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Cerebral blood flow (CBF) uses about 15% of the cardiac output to deliver nutrients to the brain (oxygen and glucose) and remove metabolic by-products. Therefore, any deviations in the CBF can hamper the brain metabolism and cause significant brain damage or disease, including traumatic brain injury, ischemic stroke, or Alzheimer’s disease. Hence, noninvasive monitoring of cerebral blood flow and brain function is invaluable in clinics to treat brain dysfunctions.

In this project, we intend to solve those problems by investigating parallel, multi-channel detection to measure cerebral blood flow in the human brain in vivo. 

This research project will enable rapid, noninvasive cerebral blood monitoring systems in humans in vivo. Continuous and noninvasive blood flow monitoring could help to treat major brain diseases. Moreover, rapid cerebral blood flow sensing will take us closer to developing the noninvasive brain-computer interface (BCI), which could help people with disabilities. 

Our research will complement the development of time-resolved diffuse optics in Poland.  

The PostDoc will be mainly responsible for the parallel interferometric NIRS (πNIRS). He or she, with the support from PI, will:

• Design, build and optimise the experimental πNIRS system,
• perform measurements in fluid phantoms and optimise the system,
• perform validations in healthy volunteers in vivo at IPC PAS,
• will closely work with PI and other team members,
• write manuscripts about achieved results, 
• present progress on international conferences, internal group meetings, and seminars.

The person will need to be well-motivated to perform a risky scientific project. He or she will need to handle fiber optics, work with fast cameras, be able to perform liquid phantoms, and have high signal and image processing skills. Additionally, he or she will need to prove the ability to quickly learn about the theoretical foundations of diffusive optics.       

The successful candidate will be part of a highly experienced, multi-disciplinary team. He/She will be able to broaden his/her knowledge and confront new tasks resulting in new technical solutions and applications.

The successful candidate will be eligible for all programs at the IPC PAS, including the IPC PAS Young Scientists competition and the IPC PAS Young Scientists Mobility competition.

Institute provides an opportunity to participate in ERASMUS+ programme.

• PhD degree in physics/engineering (optics, automatics, informatics, electronics) obtained in the year of employment in the project or within 7 years before 1 January of the year of employment in the project. For researchers with multiple PhDs, the date of the first PhD award is deemed the reference date. Extension might apply according to National Science Centre, Poland, rules,
• computer programming advanced skills (Python, Matlab, C++),
• prior experience in implementing and using deep learning algorithms with TensorFlow, Keras API or any other equivalent library,
• creativity and enthusiasm measured by the quality and number of projects, study record, internships
• authorship in peer-reviewed publications and patents in which the Candidate participated and contributed, 
• analytical thinking and critical problem-solving skills,
• excellent communication, organisation and time management skills,
• experimental experience in optical physics, 
• fluent in spoken and written English,
• flexibility and ability to work in a multidisciplinary and multicultural research team,
• direct experience with optical imaging is an asset,
• experience in customisation and commercialisation of optical setups,
• experience in the medical application of devices based on optical solutions.

The Recruitment Commission will take into account the following criteria: 

• competence in specific tasks in a research project
• previous scientific achievements (publication record, H-index etc.)
• candidate’s participation in research projects