Job offer PhD Studentship on developing a multi-modal capsule for grading inflammation severity

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) Doctoral Networks are joint research and training projects funded by the European Union. Funding is provided for doctoral candidates from both inside and outside Europe to carry out individual project work in a European country other than their own. The Intelli-Ingest MSCA Doctoral Networks is made up of 4 beneficiaries and 6 associated partners, all coordinated by the Biorobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy. The Intelli-Ingest Doctoral Network aims to empower 13 young scientists and engineers to become experts in ingestible medical device research and translation. Ingestible devices are minimally invasive, orally delivered medical devices that traverse the gastrointestinal tract, using electronic, mechanical, or smart material elements for diagnosis, therapy, surgery, or sampling. The program's key objectives include advancing the capabilities of ingestible devices by addressing current technical limitations, with a focus on improving diagnostic accuracy, reducing the need for additional interventions, creating environmentally sustainable devices, and developing simulators to reduce reliance on in-vivo testing. The training network is interdisciplinary, integrating various fields such as physiology, electronics, robotics, microengineering, materials science, AI, and pharmaceutical science. The doctoral candidates (DCs) will receive comprehensive training through research projects, secondments, and interactions with industry and clinical environments, preparing them for diverse careers. Additionally, the network seeks to foster international, interdisciplinary, and intersectoral cooperation, contributing to European innovation capacity and advancing the field of minimally invasive, orally delivered medical technologies. This project will develop an ingestible electronic capsule capable of measuring the electrical impedance of surrounding intestinal tissue and imaging the mucosal surface. The capsule will process the sensing and imaging data to detect and grade the severity of inflammatory bowel disease using edge computing and machine learning. This work will be conducted in collaboration with Professor Dimitris Iakovidis of the University of Thessaly, Greece., Applicants must be available full-time to start the program in September 2025. Selection process Our selection procedure is open, transparent, merit-based, impartial, and equitable, in line with the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers (link). Applicants should follow the application criteria and instructions for the position(s) they are interested in. Candidates will be informed about the recruitment process for each position and the selection criteria. The selection procedure will consist of the following steps: Eligibility check: The Recruitment Committee will check each application is complete and that applicants fulfil the eligibility criteria described in the previous section. Remote Evaluation: Each eligible application will be evaluated independently by the principal investigators of each institution in our network, according to the DC position options expressed by the applicants. Online interviews: The short-listed candidates will be interviewed by a Selection Committee that will include the recruiting Principal Investigators. Selection committees will bring together diverse expertise and competencies and have an adequate gender balance.

Master Degree or equivalent,

• In accordance with the European Union's funding rules for doctoral networks, applicants must NOT yet have a PhD
• A willingness to work as part of a collaborative, interdisciplinary and international team, liaising with academic, clinical and industrial partners as needed.
• Good communication skills, with an interest in presenting research outcomes to a variety of technical and non-technical audiences
• Proactive and self-motivated, taking the initiative in acquiring the skills and knowledge to achieve the objectives of their independent project and that of the overall team with a commitment to personal and professional development
• A willingness to embrace diversity, different cultural perspectives, and interdisciplinary approaches to research
• Some knowledge of electronics and embedded systems
• Past experience of programming microcontrollers
• An interest in medical device development
• Candidates should be keenly interested in translating advanced healthcare technologies from the lab into the clinic.
Specific Requirements
• Candidates should meet all the eligibility criteria detailed below
• Good English language skills
Languages ENGLISH, At the deadline date, applicants must possess or be finalising their Master's degree or equivalent/postgraduate degree. At the date of recruitment, applicants must have a Master's degree or equivalent postgraduate degree, which would formally entitle them to pursue a doctorate. At the date of recruitment, applicants must fulfil the transnational mobility rule: applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary, the United Kingdom, for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the recruitment date - unless as part of a compulsory national service or a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention. At the deadline date, applicants must be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research career (career breaks excluded) and not yet awarded a doctoral degree. Career breaks refer to periods where the candidate was not active in research, regardless of their employment status (sick leave, maternity leave, etc). Short stays such as holidays and compulsory national service are not considered.

Founded in 1900, the University of Birmingham is one of the leading research-based universities in the United Kingdom; the breadth of research expertise is a distinctive characteristic of the University. The last UK Research Excellence Framework in 2022 confirmed that 55% of the University's research is considered world-leading, with 34% considered internationally excellent. Birmingham is 80th in the 2025 QS World University Rankings, cementing our position in the top 100 universities globally and placing us 12th out of the 24 Russell Group universities to feature in the ranking.

You will have an employment contract from the recruiting beneficiary. You will benefit from a competitive salary, number of days off and social security coverage. The salary will be composed of:
• A living allowance (3400 euros per month - gross salary-) which is adjusted by applying a country correction coefficient to the living allowance of the country in which the researcher is recruited. The country correction coefficients are indicated in Table 1 of the MSCA Work Programme (link)
• Monthly mobility allowance: 600 euro/month
• Monthly family allowance, if applicable and depending on the family situation: 660 euro/month
• Enrollment in a PhD school
• Access to state-of-the-art research and supervision by recognised experts
• Participation in network-wide training activities, workshops and conferences
• Secondment periods in industry, clinical environments and other partner labs
Eligibility criteria To be eligible, applicants must comply with all the following rules