EU MSCA Doctoral Candidate

Salary: Fixed salary of £53,555

Contract Type: Fixed Term contract up to February 2029

Background

CUSTOM is an EU MSCA Doctoral Training Network connecting relevant academic and industrial expertise in emerging medical-device technologies across Europe and apply them to the problems of shoulder implants. Total shoulder replacements (TSRs) are now outpacing those of knees and hips, mainly due to the increasing use of reverse shoulder arthroplasty (rTSR), however roughly 10% of shoulder implants will fail within the first 10 years of service necessitating a complex revision procedure. Many of the current problems (e.g. soft-tissue failures, implant loosening, infection) derive from a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach to implants; CUSTOM plans to invert this approach, based on combining computational, patient-specific design and additive manufacturing to offer complex, custom designs and structures. The project also incorporates multi-functionality as well as blended experimental and in-silico testing to accelerate the path to certification.

More details on the project can be found here: https://hecustom.eu/ 

TSR patients now expect to regain the full, complex range of motion needed for everything from fastening a seat-belt to serving a tennis ball. Yet the real-world biomechanics of reverse (rTSR) and anatomic (aTSR) designs under day-to-day conditions are still poorly understood, leaving gaps in wear testing standards and implant optimization. This project will close that gap by capturing in-vivo joint loads and kinematics, translating them into laboratory wear protocols, and generating the evidence base for the upcoming ISO 16436-2 shoulder wear test standard. Core objectives include:

• Quantify joint mechanics in vivo – record humeral-head/glenoid motions and muscular loads while patients perform a comprehensive set of activities of daily living (ADL).
• Recreate ADL in the lab – implement these data on a state-of-the-art, multi-station shoulder wear simulator to evaluate implant performance under both nominal and adverse conditions.

Expected outcomes include:

• Curated biomechanical dataset: high-resolution load and motion profiles for aTSR and rTSR patients across the ADL spectrum—freely available for modelling and bench testing.
• Input to standards: direct evidence to shape ISO/AWI 16436-2 (wear testing for shoulder implants) and ASTM F04 guidance, accelerating regulatory uptake.

As part of this project, you will undertake secondments at ETH Zurich and the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham.

Person Specification

Essential:

• Not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary (UK) for more than 12 months in the 36 months preceding the recruitment date. 
• A MSc degree in mechanical engineering or a related discipline. Applicants must not have a PhD. 
• Excellent communication and organisational skills
• Ability to work independently, as well as proven ability to work collaboratively as part of a multi-disciplinary research team
• Ability to build rapport quickly with patients and health care professionals
• Ability to write and present clearly and concisely 

Informal enquiries can be made to Prof Michael Bryant, email: m.g.bryant@bham.ac.uk or Prof Richard Hall, email: R.M.Hall@bham.ac.uk

To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an electronic application online please click on the 'Apply' button above.

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