Deadline: 29 Jan 2026
Are you excited by the idea of engineering next-generation regenerative implants? Do you want to combine additive manufacturing, materials science, biomechanics, and physics- and machine learning-based modeling to create transformative medical solutions? Join us in this ambitious collaboration between the PME and BME departments, and help shape the future of patient-specific bone replacement.
In this PhD project, you will develop biodegradable porous bone substitutes produced through additive manufacturing of metal-ceramic composites. These architected implants will be tailored for mechanical performance and controlled degradation, enabling safe and effective regeneration in load-bearing environments.
Your core challenge is to understand and predict how geometry, material composition, and manufacturing parameters drive quasi-static performance, biodegradation kinetics, and manufacturability. You will employ a combined physics-based and machine-learning modelling approach, supported by in-vitro mechanical and degradation experiments for validation.
The developed porous structures will integrate seamlessly with macro-geometries and topologically optimized architectures from sibling PhD projects, delivering a fully engineered, patient-specific bone-replacement solution.
This PhD position is part of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network (Horizon Europe). As an MSCA Doctoral Candidate, you will join a vibrant international cohort, participate in network-wide schools and workshops, and pursue mandatory research secondments abroad. The MSCA framework offers exceptional training, mobility, and career-development opportunities
Job requirements
Your Key Responsibilities:
• Investigate the role of design parameters, architecture, material composition, and AM process settings on mechanical performance and degradation behavior.
• Develop physics-based and data-driven models to link geometry, materials, and biodegradation kinetics.
• Conduct in-vitro mechanical tests and biodegradation experiments to validate models.
• Collaborate closely with researchers at PME and BME, as well as with the wider MSCA network.
• Interface your designs with macro-scale implant geometries and topology-optimized structures from sibling projects.
Your Profile
We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with:
• Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Biomedical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related field.
• Knowledge of additive manufacturing, biomaterials, or mechanical testing.
• Strong background in lab works including material characterization, chemical process, and in vitro testing.
• Experience with programming (e.g., Python, Julia) is a plus.
• Interest in biomechanics, biodegradable materials, and design for AM.
• Good communication skills and the ability to work in a multidisciplinary team.
• Willingness to relocate and undertake international secondments.
• Compliance with MSCA mobility rule: you must not have lived or carried out your main activity (work, studies) in the Netherlands for more than 12 months in the past 36 months.
What we offer:
• A fully funded PhD position within a prestigious MSCA Doctoral Network.
• Close supervision and mentorship from both PME and BME departments at TU Delft.
• Access to state-of-the-art additive manufacturing and experimental characterization facilities.
• Training through network-wide workshops, summer schools, and transferable-skills programmes.
• Research secondments with international academic and industrial partners.
• Collaboration with a cohort of Doctoral Candidates working toward an integrated, patient-specific implant design pipeline.
