PhD positions at Ghent University, Belgium

PhD positions at Ghent University, Belgium
(http://www.ugent.be/en/news/vacancies/scientific)

1. Scientific researcher (Literature Curator)
The fellow will work in the Department of Plant Systems Biology (VIB-Gent University) in a collaborative effort between the groups Functional Genomics and Systems Biology of Yield, headed by Prof. Pierre Hilson and Prof. Dirk Inzé, in the framework of the AGRON-OMICS European Integrated Project (www.agron omics.eu).
You will participate to the curation of primary research results published in the scientific literature, focusing on the characterization of plant growth and development processes and emphasizing studies based on the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.
The information you collect will be integrated with phenotype and molecular profiles (transcript, protein, metabolite) with the aim to build a scaffold to model the coordination of the biological modules involved in the regulation of plant organ growth.
Last application date: 2010-02-28 17:00
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2. Phd in symmetry, reduction and stability of mechanical systems
Description of the project:
The role that symmetry properties of a dynamical system play in its reduction to a (possibly) simpler system, and in the stability properties of certain of its solutions, is an important field of research. Whereas this topic has already been extensively dealt with in the case of Hamiltonian systems in a symplectic or, more generally, a Poisson context , the Lagrangian side of the story has always received much less attention in the literature.
The goal of this project therefore is to restore this balance in some sense by analyzing symmetry and reduction aspects in the context of Lagrangian dynamical systems. In particular, attention will be focused on so-called Routh reduction and Routh reduction by stages for invariant and quasi-invariant Lagrangian systems. The techniques will be illustrated on some concrete mechanical systems such as, for instance, a rigid body submerged in a fluid. The stability of relative equilibria will also be investigated in a Lagrangian setting. Finally, the extent to which the symmetry and reduction techniques for Lagrangian and Hamiltonian systems can be modified or generalized in order to apply them to systems with non-holonomic constraints and to (non-Lagrangian) systems with dissipation, will also be investigated.

Promotor: Frans Cantrijn (Frans.Cantrijn[at]UGent.be )
Co-promotor: Bavo Langerock (Bavo.Langerock[at]UGent.be)
Last application date: 2010-07-05 17:00
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3. Phd position in process engineering of pharmaceutical production processes
This PhD project aims at developing mechanistic (and also empirical) process models for innovative pharmaceutical production processes (e.g., continuous processing, hot-melt extrusion, freeze-drying,…), and to exploit those models in the development of advanced process control systems. The research will be conducted in close cooperation with pharmaceutical companies. The ultimate goal is to develop processes that are continuously under control and hence allow real-time release.
Last application date: 2010-07-31 12:00