15 PhD Positions, European Training Network “EUROoC”, Europe (2019)

We are pleased to announce 15 Marie Curie-PhD positions are open in the European training network “EUROoC” focusing on Organ-on-a-Chip Technology. EUROoC is made up of 11 core and 10 associate partners from academia, industry and regulatory agencies, coordinated by Fraunhofer IGB. The network will recruit a total of 15 Marie Curie-PhD students for project work, with successful candidates expected to start on 1st of June 2019.

Organ-on-a-Chip (OoC) technology is advancing at breath taking pace due to its potential impact in drug development and personalised treatments of disease. New researchers entering this field must be equipped with a multidisciplinary background ranging from biology to microfluidic chip engineering. EUROoC offers the first complete and coherent European training program on OoC by gathering multidisciplinary participants (biologists, physicists, chemists, engineers) in a multi-sectoral network composed of six companies, three regulation entities and twelve academic institutions.

EUROoC will qualify the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists for all aspects of OoC development and utilisation, including understanding of commercialisation pathways and regulatory aspects. EUROoC furthermore comprises a collection of innovative research projects addressing the development of advanced OoC systems with higher physiological significance going beyond current in vitro testing.

The research projects include:
ESR 1: Parallelisable microfluidic Heart-on-a-chip systems with integrated sensing capability to monitor maturation and functionality of cardiac microtissues
ESR 2: Application and quantification of mechanical load to a 3D bone-tissue analogue within a microfluidic device
ESR 3: Development of a microphysiological system that integrates and differentiates tissue-specific ECs
ESR 4: Development of a microfluidic-based heart-on-a-chip model as a device for modelling cellular therapy approaches
ESR 5: Emulation of the human gut in an integrated microfluidic organ-on-chip platform for investigation of human microbiome host interactions
ESR 6: Retina-on-Chip with Local Oxygen Sensing
ESR 7: Development of an acute lung infection model
ESR 8: Microfluidic methods for bead-based assays on-chip
ESR 9: Development of chemically defined hydrogels for next-generation Organ-on-a-chip systems
ESR 10: Microvasculature-on-a-chip modelling degenerative vascular disease
ESR 11: Emulation of liver zonation and physiological metabolic pattering in an integrated microfluidic liver-on-chip platform for drug development.
ESR 12: Integration of on-chip TEER measurement and of iPSC-derived epithelial cells in the HuMiX gut model
ESR 13: Parallelisable microfluidic Heart-on-a-chip systems with integrated sensing capability to monitor maturation and functionality of cardiac microtissues
ESR 14: Optical sensor systems for multi-parametric monitoring and control of Organ-on-chips
ESR 15: Optical sensor concepts for monitoring metabolic activity in Organ-on-Chips

Essential Eligibility Criteria
- The applicant must, at the date of recruitment, be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and have not been awarded a doctoral degree. This is measured from the date when they obtained the undergraduate degree.
- The applicant must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their host organisation for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date. Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays, and time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention are not taken into account.

For more information, please visit the following link:
15 PhD Positions, European Training Network “EUROoC”, Europe (2019)