School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
The worldwide incidence of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) is on the rise and is most prevalent in people younger than 25 and older than 75 years. TBI lies on a continuum from transient symptoms to fatal haemorrhages with mild TBI (mTBI) being the most common type of TBI. Current brain models used to simulate TBI and design preventative, diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic technologies have mostly been developed using adult male data.
This PhD project aims to determine the role of sex-specific biomechanics in the initiation and progression of TBI by characterizing the sex-specific damage properties of brain tissue under large strain and dynamic loading conditions. The project involves mechanical testing brain tissue, characterizing the brain’s microstructure, and developing new microstructure-informed material damage models for brain tissue.
Principal Duties and Responsibilities:
* Work full-time on the PhD project at University College Dublin.
* Engage in teaching assistance, e.g., delivering lab demonstrations to undergraduate students.
* Take part in training and development.
* Contribute to public engagement and outreach activities.
Requirements
Mandatory requirements include a Master’s degree or Primary degree (First or Upper Second Class Honours) in Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or a related cognate discipline, excellent mathematical skills, experimental skills, coding skills in Python or Matlab, English communication skills, report writing skills, and experience with data analysis and visualization.
* Desirable experience includes working with biological tissues, fitting models to data, mechanics of materials, microscopy, and excellent research skills.
Additional Information
This is a fully-funded 4-year PhD position with a €25,000 tax-free stipend per annum, plus PhD registration fees. The position is open to both EU and non-EU applicants. To apply, please send a cover letter, CV, academic transcripts, and contact details for two academic referees to david.macmanus1@ucd.ie.
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