PhD in Bioreactor-based preservation of human heart valves

This PhD project at Eindhoven University of Technology develops a way to keep human heart valves alive outside the body in dynamic bioreactors in which the valves open and close as they do in vivo, building on the group's bioreactors for tissue-engineered heart valves and heart perfusion models. Work includes flow-based bioreactor development, sterile vessel and tissue culture, and advanced tissue analysis and microscopy. The candidate joins the Soft Tissue Engineering and Mechanobiology group, and the project is aligned with the Hartstichting BIOSHIELD consortium, working with cardiothoracic surgery and transplantation immunology at UMC Utrecht and the Wilhelmina Children's Hospital.

Applications are accepted until 30 November 2026.

Master's degree in mechanical engineering with affinity for biomedical applications, biomedical engineering or a comparable discipline; experience with cell and tissue culture is required.