The University of Eastern Finland is inviting applications for a Doctoral Researcher (PhD student) position in experimental and computational biomechanics of knee ligaments at the Department of Technical Physics on the Kuopio campus. The position will be filled for a one year fixed term from 1 June 2025 (or starting date as agreed).
Please find more information below and submit your application no later than 17 February 2025.

OUR REQUIREMENTS

• a person to be appointed as a Doctoral Researcher shall be qualified to pursue postgraduate studies, i.e., the Doctoral Researcher must be eligible to apply for and must have been granted the right to pursue postgraduate studies in the Faculty’s Doctoral Programme LUMETO
• a suitable degree in biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, medical physics, biophysics or a related field awarded by a university or by a university of applied sciences, or a relevant study programme abroad which in the awarding country gives eligibility for a corresponding level of higher education
• a good command of the English language
  Students in the final stages of a degree that makes them eligible to apply (e.g., a Master’s degree) may also apply provided that they complete their degree and deliver a copy of their degree certificate to the faculty by 15 May 2025.

The following will be considered an advantage:

• Knowledge in mechanics of materials
• Knowledge in biomechanics
• Programming skills (MATLAB, Python)
• Experience in finite element modelling (Abaqus, Ansys, FEBio or similar)
• Experience in working in a laboratory environment

We are looking for a highly motivated and talented Doctoral Researcher in experimental and computational biomechanics of knee ligaments. In this project, the aim is to comprehensively characterize biomechanical, biochemical and microstructural properties of knee ligaments in osteoarthritic human knees and to develop related tissue-level computational models. Changes in ligament properties with knee joint osteoarthritis are identified and computationally investigated.

As our new Doctoral Researcher (PhD student) your main responsibilities will include:

• tensile testing of ligaments from cadaveric human knee joints and conducting related data analysis
• microstructural analysis of the tensile-tested ligaments

and, depending on the person selected, one of the following:

• developing novel computational finite-element models of ligaments with advanced material models
• conducting bioreactor experiments to investigate the adaptation mechanisms in ligaments.

The work is done primarily in the Biophysics of Bone and Cartilage (BBC) group (web page), University of Eastern Finland, which is globally one of the leading groups in musculoskeletal research. The research group belongs to the “Ageing, Lifestyles, and Health” profile area and the “Musculoskeletal Diseases” research community of the University of Eastern Finland (web page).
The main task of the Doctoral Researcher is to conduct research for their dissertation and to complete postgraduate studies.
The position will be filled for a one-year fixed term from 1 June 2025 (or starting date as agreed) due to it pertaining to the Doctoral Researcher’s (PhD student’s) own doctoral dissertation work and studies. A probationary period is applied to all new members of the staff.
The salary of the position is determined in accordance with the salary system of Finnish universities. The salary comprises two components: a job-related salary element and a personal salary element. In this position, the job requirement level is based on levels 2–4 of the job requirement level chart for teaching and research staff depending on the stage of the applicant’s doctoral research and postgraduate studies. The personal salary element is 6–50% of the job-related salary element. Depending on the personal salary element, the salary will be approximately EUR 2,580.00-3,380.00 /month.