PhD Student – Direct to Treatment MRI-guided Radiotherapy

Are you eager to translate cutting-edge technology into real clinical impact for prostate cancer patients? In this PhD project, you will develop innovative radiotherapy workflows using the MRI–linear accelerator, enabling a direct-to-treat approach from day one. Working at the intersection of automation, treatment optimization, and clinical practice, your research will help reduce workload while maintaining the highest standards of care. Do you want to play a key role in redefining how prostate cancer radiotherapy is delivered?

Radiotherapy for prostate cancer has become increasingly effective, leading to excellent patient outcomes. At the same time, the workload for radiation oncologists, radiotherapy technologists (RTTs), and medical physicists is substantial. With an expected increase in patient numbers and limited resources, one of the major challenges in healthcare is delivering high-quality care to more patients with fewer personnel.

Conventional radiotherapy involves an extensive treatment preparation phase. Based on medical imaging, the tumor and relevant organs at risk are delineated, followed by the optimization of a patient‑specific treatment plan. The introduction of an integrated MRI–linear accelerator (MR‑linac) provides an opportunity to fundamentally rethink how radiotherapy has been delivered over the past decades. Using the MR‑linac, the entire treatment preparation can be integrated into the first day of treatment.

This so‑called direct‑to‑treat concept reduces the number of patient visits to the clinic and significantly lowers staff workload.

In this PhD project, you will develop the methodology required to bring the direct‑to‑treat concept into clinical practice for all stages of prostate cancer. Your work will focus on the development of automated segmentation for target volumes, as well as online treatment optimization strategies. In addition, you will assess clinical feasibility, determine treatment quality, and quantify gains in efficiency.

Your research will be within research groups of Dr. Tomas Janssen and Prof. Uulke van der Heide at the Department of Radiation Oncology of the Netherlands Cancer Institute. You will collaborate closely with fellow researchers, radiotherapy technologists, radiation oncologists, and industry partners.

At the Netherlands Cancer Institute, we have a shared goal: providing the best care for every patient and every type of cancer. Quite a lot, but not impossible. Here, science and health care join forces towards innovation. We keep finding new ways to help people facing cancer on a global scale. Here we save lives, gain time and quality.

We are looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic PhD student with a strong affinity for technical innovation in radiotherapy. A successful candidate has:

• A master’s degree in physics, biomedical engineering, technical medicine or a related field;

• A background in radiotherapy physics or machine learning for medical imaging is recommended;

• Strong communication skills are required in this multidisciplinary project;

• Experience with programming, preferably in python, is appreciated;

• A pragmatic problem‑solving mindset, focused on translation research solutions into clinical application;

• A broad, multidisciplinary interest in radiotherapy workflows, as successful completion of this project requires engagement across all stages of the radiotherapy treatment chain.

The basis for your employment conditions is in accordance with the CLA Hospitals. You will receive from us:

• A contract for a period of four years, for 36 hours per week;

• A gross monthly salary between €3738,- and €4539,-, based on a 36-hour working week, in line with the OIO scale and depending on your experience;

• 144 holiday hours and 57 hours of Personal Life Budget, with full‑time employment;

• Annual holiday pay of 8.33% and a fixed end‑of‑year bonus of 8.33%;

• A travel allowance of €0.23 per km;

• Free parking at the Netherlands Cancer Institute. And with our bicycle plan and discount on public transport we also make it attractive for you to leave the car at…