EngD position on smart sensors for health monitoring via breath gas analysis

Are you interested in engineering, health and building new technology? Then we are looking for you! We are seeking an amazing Engineering Doctorate (EngD) candidate to help us unravel what we can measure in breath and understand physiology.

Every breath you exhale carries information about the health of your body and its systems. Trace gases can signal the presence of chronic or acute disorders, or give insight into respiratory or metabolic status. Imagine if you could breathe into a small device a few times a day, and it would tell you this information? A smart breath sensing device like that could be highly valuable, for instance to consumers and patients wanting to monitor and optimize their health in a home setting, or to workers operating outside the reach of regular medical care and diagnostic equipment.

As an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) candidate in this project, you will design a system and develop a first feasibility prototype for such a device, based on photonic sensing technology and advanced data analysis techniques.

Your responsibilities include:

• scoping the most promising application areas for this breath sensing device and do an in-depth user journey mapping for one or multiple selected applications;
• design and develop a system architecture based on established design principles and stakeholder requirements;
• scoping out the most promising gases to target, from both a technological and (health) application perspective;
• planning and conducting benchtop spectroscopy experiments;
• data analysis, quantifying sensitivity and performance of the technology, and formulating algorithms for automated data interpretation and reporting;
• completing relevant courses (60 ECTS).

You will work here
This EngD position is jointly embedded within OnePlanet Research Center (see below) and Wageningen University. At OnePlanet, you will work within the Domain AI team, which houses expertise in advanced data analysis techniques, merging the power and flexibility of machine learning and AI with the rigor and explainability of domain knowledge. Members of OnePlanet’s gas sensing team will provide additional technical guidance and assistance with spectroscopy experiments.

Your primary supervisor will be Dr. Ruben van Bergen (Senior Data Scientist in the Domain AI group), with co-supervision from Dr. Ruud van Stiphout (Principal Data Scientist and Team Lead in Domain AI).Your employment contract and academic embedding will be at Wageningen University, within the research group of Dr. Guido Camps, who completes the supervision team. Dr. Camps contributes expertise in physiological modelling, AI-based signal interpretation and translational research.

On successfully completing the EngD program, you will receive an Engineering Doctorate diploma - see here for more information.

OnePlanet Research Center
You will be an EngD at OnePlanet Research Center, which is a multidisciplinary collaboration between Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Radboud University, Radboud UMC and nano-technology world-player imec. OnePlanet Research Center develops digital and sensor technologies that enable personalized health and sustainable food systems, translating imec's expertise in nanoelectronics, sensing and AI into real-world impact. Working at OnePlanet means you will:

• have access to a diverse team of experts with the necessary technical and domain expertise to supervise and support you;
• be working on a relevant, real-world problem where you have freedom to come up with creative ideas to solve the various technical challenges;
• be able to exchange views and knowledge with the OnePlanet and imec community of experts and scientists, widening your professional network.

At OnePlanet we embrace diversity and thus give equal opportunities to candidates with diverse backgrounds.

Postdoctoral researcher studying the impostor phenomenon

The ERC Starting Grant project IMPOSTOR: From Impostor Syndrome to Impostor System investigates how workplace contexts shape experiences of impostorism and how these experiences affect career development. Grounded in Social Identity Theory, the project aims to transform the way researchers, organizations, and society understand the impostor phenomenon.

The project consists of three work packages. As a postdoctoral researcher, you will be responsible for the first workpackage, which focuses on developing and validating a novel state-based conceptualization of impostorism. This work package provides the theoretical and methodological foundation for the subsequent project stages, which examine how organizational systems may shape impostor experiences and their consequences.

Start date: November 1st (or as soon as possible thereafter)

In close collaboration with Dr. Sanne Feenstra, within the Organizational Psychology section, you will:

• develop a validated measure of State-Based Impostorism (SB-IP)
• conduct scale development studies, including item generation, factor analyses, and validation research
• design and test an innovative experimental manipulation of impostorism
• recruit and manage participant samples across multiple countries and occupational groups
• analyse quantitative datasets
• publish findings in leading international journals
• present research at national and international conferences
• contribute to open science practices, including preregistration and open data

PhD on Nanoswitches for Continuous Nucleic Acid Monitoring

Nanoswitch sensors are nanometer-scale constructs that change their configuration upon molecular binding and enable the continuous monitoring of biomolecules. In this PhD project, you will explore a novel direction: you will study how nanoswitch sensors can be designed for the continuous monitoring of complex nucleic-acids with dynamic secondary structures, such as virus-like particles and plasmids.

In your PhD project, you will study nanoswitches in a particle-based sensing platform with single-molecule resolution, called Biosensing by Particle Motion. The project includes nanoswitch design, sensor fabrication, sensor testing, and modelling. The longterm goal is to enable multiplexed continuous real-time sensing for applications in advanced bio-manufacturing.

The continuous sensing technologies studied in the Molecular Biosensing group at TU/e (see www.tue.nl/mbx) exploit reversible single-molecule interactions, a concept that is at the forefront of science. The PhD project benefits from ongoing collaborations with research institutes, academic hospitals, and bioprocessing companies. Publications about the BPM sensing technology are listed on https://www.heliabiomonitoring.com/publications.

The research group integrates laboratory-based and computational approaches for advancing sensor technology and bioengineering. Research is done in close collaboration with the Protein Engineering research group (https://merkxlab.nl/) and the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems (www.tue.nl/icms). The research group initiated and organizes the international competition on Sensors for Health (www.sensus.org) and the international symposium on Continuous Real-time Biomolecular Sensing (https://symposium.sensus.org).

PhD in De Novo Protein Design for Continuous Biosensing

Biosensing technologies are being developed for the continuous monitoring of biomolecules in areas such as patient care, advanced biomanufacturing, the monitoring of ecological systems, and fundamental biological research. The heart of the continuous sensors are binder molecules that specifically and reversibly bind to the biomolecules of interest.

In this PhD project, you will explore a novel direction: you will develop and test binder molecules for continuous sensing using de novo protein design strategies. You will develop methodologies to design, make, screen, and test de novo proteins for incorporation in a particle-based continuous sensing platform with single-molecule resolution, called Biosensing by Particle Motion. The long-term goal is to develop a fast and flexible workflow for the rational design of continuous biomolecular sensors for diverse applications.

The project is a collaboration between the Molecular Biosensing and the Protein Engineering research groups at TU/e (see www.tue.nl/mbx and https://merkxlab.nl/). Their fields of expertise on continuous biosensing and protein engineering are at the forefront of science. The PhD project benefits from ongoing collaborations with research institutes and academic hospitals.

The research groups integrate laboratory-based and computational approaches for advancing sensor technology and bioengineering. The research is done in the context of the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems (www.tue.nl/icms). The groups initiated and organize the international competition on Sensors for Health (www.sensus.org) and the international symposium on Continuous Real-time Biomolecular Sensing (https://sensus.org/symposium).

Student-assistent Learning & Development

Medewerkers van de VU kunnen kiezen uit een breed pakket van opleidingen en trainingen. Deze trainingen en opleidingen zijn er voor leidinggevenden, wetenschappers, docenten en ondersteunend personeel. Om te zorgen dat alles goed verloopt zoeken wij een Student-assistent ter uitbreiding van het team Learning & Development. Jij zorgt ervoor dat de deelnemers de juiste informatie hebben en alles op de locatie aanwezig is, zodat de training goed kan verlopen.

Jouw taken

• het logistiek goed laten verlopen van jouw trainingen
• informeren van deelnemers over trainingen en opleidingen
• contact onderhouden met in- en externe trainingsbureaus, met locaties waar de opleidingen plaatsvinden en met de deelnemers (via e-mail en agenda-uitnodigingen)
• communicatie van jouw trainingen met nieuwsberichten