PhD Vacancy on Soft Sensors for Self-Healing Robotic Phantoms

Organisation/Company

VUB Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Research Field

Engineering » Electrical engineering
Engineering » Electronic engineering
Engineering » Computer engineering
Engineering » Control engineering
Engineering » Materials engineering

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Positions

PhD Positions

Application Deadline

13 Mar 2026 - 14:59 (Europe/Brussels)

Country

Belgium

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

38

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by a EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

We are searching for a PhD student to research and develop novel soft sensing solution for self-healing robotic phantoms for repeated surgical training in a joint project, titled RESSURG, between VUB-Brubotics, VUB-SUME and STB-KULeuven. 

Brubotics research group

Brubotics is the Brussels Human Robotics Research Center of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). In strong interdisciplinary teams we strive together to advance core robotics technologies for a new generation of robots enabling the the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) through Human Robotics. With our research group of ±60 researchers strong, we conduct both fundamental and applied research, collaborating closely with various companies and founding our own robotics spinoffs. BruBotics is affiliated with imec and collaborates in this project with another VUB-research group Sustainable Materials Engineering (SUME) that focusses on R&D of self-healing polymers that will be exploited in this project in robotic phantoms. Moreover, the Soft Tissue Biomechanics (STB) research group of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is connected in this project to guide design of materials and morphology of the phantom. 

Research topic

With increasingly complex medical procedures and rising geopolitical conflicts, there is a growing need for high quality, and continuous surgical training for clinical staff, military personnel, and even civilians. Unfortunately, current training methods, such as synthetic models (patches and phantoms), animal models, and virtual reality simulations, suffer from significant limitations. They are often unrealistic due to discrepancies in biomechanical and anatomical properties; they are costly and environmentally unfriendly, primarily because they are single use and they lack effective monitoring, as they do not integrate sensors. RESSURG’s main research objective is to research weather reversible polymer networks with self-healing capacities —a new class referred to as self-healing polymers— can enable NextGen surgical phantoms that realistically simulate the biomechanics of their biological counter parts, have integrated sensors to track interactions during training and can fully recover from surgical interactions and are therefore reusable. Whereas the projects holds a total of 6 researchers, investigating self-healing polymers, additive manufacturing, sensing and soft robotic phantoms, this PhD will mainly focus on researching novel soft sensor methods and morphologies using (electrically conductive) self-healing polymers, aimed at embedding stress, damage and recovery sensing in phantoms while maintaining their biomechanical and self-healing performance. Among others, this includes piezoresistive sensing, electrical impedance tomography (EIT) and passive acoustic tomography (PAT). 

Your Responsibilities:

• Conduct high-quality PhD research in the field.
• Actively foster collaboration between VUB BruBotics, VUB SUME, and KULeuven.
• Work closely with Brubotics team members and research groups at VUB, imec and KULeuven.
• Investigate research questions on innovative soft sensing strategies for surgical phantoms, aimed at monitoring internal stress, detecting damage, and assessing recovery processes.
• Commit to becoming a leading expert in soft sensors for medical applications, including surgical phantoms, by engaging in comprehensive literature reviews, attending advanced courses, participating in specialized training programs, and actively contributing to (inter)national conferences, industrial fairs, and winter schools.
• Prepare detailed technical evaluation reports on developed solutions, implementations, and experiments, leading to publications in top-tier conferences and journals.
• Present your results to potential industrial stakeholders with the objective of ultimately translating and valorizing the developed technologies.
• Support teaching by assisting in lab sessions for relevant bachelor’s or master’s courses (up to 10% of your responsibilities).

What we offer

• We offer a doctoral scholarship for a period of one year. Following a positive evaluation, the scholarship can be renewed for another three years to complete the PhD.
• Your monthly scholarship amount is calculated according to the scholarship amounts  for doctoral scholarship holders on the pay scales for Contract Research Staff (Dutch: Bijzonder Academisch Personeel, BAP).
• You will receive ecocheques, internet-connectivity allowance, and a bicycle allowance or a full reimbursement of public transport costs for commuting.
• Find out more about working at the VUB here . 

How to apply

• You can apply for this vacancy through sending your application consisting of the following information: the requested diplomas, a motivation letter, your academic CV (educational record, research, teaching experience, etc.), a one-page summary of your master’s thesis (in English), and optionally proof of your English proficiency.
• The selection committee will review all of the applications as soon as possible and inform you whether or not you are selected. If you are selected, you will receive more details on the next steps of the selection procedure.
• More information about the job itself and submission, please send to seppe.terryn@vub.be . Please indicate in the mail: “Application for RESSURG”.
• The submission deadline is 13 March. Early applications are encouraged.

E-mail

seppe.terryn@vub.be

Research Field

Engineering

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Your qualifications

• You hold or are about to obtain a master’s degree in electronic, electrical, control, or robotics engineering, computer science, or a related field.
• You have an excellent academic record, with at least a distinction (preferably great distinction).
• You have strong expertise in soft and stretchable sensing (e.g., strain-gauge sensing, EIT, PAT), control engineering, optimization, and modeling, along with a strong interest in (soft) robotic systems.
• You have (advanced) programming skills in C/C++. Proficiency in Python and/or MATLAB is an added advantage.
• You are a collaborative team player with excellent communication skills.
• You demonstrate a high level of proficiency in both spoken and written English.
• You possess a strong passion for engaging in interdisciplinary research and are eager to tackle complex challenges across multiple fields.

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

VUB (BruBotics)

Country

Belgium

Geofield

City

Elsene

Website

http://mech.vub.ac.be/

Street

Pleinlaan 9

Postal Code

1050

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