Chercheur postdoctoral

POSITION PROFILE

Postdoctoral Researcher in AI and Computer Vision

Associated occupational profile: Research Engineer

Occupational subcategory: Research coordination, organisation and oversight

Job classification code: 15F30

(www.metiers-fonctionpubliquehospitaliere.sante.gouv.fr)

DIRECTORATE / SITE: Clinical Research and Innovation Directorate

DEPARTMENT / UNIT: Clinical Research, DIA2M Department

POSITION IDENTIFICATION

Position: Postdoctoral Researcher

Working time: 100%

Expected contract duration: 18 months

Expected period: from the end of 2026 to the first semester of 2028

Allocation to the project: 100% on the AILE project

Working days: Monday to Friday, daytime hours

Work location: Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital, DIA2M Department

Line managers:

-        Administrative: Xavier BIJAYE, Director of the Clinical Research and Innovation Directorate

-        Scientific and functional: Prof. Adrien BARTOLI, Head of DIA2M and Scientific Coordinator of the AILE project

DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW

The Clinical Research and Innovation Directorate plays a key role in developing and implementing the research policy of Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital. It supports principal investigators in the administrative, regulatory and financial management of clinical research projects.

The Directorate includes a research department dedicated to artificial intelligence, DIA2M, pronounced “diadem”. DIA2M supports research in AI and AI-enabled research throughout the University Hospital, from data collection and enrichment to the development of advanced algorithms and their scientific, clinical and industrial valorisation.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The positions are part of the AILE project, Artificial Intelligence for Laparoscopy and Endoscopy , led and coordinated by Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital in partnership with SURGAR and YANSYS. This collaborative project is seeking support from the European Regional Development Fund, FEDER, under the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2021–2027 programme. AILE aims to develop and evaluate artificial intelligence methods for analysing interventional images in gastrointestinal endoscopy and minimally invasive surgery. These technologies will provide real-time support to clinicians in order to improve the accuracy, safety and efficiency of procedures.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

The successful applicants will contribute to the development of new artificial intelligence methods for the automated analysis of surgical videos.

They will participate in the structuring and use of clinical data, the development of neural networks tailored to endoscopic and surgical data, and the training, evaluation and transfer of these models to the software solutions developed by the industrial partners.

The successful applicants will work closely with researchers and engineers from the DIA2M Department, medical teams and the consortium’s industrial partners. They will also contribute to the technical and preclinical validation of the models developed.

The postdoc will address theory and methods of image analysis and 3D vision applied to endoscopic images. As an endoscope is an RGB sensor, reconstructing the depth from a single image is a challenge, for which recent models have nonetheless made tremendous progress.

However, gluing these reconstructed depth data into a coherent 3D model spanning multiple images remains a largely open problem, owing to phenomena including occlusions, camera motion, and inconsistent lighting.

The postdoc will develop a computational model adapted to the 3D representation of endoscopic scenes (with inspiration taken from surface meshes, NeRF and 3DGS), a method to reconstruct it from real data images (exploiting reprojection error and depth images), and its application to real clinical problems. These problems may include polyp mapping for tele-expertise, colon mapping for examination coverage assessment, and abdominal cavity mapping for digital twin registration of the kidney.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Contributing to scientific research and the technical development of artificial intelligence methods within the AILE project, in either gastrointestinal endoscopy or minimally invasive surgery.

Depending on the workstream to which they are assigned, successful applicants will be responsible for:

·       Analysing clinical challenges related either to lesion characterisation, endoscopic image quality and remote expert review, or to registration between preoperative imaging and intraoperative video, anatomical structure segmentation and augmented-reality surgical guidance;

·       Proposing innovative solutions based on computer vision, deep learning and video analysis;

·       Contributing to the preparation, structuring, documentation and quality control of the project databases;

·       Developing and evaluating artificial intelligence models suited to endoscopic or surgical video streams;

·       Ensuring the traceability of experiments, model versions, datasets and results;

·       Contributing to scientific and technical exchanges among consortium members;

·       Contributing to the production of the project’s scientific and technical deliverables.

Additional duties may be assigned according to the operational needs of the department.

REQUIRED PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

KNOWLEDGE AND TECHNICAL SKILLS:

·       Data science, particularly video-based machine learning using deep neural networks, including supervised, semi-supervised and unsupervised training on small and large datasets, adversarial training and domain adaptation

·       Data management, including data retrieval, anonymisation, formatting and storage

·       Critical analysis and the drafting and presentation of scientific results

Experience in at least one of the following areas would be particularly valued:

-       Video analysis

-       Computer vision

-       Real-time AI

-       Medical image analysis

-       Management of large medical databases

PERSONAL SKILLS:

·       Strong organisational skills, rigour and drive

·       Team spirit, initiative and a proactive approach

·       Strong interpersonal and communication skills

·       Ability to adapt quickly

·       Commitment to confidentiality and professional secrecy

·       Ability to work independently

PREREQUISITES

Degrees / qualifications / experience:

• PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision, Applied Mathematics or a related discipline.

The following will be particularly valued:

-       International scientific publications

-       Experience in deep learning

-       Experience in video analysis

-       Experience with medical data

-       Participation in collaborative research projects

POSITION-SPECIFIC INFORMATION

Our team includes French and international colleagues working in a multicultural environment.

English is the working language for a significant proportion of the scientific activities. Strong written and spoken English skills are essential.

Occasional travel may be required to attend consortium meetings, meetings with industrial partners and scientific conferences.

 

The successful applicants will handle sensitive or confidential medical data. They must strictly comply with the project’s requirements regarding security, confidentiality, data protection and intellectual property.

Are you passionate about artificial intelligence and eager to contribute to an ambitious project with major medical and societal impact? Join us!

GENERAL INFORMATION

Applications, including a CV and cover letter, should be sent to the following email address:

📧      m [email protected]