PhD / Postdoc in Biomedical Engineering

Do you want to develop novel and innovative wearable surface EMG sensor systems for paralysed people? Do you want to investigate whether electromyographic signals from the legs of paraplegics and tetraplegics can be measured and used for a neural interface? Do you want to enable paralysed people to #SteerAgain by connecting the neural interface to a wheelchair? If so, there is an opportunity for you to join our Neuromuscular Physiology and Neural Interfacing Laboratory (n-squared lab) as a research assistant / PhD student (TV-L E13, 100%).

You will be working in a young lab (founded in 2020) that is going to receive a Start-Interaktiv grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, 1 million EUR, 3 years) in collaboration with the Chair of Factory Automation and Production Systems (FAPS). This project, which aims to develop a novel sensor kit with multiple sensors for EMG and navigation to enable paralysed people to control a wheelchair independently and intuitively, is a perfect synergy with our other recently awarded grants.

Our lab has been awarded 1.3 million EUR from the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy and 700,000 EUR from the BMBF to translate some of our current concepts into medical applications, as well as 1.5 million EUR from the European Research Council (ERC) and 1.8 million EUR from the German Research Foundation (DFG) to investigate and identify new concepts and principles of neural control of movement. All these projects are linked to the n-squared lab, led by Prof. Dr Alessandro Del Vecchio.

In our laboratory, we aim to understand the mechanisms that make our neuromuscular system perform as it does. Our main focus is to study the human neuromuscular system during natural movement in both health and pathology (stroke, spinal cord injury and motor neurone disease). We have preliminary evidence that the proposed technologies are so effective and easy to use from the patient’s perspective that we’ve been able to decode the intended movements for the full hand in people who have been unable to move their hands for more than 15 years.

Your Tasks

1. Mechatronics and device engineering
2. Embedded systems
3. CAD design
4. Conducting user-centred studies
5. Data analysis and signal processing
6. Programming and algorithm development
7. Machine learning and AI development

Your Profile

Necessary qualifications:

• Completed M.Sc. or equivalent degree in mechatronics, electrical engineering or related research fields
• Basic programming knowledge in C++ and Python
• Fluent English

Desirable qualifications:

• Basic knowledge of German preferred for administration and project management

Payment: TV-L E 13

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