Arbetsbeskrivning

RaySearch develops innovative software solutions to improve cancer care. About 1000 clinics in more than 40 countries use RaySearch software to improve treatments and quality of life for patients. RaySearch was founded in 2000 and is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. The headquarters is located in Stockholm, with subsidiaries in the US, Europe and Asia - Pacific. Today we are more than 400 employees with a common vision of improving cancer care with innovative software. Our great staff is crucial for our success and we offer a fantastic working environment in modern offices, flexibility and good opportunities for development. We believe in equal opportunities, value diversity and work actively to prevent discrimination. RaySearch participates in the European doctoral training network UPLIFT, which addresses challenges and new opportunities in bringing upright treatments to the clinic. In total, 15 renowned partners from clinics, academia, and industry collaborate within the network with the aim of educating 19 PhD students. One of the young scientists will be located at RaySearch HQ in Stockholm and will work on mathematical optimization research for upright treatment planning. For more information on the UPLIFT project visit the official webpage: Home - Uplift. About the project: Advanced upright treatment planning About 20 million patients are diagnosed with cancer each year, and this number is projected to reach about 30 million by 2040. Half of these receive radiation therapy as part of their treatment. Transitioning from a recumbent position, where the patient lies on a treatment couch, to upright treatments could provide both clinical and cost efficiency gains for these treatments and could help accommodate the increasing need for radiation therapy treatments. The goal of this PhD project is to develop new mathematical methods and prototype software that will be used to perform research studies within the realm of upright radiotherapy. The project will involve mathematical optimization and computer science, as well as radiotherapy physics. Software development in languages such as C++, C# and Python will be an integral part of the project. Three examples of possibilities and challenges posed by upright treatments are the following: • For protons and light ions, a main topic is upright arc therapy, where the beam is delivered from a multitude of directions, preferably while the patient is rotated. Proton and light ion arc therapy in itself is an emerging field in radiation therapy, and the move to upright treatments is anticipated to facilitate the adoption of this type of treatments. Advancements on the accelerator side, such as multi-leaf collimated arcs and machines with fast energy switching can push this development forward, and versatile optimization algorithms for such accelerators have the potential to set a new state-of-the-art in ion treatments. • For photons, the treatment machines have the potential to become even more compact and allow for faster collimation, and the possibility to translate the patient vertically while rotating opens for helical arcs. To reap the benefit of these new degrees of freedom, new optimization methods are needed. • New uncertainties arising in upright positions, including challenges regarding patient positioning and organ motion, should be accounted for in the treatment planning process. Extension and use of the integrated algorithms for robust optimization in RayStation will be part of this research. The PhD student will be affiliated with the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and follow the doctoral program in Applied and Computational Mathematics (KTH | Doctoral program). Within the program 80 credits of courses are included. The department has around 30 active PhD students, which can serve as an additional network to the ones at RaySearch and the UPLIFT community. Within UPLIFT there will be continuous collaboration with other doctoral candidates, especially from GSI (Germany), CNAO (Italy) and Centre Léon Bérard (France), where the doctoral candidate will have longer or shorter secondments. A natural point of collaboration will include evaluation of the newly developed methods by retrospective planning on clinical patient cases. Applicant profile • MSc with strong academic records in relevant field: applied mathematics, computer science, physics, medical physics or similar • Interest in programming and strong programming skills • Fluency in English It is an advantage (but not a requirement) if you also: • Have experience in C++ and/or C# programming • Have experience from mathematical optimization and/or radiation physics Application process If you find this position interesting and would like to work in an exceptional, international, strongly innovative environment, please apply through the form on this webpage. Recruitment will be on-going, so please send in your application as soon as possible, but no later than May 30. If you have questions, feel free to send an email to [email protected]. Candidates can be of any nationality but must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Sweden for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment date. Applicants should be within the first four years of their research careers and must not have been awarded a doctoral degree.