DOCTORAL SCHOOL AND RESEARCH TEAM
Doctoral School & Research Team (KU Leuven) – The candidate will be embedded in the Doctoral School of Biomedical Sciences (DSBS) at KU Leuven, affiliating with the “Emerging Concepts in Cardiovascular Medicine” thematic programme, which couples structured skills training (research integrity, transferable skills workshops, journal clubs). DSBS gives direct access to Leuven’s high end Core Facilities including 4D ultra high frame rate echocardiography and cardiac MRI. Scientific supervision is led by Prof Jens Uwe Voigt, full professor of cardiology and member of the DSBS Committee, who heads the University Hospitals Leuven Echocardiography Lab and an imaging group of several international PhD fellows. His team is internationally recognised for myocardial strain, shear wave elastography and cardiac mechanics, and collaborates with EACVI/ASE task forces on imaging standardisation, providing the candidate with a world class training environment in quantitative cardiovascular imaging.
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Project
OBJECTIVES
Overall objective: Develop, test, validate, and valorise a reliable, scalable and just care pathway, embedding FM-based technology for the screening and staging of Rheumatic Heart Disease RHD - (2nd use case to test and validate the Framework).
Specific research objectives:
• Analyse clinical gaps and obstacles that hinder the implementation of social justice in AI systems for RHD; Identify co-creation requirements regarding clinical aspects for a just and robust care pathway embedding FMs-based solutions for RHD.
• Develop clinically reliable data collection method for the use of handheld echocardiogram and PCG for RHD screening and staging; determine clinician requirements for FMs-based screening of RHD; investigate validity of the finetuned FMs against the gold standard for RHD screening and staging; define a sustainable, scalable and just care pathway embedding developed FM-based enhanced handheld echocardiography and PCG based RHD screening FM in non-clinical setup by nurse or community health worker.
• Test and validate the care pathway through a pilot action in an every-day life use setting.
• According to the clinical perspective, investigate the transferability of the FM-based solution and care pathway for RHD to other clinically relevant cardiovascular diseases; provide insights for standardisation from the clinical perspective.
EXPECTED RESULTS:
• A sustainable, scalable and just handheld echocardiography and PCG based data collection method that captures RHD at its different stages of severity in everyday life;
• Annotated handheld echocardiogram and PCG datasets of RHD for the finetuning of FM;
• A sustainable, scalable and just care pathway embedding FM-based technology for the screening and staging of RHD.
INDICATIVE PLANNED SECONDMENTS - Institution, place and timing
• University of Cape Town (Cape Town, South Africa); Jan. – April. 2027; April 2028. – July. 2028;
• PCF (USA); Mar. – Apr. 2029
Further secondment analysis might be required, based on the development of research project.
Profile
Due to the high transdisciplinarity of the project, the main supervisor will collaborate with other co-supervisors from other project’s partners.
ADDITIONAL ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Completed Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Medicine, or a closely related field, awarded with at least upper‑second‑class honours / cum laude.
DESIRABLE REQUIREMENTS:
- Foundational clinical competence in cardiovascular health: either an MD with completed internship, or documented coursework/research experience in cardiology, echocardiography or phonocardiography.
- Prior hands‑on experience with handheld echocardiography, phonocardiography (PCG) devices or field cardiology screening in low‑resource settings.
- Experience engaging community health workers or patient advocacy groups in co‑creation or implementation‑science projects.
- Demonstrated capability in human‑centred design or qualitative research methods (e.g. focus groups, ethnographic fieldwork) relevant to care‑pathway development.
- Proven ability to manage interdisciplinary collaborations across clinical, engineering and social‑science teams.
Offer
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Degree: Completed Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, Health Informatics or a closely related field, awarded with at least upper second class honours / cum laude.. See attachment for required degree for the position.
Language: English proficiency must be attested either through a previous English language diploma, or an internationally recognised proficiency test (at least C1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages i.e. IELTS, IBT, TOEFL or Cambridge).
Career: At the date of recruitment (see details in the position’s description), selected researchers should be doctoral candidate (i.e. not already in possession of a doctoral degree).
Mobility: At the date of recruitment, the researcher must not have resided, or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the hiring institution for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date, unless as part of a compulsory national service or a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention (1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol).
Application: Complete and timely submission exclusively via the on line application system indicated for the DC position. Documents submitted must be in English. If supporting documents (e.g. letters of academic references and scan of degree qualification) are not in English, they must be submitted together with a certified translation in English).
Please note that, in addition to the above-mentioned eligibility criteria further essential or desirable requirements are detailed for the PhD position (see attachment).
HOW TO APPLY
Applications must be sent exclusively in English and through the online application system indicated for the DC position (cross-referenced in this vacancy). Applications sent through other means or in other languages (other than English) will not be evaluated.
Candidates are required to submit the following documents:
1. a complete CV in Europass Format in English that must highlight activities and place where the activities have been carried out in order to give evidence of fulfilling the mobility eligibility criterion (see above). Use the template available at https://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/it/documents/curriculum-vitae/templates- instructions
2. a complete academic CV in English with references to past research and training experiences;
3. a motivation letter, in English, highlighting the consistency between the candidate‘s profile and the chosen DC position for which he/she is applying;
4. at least 2 letters of Academic reference, in English or in certified translation;
5. scan of the degree qualification, with certified translation in English (if the degree qualification is not in English);
6. proof of language proficiency;
7. scanned copy of valid identification document (identity card or passport);
8. Declaration of Honour according to the template available on the website https://justhealth-project.eu/ for download;
9. (OPTIONAL) Any further and relevant supporting documents (e.g., research publications, document attesting proficiency in another language).
SELECTION CRITERIA
All eligible applications will be assessed by a Selection panel according to the criterion “Qualifications and previous experience” and related sub-criteria, as specified below.
Candidates will be ranked for the foreseen position they have applied to, based on the scores assigned. The threshold to be shortlisted is 30. If candidates have been awarded with the same score, priority will be based on scores assigned for the sub criterion “current knowledge and expertise”.
For the position, up to 10 candidates awarded with the highest scores in the short list will be invited for an interview. The interview may be conducted also using a videoconference system.
During the interview the candidates will be evaluated according to the criterion “Communication and personal skills” and related sub-criteria, as specified under the description of the position.
For the position the final ranking list will be obtained by adding the score obtained by the shortlisted candidate according to the criterion “Qualifications and previous experience” to the score obtained after the interview assessment according to the criterion “Communication and personal skills”. When scores are equal, priority will be based on the subcriterion “Ability to design and conduct original research in the subject area of the individual research project”.
In case a candidate does not reach a minimum score of 45 points out of 70 points on the criterion “Communication and personal skills”, the selection panel has the right to not proceed with recruitment.
All eligible applications will be assessed by a Selection panel according to the following criterion “Qualifications and previous experience” and related sub-criteria:
Selection criterion and sub-criteria for admission to the shortlist Score
Qualifications and previous experience: 0-50,0
A. quality of academic performance 10
B. current knowledge and expertise 10
C. relevant research skills 10
D. motivation to apply 10
E. Knowledge, expertise and experience relating specifically to Rheumatic Heart Disease 10
Selection criterion and sub-criteria of shortlisted candidates Maximum Score
Communication and Personal skills: 0-70,0
F. Ability to design and conduct original research in the subject area of the individual research project 15
G. Excellent oral communication in English 11
H. Enthusiasm, proactivity, creativity and commitment 11
I. Interpersonal skills 11
J. Attitude to team working and in working in local and international setting 11
K. Expected impact of the doctorate on the DC’s future career 11
Duration of the employment: 36 months since 1st September 2026 (expected date of the recruitment)
- Income: 4.010,00 € Gross per month (48.120,00€ / year).
Benefits
- 710 € Mobility Allowance per month (8.520€ / year)
- 660 € Family Allowance per month (7.920€ / year) - Applicable only when the recruited doctoral candidate has family obligations according to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie rules, i.e., when the recruited Doctoral candidate has persons linked to him/her by:
- marriage, or
- a relationship with equivalent status to a marriage recognised by the legislation of the country or region where this relationship was formalised; or
- dependent children who are actually being maintained by the doctoral candidate
- Benefits are gross EU contribution to the salary cost of the doctoral candidate. The net salary will result from deducting all compulsory (employer/employee) national social security contributions as well as direct taxes.
Interested?
For more information please contact Prof. Jens-Uwe Voigt, email: [email protected] or Dr. Melkamu Hunegnaw Asmare, email: [email protected]
KU Leuven strives for an inclusive, respectful and socially safe environment. We embrace diversity among individuals and groups as an asset. Open dialogue and differences in perspective are essential for an ambitious research and educational environment. In our commitment to equal opportunity, we recognize the consequences of historical inequalities. We do not accept any form of discrimination based on, but not limited to, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, ethnic or national background, skin colour, religious and philosophical diversity, neurodivergence, employment disability, health, or socioeconomic status. For questions about accessibility or support offered, we are happy to assist you at this email address.
