Promotion in Ingenieurswissenschaften, Informationstechnologie und Computer Sciences

GOstralia! Research Centre Scholarships

GOstralia! Research Centre Scholarships

GOstralia! Research Centre Scholarships

GOstralia! Research Centre Scholarships

GOstralia! Research Centre Scholarships

GOstralia! Research Centre Scholarships

GOstralia! Research Centre Scholarships

The mechanical stimuli generated by body exercise can be transmitted from cortical bone into the deep bone marrow. A mechanosensitive perivascular stem cell niche is recently identified within the bone marrow for osteogenesis and lymphopoiesis. However, the mechanopropagation from compact bone to deep bone marrow vasculature remains elusive in this fundamental mechanobiology field. No experimental system is available yet to directly understand such exercise‐induced mechanopropagation at the bone‐vessel interface. To this end, an integrated computational biomechanics framework to quantitatively evaluate the mechanopropagation capabilities of bone marrow arterioles, arteries, and sinusoids is devised. The 3D geometries of blood vessels are smoothly reconstructed in the presence of vessel wall thickness and intravascular pulse pressure, followed by finite element analysis to thoroughly investigate the mechanical effects of exercise‐induced intravascular vibratory stretching on bone marrow vasculature. The effects of blood pressure and cortical bone bending are also examined. It is concluded that arterioles and arteries are much more efficient in transducing mechanical force than sinusoids due to their higher stiffness. In the future, this in-silico approach could be combined with other clinical imaging modalities for subject/patient‐specific vascular reconstruction and biomechanical analysis, providing large‐scale phenotypic data for personalized mechanobiology discovery.

The Scholarship will provide a stipend allowance equivalent to the University of Sydney’s Research Training Program (RTP) stipend rate for up to 3.5 years.

RTP stipend is currently $35,950 AUD/year.

The scholarship is available to domestic and international students.

Much of the natural world and human-built environments exist within the lowest portion of the atmosphere known as the planetary boundary layer. Conditions in the atmosphere are often thermally unstable during the daytime, leading to large convective turbulent motions throughout the boundary layer that significantly enhance transport and dispersion of scalars like moisture, gases, and pollutants. Our understanding of turbulent phenomena in these conditions is changing as high-resolution simulations of the atmosphere become increasingly affordable. This computational project will use large-eddy simulations to investigate structural and statistical similarity in the convective atmospheric boundary layer. Similarity is an important tool for the development of predictive models and reduced-order representations of the atmosphere commonly applied in forecasting and engineering design.
In addition to earning a PhD in Civil Engineering, the student will develop an expertise in atmospheric turbulence and computational methods for fluid mechanics, e.g. large-eddy simulations and the use of high-performance computing resources. The student will have the opportunity to publish their research in leading journals in the areas of fluid mechanics (e.g. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Physical Review Fluids) and atmospheric sciences (e.g. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres), plus attend academic conferences within Australia and internationally.

Clotting and bleeding are two sides of a coin, leading to cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and haemophilia—the No.1 worldwide killer. It has long been recognised that the von Willebrand factor (VWF) is the mechanosensor for primary and secondary haemostasis by interacting with platelets and clotting factor VIII. We have recently discovered a new ‘biomechanical’ prothrombotic mechanism that highlights the remarkable VWF sensitivity to the shear stress of blood flow disturbance. Importantly, we found that the current drugs are often not successful and come with an increased financial burden.
To address this pressing need, we are establishing a GPU accelerated multi-scale simulation platform to unveil the effects of blood flow disturbance at the single-molecule level. For the first time, fluid mechanics and biochemistry fields will be united in silico to correlate the haemodynamic parameters with clotting and bleeding disorders.

The Scholarship will provide a stipend allowance equivalent to the University of Sydney’s Research Training Program (RTP) stipend rate for up to 3.5 years.

RTP stipend is currently $35,950 AUD/year.

The scholarship is available to domestic and international students.

You will have:
• Academic knowledge in the discipline of biophysics, biomechanics, electrophysiology, cell biology and biochemistry;
• Experience of Linux/Unix commanding line (Unix shell)
• Capability of using two or more of GROMACS, Hex, LabVIEW, Python, AutoCAD, MATLAB and other software.

Preferred experience include:
• Solid basic knowledge of biology and hands-on experience in PC2 biological laboratory, using flow cytometer, ELISA, Western blots, protein-protein interaction assays, protein/antibody purification and functional characterizations;
• Experience in theoretical simulation using and MATLAB or COMSOL, or LabVIEW programming to control equipment and devices.
• Capability of independently output processing models and drawings, be capable of CNC programming, use other conventional processing platform equipment to manufacture mechanical parts, and use 3D printers for part manufacturing.
• Pre-doctoral track records with publications, conference papers, reports, professional or technical contributions with evidence of independent research ability.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.