Postdoc physicist or computer scientist
Description
Position and project description
We offer a postdoctoral position for an experienced physicist or computer scientist working on new developments
in the field of adaptive proton radiotherapy. The position is being funded by the Bundesministerium
für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) in the framework of the “SPARTA” project, in close cooperation
with the Radiotherapy Department of the LMU University Hospital (Prof. Claus Belka).
Clinical implementation of adaptive workflows enabling a timely reaction to unavoidable modifications of
the treatment situation (e.g., patient anatomy, tumor characteristics) during fractionated irradiation is still
an unsolved challenge of modern radiation therapy with intensity-modulated photon and ion beams. Moreover,
despite the rapid technological advances, in-room image guidance of particle therapy remains largely
undeveloped, and the role of imaging modalities already established in modern photon therapy, such as
Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT), is still debated.
In this project, we aim at the development and validation of new solutions based on CBCT and other clinically
established imaging modalities for adaptive strategies in proton beam therapy. This work will particularly
aim at controlling range uncertainties in realistic clinical scenarios, as these are perceived as the
main obstacle to the wide spread use of proton therapy. To this aim, deformable image registration and a
dedicated research computational environment will be used to update anatomical information with respect
to the planning CT and evaluate changes in range and dose distributions, prompting corrections strategies.
The foreseen research activities will span from the development and/or assessment of software tools for
reconstruction, processing and registration of different imaging modalities, to treatment planning and
Monte Carlo simulations. Hence, the work will offer a broad spectrum of tasks including elaboration and
analysis of medical images, as well as computational modeling of proton therapy. The working place will
be at the Forschungszentrum Garching, which is well connected with public transportation to the city of
Munich and, in particular, to the hiring Munich University Hospital. The successful candidate will work in
a motivated, multidisciplinary and international team embedded in a stimulating scientific environment,
with excellent research infrastructure and clinical support from the LMU Hospital. Disabled candidates
are preferentially considered in case of equal qualification. Applications from women are encouraged.
The ideal candidate has
Ph.D. in Physics or Computer science, preferably in the field Medical Physics and Bio-engineering
Experience in (medical) applications of imaging, data processing, and radiation physics
Experience in coding and documentation standards, medical data formats (DICOM), programming
languages (preferably C/C++, Python, MATLAB), as well as Linux and Windows OS
Experience with Monte Carlo transport and interaction codes, preferably Geant4
Fluent English knowledge (spoken and written)
Technical proficiency, scientific creativity, team working skills
For more information please contact Katia Parodi (Katia.Parodi@physik.uni-muenchen.de) or Guillaume
Landry (G.Landry@physik.uni-muenchen.de)
Please send your complete application (letter of motivation, certificates and a CV) until 28.06.2014 to
Prof. Dr. Katia Parodi
Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik – Medizinische Physik
Am Coulombwall 1, 85748 Garching b. München