EBME Forums Forums Management Recruitment Available for work but been offered a PhD?!?!

Basically I would just like an opinion on the situation, what would you do? I have been told that there would be a good career prospect at the end of the 3 years with a vacancy most likely possible. But as you’s know anything can happen in that time, the experience will be great and very beneficial but if nothing to do after the studentship is over I don’t want to feel that I’ve wasted my time and should have just continued to look for a job now.

As some of you I've been looking a job/PhD for a while, I’ve just turned 24 and I graduated July this year with a 2.1 Honours Biomedical Engineering degree, but have not had much luck. There is so much competition and little vacancies or most applications require experience in industry.

I had an interview at University College London at the biomedical optics research laboratory and medical physics department.

I am so happy that I have finally been offered something after nearly 6 months of searching. I have accepted the offer and I’m really looking forward to it.
I currently work in a supermarket and hate it and really want to do something that I will enjoy. Everybody that I have spoken to says to go for the opportunity who knows how long I could be waiting before something else good comes up. The salary isn’t amazing obviously because its research study but it is pretty good and is tax free.

Below is a description of the project let me know what some of you's think.

PhD Studentship in the development of a time-of-flight optical spectrometer for clinical monitoring of the brain.
Applications are invited for a 3-year PhD Studentship to work on the development of a novel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) instrument. NIRS is an optical technique that uses low levels of near-infrared light to measure changes in the distribution and oxygenation of blood in tissue, and investigate how oxygen is being utilised by the tissue.
For several years the UCL Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory has pioneered the use of this technology for monitoring the brain status in sick infants and brain injured adult patients.
This PhD project will involve the development of a near-infrared spectrometer based on state-of the-art photonics technology which can measure flight-times of photons transmitted between pairs of optical fibres placed on the skin surface. The system will be based on a super continuum laser, which provides very short pulses of light at multiple optical wavelengths, and sensitive photon-counting detectors and fast electronics which enable the flight times of photons to be recorded. It is expected the final instrument to be interfaced with other brain tissue imaging and monitoring systems such as magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy to allow multimodal measurements of brain physiology in healthy adults but also premature infants and traumatic brain injured patients.





Project Description
In the last decade the applicability of optical methodologies for monitoring brain tissue has progressed considerably, however available optical systems are limited for example by their inability to localise the signals and accurately separate the spectroscopic measurements of oxygenation and metabolism. This PhD project will addresses this technology gap by the development of a state-of-the-art optical near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) system based on the latest generation of laser sources and detectors that are capable of measuring the photon time-off light
(PTOF) transmitted between multiple pairs of points on the head surface using very short
pulses of light at multiple wavelengths (650-1000nm). In particular the student will develop a novel optical NIRS instrument that utilises multi-wavelength NIR light, generated by a new generation super continuum laser (multiple wavelength sources); and novel photon counting detectors (such as single photon avalanche diodes and photon multiplier tubes) to measure the flight time of photons at multiple sites.

To further allow mutli-modal spectroscopy of the brain tissue the front end of the optical system will need to be magnet compatible so it can be
integrated to a Magnetic Resonance (MR) scanner which can provide detail anatomical images of the brain and complimentary tissue metabolic measurements. Recent innovations in optical components and methodologies provide a unique opportunity to develop a new generation of biomedical optics systems towards the next generation of optical technologies and techniques for application in brain tissue monitoring. This work will be carried out in UCL, which houses the UK’s leading research group in biomedical optics (BORL), which offers expertise and facilities in optical instrumentation and optical technology and measurement techniques. This PhD is expected to lead to the evolution of a new brain monitoring tool that will utilise state-of-the-art photonic systems.


Thanks for your time reading
NIBIOMED

Go for it! It's not worth worrying too much about the short term and in a job market that has too many graduates a PhD will distinguish you. Don't waste your life in a job you hate!

Yes, Jonathan is right. Just do it!

Three years is a long time (especially when you are young), and during that time who knows what will happen? If you're lucky, and working at that level, you may even discover (realise) what it is you actually want to do!

Good luck. And be sure to keep us all informed about how you are getting on.

No doubt student life at UCL would be a great experience as well. Definitely worth the craic I would have thought!

PS: I had better admit that I didn't get much beyond your opening paragraph. Dissertations may be de rigueur for PhD work, but probably don't get much of a loyal readership on here!

Hi NIBIOMED,
Sounds like an interesting project! I would start with investigating the old Critikon 2020 NIR system which was used for cerebral oxygenation monitoring (and, more importantly, the reasons why it failed!)a quick search on google should bring up some papers. PTOF sounds like a step forward over the basic "Pulse ox" optical system. I did get quite heavily involved in the system whilst at Frenchay hospital many years ago so let me know if I can help in any way. They bought 2 units which, from memory, were last seen in a dark corner of Neuro theatres!
Good luck with this project and your future career,
Ed Bennett
Southwest Medical Ltd

Thanks for feedback everyone