycle, the preferred way of getting around in Ghent- a bicycle bonus. Additional financial support is available for attending conferences and workshops.
You will be affiliated with the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics group of the IDLab.

While the research will be based in Ghent, occasional travel to international conferences will be required.
You will be enrolled in the doctoral training programme offered by the Doctoral School of Engineering.
Ghent University and AIRO lab encourages equal opportunities. We will consider applications based only on your potential as an early career researcher and your fit to the research programme.

How to apply

For informal queries, do not hesitate to contact Tony Belpaeme (tony.belpaeme@ugent.be).
Your application should include

• A letter motivating your application. Why do you wish to pursue a PhD in this area? How does your expertise match the research? What is your -if any- prior experience?
• A full curriculum vitae. If appropriate, copies of relevant exams, grades, MSc thesis or publications.
• The names and contact details of at least 2 referees. Recommendation letters can be included with your application, but are not needed at the time of application.

Applicants should send their application to tony.belpaeme@ugent.be with subject “PhD application VALAWAI”. Applications will be considered on an ongoing basis, the application deadline however is 31 August 2022. Selected candidates will be invited for an interview, which can be online if necessary.