Reference: BI 24.PL735.2025.IDMEC

The Institute of Mechanical Engineering – IDMEC is opening a call for

Research Studentships (PhD students)

Applications are open for one Research Studentship (PhD student), within the framework of PROMOTE-BIO/IDMEC, LISBOA2030-FEDER-00703600, financed by national funds (OE) through FCT.IP and co-financed by the FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement COMPETE2030, under the following conditions:

Scientific Area: Mechanical Design—Biomechanics

Admission Requirements:

- Research Studentships (for PhD students):

a) Be enrolled at a PhD, or declaration of honor in which undertakes to be enrolled until the grant's contract is done.

b) Hold a Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, or a related field, with a final grade of 17 or higher (on a 20-point scale).

c) Fluency in both English and Portuguese (preferred).

d) Experience in medical image analysis and segmentation (preferred).

e) Experience in musculoskeletal modeling and finite element modeling (preferred).

f) Programming skills (e.g., MATLAB, Python, or similar) (preferred).

Academic degrees obtained in foreign countries shall be registered by a Portuguese institution, according to the Decree-Law nr. 66/2018, of August, 16th, and the Ordinance nr. 33/2019, of January, 25th. It is mandatory to present the certificate to sign the contract. More information is available on: https://www.dges.gov.pt/pt/pagina/reconhecimento

Workplan and the objectives to achieve: 

The research work consists of the following tasks:

1. Biomechanical data collection—Collect subject-specific biomechanical data of the shoulder, including kinematic, electromyographic (EMG), and strength measurements, to support the development and verification of individualized biomechanical models.
2. Medical Image Processing and Model Development—Process medical imaging data to build subject-specific biomechanical models—including both musculoskeletal and finite element (FE) models—for healthy individuals and patients with glenohumeral osteoarthritis.

Healthy subject models will be used to develop and refine computational algorithms for the automated generation and simulation of shoulder biomechanical models. Patient-specific models will serve as benchmarks for assessing the algorithms’ predictive accuracy, clinical relevance, and potential impact.

3. Algorithm and Software Development—Develop computational algorithms for the automatic generation and simulation of musculoskeletal and FE shoulder models from medical imaging data. Integrate these into an innovative, user-friendly software tool. By ensuring consistency between the musculoskeletal and FE models, the software will provide comprehensive estimates of biomechanical parameters such as muscle forces, joint reaction forces, bone strains, and joint contact pressures.
4. Evaluation and Verification—Assess the performance of the developed software tool in terms of efficacy, predictive accuracy, clinical relevance, and potential impact. This includes comparing model outputs against traditional modelling methods, and determining whether the tool can identify key biomechanical features characteristic of the patient population.

Legislation and Regulations: Statute of Scientific Research Fellow, approved by Law nr. 40/2004, of August 18, as worded by Decree-Law nr. 123/2019, of August 28; FCT Regulation for Research Studentships and Fellowships, available on https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/regulamento/950-2019-127238533

Workplace: The work will  developed at IDMEC - Institute of Mechanical Engineering, being both the Host and Contracting Entity, and under the scientific supervision of Professor Carlos Quental, Professor João Folgado, and Professor Vera Moniz-Pereira (FMH).

Duration: The research fellowship(s) will have the duration of 6 months. It’s expected to begin in October 2025, and may be eventually renewed up to the maximum of 36 months.

Monthly maintenance allowance: According to the values for Research Fellowships awarded by FCT in Portugal (https://www.fct.pt/fct-atualizou-o-valor-das-bolsas-para-2025/),the amount of the monthly maintenance allowance is € 1.309,64, being the payment method by Wire Transfer.

Selection methods: The selection methods will be the following: relevance and quality of the Curriculum Vitae in relation to the thematic area of the project and motivation for the proposed work, with the respective weight of 90% and 10%. If deemed necessary, the Jury may conduct in-person interviews with the candidates. In that case, the final evaluation will be weighted as follows: 50% for the relevance and quality of the Curriculum Vitae in relation to the thematic area of the project; 5% for the motivation for the proposed work, and 45% for the interview.

Composition of the selection Jury: Prof. Carlos Quental (President of the Jury), Prof. João Folgado (Vowel), Prof. Luis Sousa (Vowel).

Announcement/ notification of the results: The final evaluation results will communicated to all applicants by email.

After be notified, candidates have 10 working days to submit a formal rebuttal, by email.

A selection reserve list will be drawn up that can be used until October 2026.

Application deadline and formalization: The call is open in the period between July 18 and August 29, until 18:00, 2025.

It is mandatory to formalize applications with the submission of the following documents: Curriculum Vitae; academic degree certificate, where applicable; proof of enrollment at an academic degree course (PhD); and motivation letter.

Applications should submitted to the email: carlos.quental@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

The contract draft and final report draf are available on https://www.idmec.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/about/job-openings/