Optical Molecular Sensing and Imaging IRC

EPSRC Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration in Multiplexed 'Touch and Tell' Optical Molecular Sensing and Imaging Prize PhD Studentships

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) have sponsored an £11.5M Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration (IRC) between the Universities of Edinburgh (UoE), Bath (UoB) and Heriot Watt (HWU).

The EPSRC Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration in Multiplexed 'Touch and Tell' Optical Molecular Sensing and Imaging (OMSI-IRC) is set to become a power house of "fibre-based" sensing and imaging expertise and will be offering a number of OMSI-IRC Prize PhD studentships across the three collaborating universities.

We are looking to recruit high-calibre postgraduate students to join this dynamic multi-disciplinary, world-class team delivering major benefits for patient care.

OMSI IRC brings together a set of internationally-recognised researchers led by a multi-disciplinary team of academics who have world-class track records from fibre optic research through sensing and imaging, signal processing and machine learning through to clinical care.

The IRC will deliver a transformative point-of-care immediate sensing device for intensive care unit (ICU) patients. This Fibre-based Optical Sensing and Imaging Platform will provide ground-breaking dynamic sensing of key physiological and pathological events in the distal lung and blood of critically-ill ventilated patients that will lead to significant healthcare improvement through rapid diagnosis, patient stratification and personalised drug therapy.

The IRC is now offering 3 year OMSI-IRC Prize PhD Studentships in topics such as;

  • Time-Resolved Spectroscopy of Bacteria (UoE)
  • Ultra-Miniature CMOS sensors for lung exploration (UoE)
  • Optical Sources for Time-Resolved Raman & Fluorescence Sensing (UoE)
  • Chemical reporter molecules for SERS sensing (UoE)
  • Chemical probes for fluorescence reporting (UoE)
  • Coded and synthetic aperture techniques for microscopy (HWU)
  • Ultra-Miniature fibre imaging for lung exploration (HWU)
  • Image Processing for Multispectral Imaging of Inflammation (HWU)
  • Ultrafast Laser Inscription Technologies (HWU)
  • Mechanistic Insights of Fluorescent Chemical Sensors on Bacteria (HWU)
  • Multicore optical fibres for multifunctional sensing and imaging (UoB)
  • Lung Inflammation and Repair in Model Systems (UoE)
  • Neutrophil & Monocyte Biology in Sepsis and Acute Lung Injury (UoE)
  • Development of freeform micro-optics for compact endoscopy (HWU)
  • Plasmonic based fibre-optic sensors for high-sensitivity in-vivo sensing (HWU)

Application Process

To apply please submit a cover letter stating clearly why you are interested in applying for an OMSI-IRC studentship, a full up-to-date C.V. (including vacation address) and names and addresses of two academic referees to the e mail or postal address given below by 11th March 2014

Email applications: enquiries-omsi@ed.ac.uk

Postal applications: Anne Moore PhD IRC Project Manager Queens Medical Research Institute The University of Edinburgh 47 Little France Crescent Edinburgh EH16 4TJ

The successful applicants will spend part of their study at each of the three Universities in order to share expertise and to forge strong working relationships with the whole IRC team however, each university will take a lead and serve as a base for specific PhD topics.

Contacts

For further details regarding the specific project topics contact:

OMSI- IRC will provide the successful applicants with a dynamic and exciting environment from which to develop and access expertise and technology that is at the forefront and interface of physical sciences and clinical application.

Please note: that there are eligibility criteria for some of these studentships. Some studentships are open to all nationalities. For other studentships only EU nationals are eligible, and these restricted studentships have additional restrictions for non-UK nationals relating to the period and purpose of residency in the UK.

Key information

Dr. Anne Moore