PhD position: Biomechanical digital twins realistic self-healing surgical trainers

Organisation/Company KU LEUVEN Department Department of Mechanical Engineering Research Field Engineering » Biomedical engineering Engineering » Mechanical engineering Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Final date to receive applications 26 Feb 2026 - 23:59 (UTC) Country Belgium Type of Contract To be defined Job Status Full-time Offer Starting Date 1 May 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by a EU programme Reference Number BAP-2026-54 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

The main goal of the RESSURG project is to achieve a new generation of surgical training phantoms that realistically simulate the biomechanics of their biological counterparts, have integrated sensors to track interactions during training and are fully reusable. A rising need for these new surgical phantoms is fueled by the increasing complexity of surgical procedures, advances in personalized medicine, and a shift toward cost-effective and robust medical training.

Specifically, this PhD project will focus on the development of biomechanical digital twins of relevant organs and tissues, such as multi-layer skin patches, and the aorta in pathological and healthy state. Digital twins for both the biological tissue/organ counterpart and synthetic phantom counterpart will be developed to serve as a design basis for the synthetic phantoms. The objectives are:

• Validation of mechanical test methods for soft biological tissues through the use of repeatable and biomimetic synthetic materials.
• Material characterization of biological tissues using multi-axial mechanical testing devices and constitutive law fitting.
• Development of biofidelic finite element models using the obtained (localized) material properties.

The project will be mainly carried out at KU Leuven, but in close collaboration with other researchers within the consortium, at VUB and imec.

• You have completed a master's degree in Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
• You have a keen interest in experimental and computational soft tissue biomechanics.
• You are proficient in English equivalent to B2 level.
• You are ambitious, well organized, a team player, and have excellent communications skills.
• You can work independently and have a critical mindset.
• Previous experience in multi-axial biomechanical tissue characterization, parameter optimization, nonlinear continuum mechanics, finite element analysis, and/or constitutive model development is considered a plus.

We offer a full-time (100%) doctoral fellowship for 1 year, to be extended to maximum 4 years upon positive evaluation, embedded in a multidisciplinary team of researchers at KU Leuven, VUB and imec. The start date can be discussed and will be no earlier than the 1st of May 2026. For more information please contact Dr. ir. Lauranne Maes, mail:  .