POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ENGINEER (M/F)

Position:

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ENGINEER (M/F)

Application closes at:

Mar 15th, 2026 13:18

About the Center Oncopole Claudius Regaud is the Comprehensive Cancer Center (CLCC) for Toulouse and Western Occitanie. This private, non‑profit institution serves the public interest through patient care, education, and research. It brings together 1,230 professionals, including 160 physicians and researchers, and is part of the national network of 18 French cancer centres within UNICANCER. Oncopole resides on the IUCT‑Oncopole campus, alongside the Toulouse Cancer Research Center and teams from Toulouse University Hospital.

Role Overview Oncopole Claudius Regaud is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Engineer Level 1 for a full‑time 18‑month fixed‑term contract, available immediately in collaboration with GE Healthcare and the TheraTEP consortium.

Background and Motivation Positron Emission Tomography combined with Computed Tomography (PET/CT) is a cornerstone of modern oncology, providing key quantitative metrics such as the Standardized Uptake Value (SUV). Quantitative PET, however, is highly sensitive to scanner calibration, reconstruction algorithms and acquisition protocols, which vary across centres. Accurate delineation and quantification of low‑uptake or heterogeneous lesions remain major challenges in PET radiomics and metabolic tumour volume (MTV) segmentation. Reliable, scalable ground truth for evaluating and harmonising these systems is therefore essential, yet conventional phantom‑based quality control cannot replicate the heterogeneity and noise seen in real patient data. Large, annotated PET datasets with known ground truth are also scarce, limiting the development and validation of AI and radiomics tools that depend on reproducible imaging data.

Research Context Our research group has developed complementary capabilities in physical phantom innovation and computational PET data simulation. In collaboration with GE Healthcare, we validated a synthetic lesion insertion methodology that embeds artificial lesions directly into raw PET sinogram data before reconstruction, benchmarked against physical phantom acquisitions and extended to clinical datasets. We have also demonstrated that 3D‑printed porous structures can complement traditional fillable spheres for performance assessment, with reproducible transfer and measurement across institutions.

Project Objectives The proposed postdoctoral project will extend DUETTO to support heterogeneous, patient‑derived lesion modelling, generating a new clinical dataset with heterogeneous synthetic lesion insertion. The fellow will design and lead a retrospective clinical study that combines synthetic lesion insertion with real lesions from patient PET datasets and phantom experiments using 3D‑printed surrogates. The study will investigate how lesion heterogeneity, uptake patterns and scanner characteristics affect quantitative accuracy and lesion detectability, using the CASSOULET framework for lesion masking and 3D‑printing. Patients and lesions will be selected in close collaboration with a physician specialised in PET PSMA imaging, and qualitative and quantitative analyses will be performed using a Likert scoring method. Only static clinical exams will be analysed, with heterogeneity introduced in the lesions.

Responsibilities (Missions)

Promote and support research activities aligned with Oncopole’s mission and Medical Physics objectives.

Develop, coordinate and enhance Medical Physics research projects, including project design, funding applications, responding to calls, scientific writing and participation in national and international conferences.

Monitor and analyse research activity indicators and reports for the Medical Physics Department.

Facilitate the transfer of validated research outcomes into clinical practice, supporting medical physicists, physicians and RTTs, and organising internal or external training activities (webinars, symposiums).

Maintain and expand expertise through continuous literature review and propose new research initiatives in one’s area(s) of specialization.

Supervise research internships (e.g., Master’s students) and co‑supervise theses and post‑doctoral projects.

Candidate Profile

Required coursework:

PhD with strong academic background in Nuclear Physics, Radiation Detection & Measurement, and Interaction of Radiation with Matter; knowledge in nuclear medicine and PET imaging is appreciated.

Preferred skills:

Programming for data analysis (MATLAB/Python).

Experience with medical imaging formats (DICOM) and analysis software (3D Slicer or equivalent).

Experience in clinical trial design and constraints.

Qualities: strong theoretical foundation, meticulous, analytical, capable of independent research; able to communicate and publish results.

Proficiency in French & English.

Location & Working Hours Oncopole Claudius Regaud, IUCT‑Oncopole campus, Toulouse, Western Occitanie.

Full‑time, 9‑to‑5, Monday to Friday.

Contact Please send your CV and application letter by email to:

postdoc@oncopole.fr

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