PhD scholarship opportunity: CMOS brain machine interface

The Biomedical Microsystems Lab at the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, University of New South Wales, is a multidisciplinary team of senior researchers, postdoctoral fellows and students. We develop cutting-edge tools for studying the brain and for therapeutics. We are housed in a new, well-equipped and well-funded laboratory on the UNSW campus, with close proximity to UNSW Medicine and UNSW Biological Sciences.

We have extensive on-campus collaborations with other groups at Biomedical Engineering and the School of Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications, School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy and as well as external collaborations with leading Australian and overseas research labs in the USA and in Korea. 

The scholarship opportunity

We have an exciting research opportunity for an outstanding PhD candidate to work in the following areas: (1) integrated circuit design for neural implants, and (2) microfabricated biomedical sensors. The student will work on challenging but rewarding research supervised by Dr David Tsai (NHMRC Early Career Fellowship recipient, Senior Lecturer) and UNSW Scientia Professor Nigel Lovell (Head of School of Biomedical Engineering; Past President of IEEE EMBS).

What we are looking for

We are seeking a talented and motivated graduate with Honours First Class, or equivalent qualification via a Masters degree. The student should have a strong background in electrical engineering or computer engineering, with outstanding hands-on laboratory skills. Prior research experience in the biomedical field is desirable but not required.

The applicant must fulfill the UNSW PhD admission criteria, set out by the university’s Graduate Research School, and demonstrate excellent capacity and potential for research, for example through publications in peer reviewed journals.

Remuneration

The living allowance stipend we offer is per Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) rate at AU$ 28,597 per year (2021 rate). This is tax-free and indexed up annually. We further offer an AU$ 5,000 top-up stipend per year. These stipends are for three years, with possibility for up to six months extensions (conditions apply).

Enquiries and applying

The candidate should contact Dr David Tsai (d.tsai@unsw.edu.au) with the following documents: (1) CV, (2) academic transcripts, including undergraduate study, (3) Outcome of UNSW HDR self-assessment (https://selfassessment.research.unsw.edu.au/).

Applications are processed at an ongoing basis until positions are filled.

To find out more, please see our group page: https://www.biomicrosyslab.org/