Research Assistant opening at Imperial College, London (18th April 2011)

Research Assistant

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Salary £26,860 - £29,850 per annum

South Kensington Campus

Imperial College London

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Research Assistant in the Tribology and Medical Engineering Groups

Fixed-term appointment available for one year in the first instance

The Tribology and Medical Engineering Groups wish to appoint a Research Assistant to conduct research into the area of modelling of brain tissue indentation and cutting at Imperial College London.

The position will be supervised by Dr Dini in the Tribology Group and Dr Rodriguez y Baena, in the Medical Engineering Group at Imperial College London, within the framework of an FP7 European project, codenamed ACTIVE (Active Constraints Technologies in Ill-defined and Volatile Environment), involving several world-leading partners from Germany, Israel, Italy, Switzerland and the UK.

Research will involve the modelling of the interaction between surgical tools and soft tissue, with an application to computer and robotic assisted neurosurgery. The numerical procedure is designed to treat both geometric and material non-linearities by considering large deformations and non-linear constitutive laws governing the behaviour of the soft tissues. This work will allow accurate pre-operative planning and continuous intra-operative guidance in neurosurgery, greatly improving the ability to operate on patients more accurately and through very small incisions.

As part of an integrated effort in robotic assisted surgery, the successful applicant will work within a team of computer scientists, roboticists, mechanical engineers and surgeons to produce a state-of-the-art neurosurgical platform for the treatment of epilepsy

The successful candidate should hold an excellent undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in an area pertinent to the research subject, eg Mechanical Engineering, Bioengineering, Computing or related fields. You should be able to demonstrate a very strong disposition towards applied research as witnessed by past projects, work experience and publications. Some practical experience in material science and finite element modelling are also required for this very challenging research project. Good written and oral communication skills are essential.

Informal e-mail enquiries may be made to Dr Daniele Dini at d.dini@imperial.ac.uk or +44(0) 20 7594 7242.

Committed to equality and valuing diversity. We are also an Athena Silver SWAN Award winner, a Stonewall Diversity Champion and a Stonewall Top 100 Employer 2011.

18 April 2011 (midnight GMT/BST)

Our preferred method of application is online via our website http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/employment (please select “Job Search” then enter the job title or vacancy reference number, EN20110049RS, into “Keywords”). Please complete and upload an application form as directed. Please note you must submit an application form for our posts not just a CV, if you do not fill in an application form, your application will not be considered.

Research application form

Should you have any queries please contact:

Ms C Soulal, Academic Administrator - c.soulal@imperial.ac.uk

Job description and person specification

If, when attempting to open a job description or application form, a ‘connecting to workspace’ box appears, please press the cancel button on the box and the document will open.