香港中文大学、新加坡南洋理工联合博士培养项目

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We have an immediate full scholarship Ph.D. in the areas of light microscopy, label-free imaging, and neural imaging at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) with joint training at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

The admitted student will be enrolled in August 2023 inthe Department of Biomedical Engineering at CUHK. The student willconduct research at both CUHK and NTU. A four-year full scholarship will beprovided to the admitted student with a monthly stipend of >HK$ 18,000 aswell as medical insurance. Inquiries and applications should be sent to Prof. Renjie Zhou at rjzhou@cuhk.edu.hk and Prof. Tong Ling at tong.ling@ntu.edu.sg by May 5, 2023.

CUHK supervisor: Prof. Renjie Zhou            https://www.lambcuhk.org/

Department of Biomedical Engineering, CUHK

NTU supervisor: Prof. Tong Ling                   https://www.tonglinglab.com/

School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering andBiotechnology, NTU

Planned Arrangement forJoint Supervision of the PhD Student:

The student participating in this project will undergo extensive training in optics and machine learning and will focus on validating and improving our new high-speed 3D tomographic imaging technology for visualizing the 3D deformations of neurons during action potentials.

The 4-year PhD study of the student consists of three stages: Stage I: In the first two years, the student will complete coursework in the Biomedical Engineering Department at CUHK and focus on designing and validating the tomographic imaging system for neuroimaging purposes. During this period, the student is also expected to spend around 3-6 months in the host collaborator’s lab at NTU in Singapore, preferable during the summer term; Stage II: Starting from the third year, the student will travel to the host lab at NTU for one year, where he will work with the host lab to construct the same setup and conduct imaging experiments on primary neurons in vitro; and Stage III: In the last year, the student will return to CUHK to finish up the PhD research work and prepare for the PhD defense.

The expected deliverables of this project are threefold: (1) As sensitivity is the key to imaging the cellular deformation accompanying the action potential, we expect that this project will result in a deeper understanding of the benefits of machine learning for enhancing the imaging system’s sensitivity, which can be concluded in the form of several journal publications; (2) 3D visualization of neuronal deformation during the action potential can offer new insights regarding the electromechanical coupling in neurons. Such experimental observation, which has never been done before, can have broad interest from the general audience, and has the potential to be published in high-impact journals; and (3) The extremely sensitive 3D imaging system built in this project can be used for other studies in label-free biomedical imaging or material testing.

PI at CUHK: Renjie Zhou has been recently promoted to an Associate Professor (with tenure) in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at CUHK, where he directs the Laser Metrology and Biomedicine Laboratory (LAMB). Prof. Zhou received his PhD degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2014 and undertook postdoctoral training at MIT between 2014-2017. His research interest is in developing optical precision instruments for various research and industrial applications. He has published over 100 journal and conference papers and filed over 10 US and China patents with several licensed to industry, including his own startup that received the Rising Star Award at MIT Technology Review China in Life Science Start-up Competition. He has been involved in organizing > 20 international conferences as co-chairs/committee members, delivered >40 conference invited talks and seminars/colloquiums, and reviewed for >30 international journals. He is currently serving on the editorial boards of JOSA A, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, and International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing. He is a Senior Member of Optica and SPIE and a regular member of IEEE. He received the Croucher Innovation Awards in 2019.

LAMB lab introduction: The lab has a team of >16 researchers of mainly postdocs and graduate students with disciplines in optics, physics, biology, and computer science. The lab is focused on developing cutting-edge optical imaging technologies, including quantitative phase microscopy, super-resolution microscopy, deep-learning assisted microscopy, optical diffraction tomography, and their applications in biology, medicine, and material testing. The lab is equipped with state-of-the-art instruments and platforms, such as high-precision optical tables, fully automatic light microscopes, supercontinuum laser light source, femtosecond laser source, high speed cameras, digital micromirror devices, spatial light modulators, high-end objective lenses, etc. The lab has established long-term close cooperative relations with many top universities, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NTU, Zhejiang University, etc.

CUHK课题组负责人介绍：周仁杰，最新晋升为香港中文大学生物医学工程学系副教授（终身教授），OPTICA 与SPIE高级会员，对定量相位显微（QPM）与光学衍射层析成像（ODT）进行了系统而深入的研究，荣获2019年度 “裘槎前瞻科研大奖” 。发表SCI论文50余篇，包括Nature Photonics、Physical Review Letters、Advanced Photonics、Nano Letters、Lasers & Photonics Review等高水平期刊，最高单篇研究论文被引415次。现担任JOSA A、IEEE PTL、SPIE Quantitative Phase Imaging 等期刊编委或会议委员。周教授早前于麻省理工学院G. R. Harrison光谱实验室、伊利诺伊大学尔巴纳-香槟分校Beckman 研究所、亚利桑那大学James Wyant光学中心等光学领域世界前沿科研机构从事相关研究工作，期间荣获SPIE 2012 Optics & Photonics Education Scholarship、P. D. Coleman 研究优秀奖、罗远祉研究优秀奖等奖项。

LAMB实验室介绍：现有博士后、博士生、研究助理16人，专业涵盖了光学、生物学、化学、计算机等众多学科，具有丰富的理论分析和实践操作能力。实验室的研究内容包括但不限于：定量相位显微镜、超分辨显微镜、机器学习辅助智能显微镜、光学衍射层析成像、高灵敏度成像、超高速三维成像、生物细胞成像应用开发。实验室作为第一负责人承担多项研究课题。实验室高度注重研究与产业结合，孵化出一家初创企业。实验室拥有完善的先进激光成像实验设备，如高精度光学平台、全自动显微镜、超连续激光光源、飞秒激光器、超高速相机、高分辨率数字微镜器件等仪器设备。已经与美国麻省理工学院、新加坡南洋理工大学、浙江大学等知名高校建立了长期密切合作关系。

PI at NTU: Prof. Tong Ling joined Nanyang Technological University in January 2021 and was subsequently awarded the Singapore NRF Fellowship (Class of 2022). Before that, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University. He received his Ph.D. in 2016 and B.Eng. in 2011 from the College of Optical Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University. Specialized in interferometric imaging techniques, he developed high-precision imaging systems for biomedical imaging, optical metrology, and applied physics, which have been concluded in many papers published in leading journals, including PNAS, Science Advances, Light: Science & Applications, and Optics Letters. He invented the randomly encoded hybrid grating for versatile quadriwave lateral shearing interferometry, which was nominated for 2015 China’s Top 10 Optical Breakthroughs by the Chinese Journal of Lasers. He also received the Wang Daheng Optics Award from the Chinese Optical Society, the top award for young researchers in optics and photonics in China. Recently, his research in full-field interferometric imaging of action potentials demonstrated a new approach to functional neuroimaging using optical phase signals, opening the door to all-optical non-fluorescent techniques for functional imaging in the retina and the brain.

NTU课题组负责人介绍：凌曈，新加坡南洋理工大学化学化工与生物科技学院（NTU, CCEB）南洋助理教授，研究领域专注于神经活动的光学干涉成像，其杰出工作得到了新加坡国家研究基金会的资助，同时兼任新加坡眼科研究所的青年PI。凌教授的研究成果广泛发表在顶级期刊，如PNAS、Science Advances、Light: Science &Applications等，同时还出版了一本由中国国家科学技术学术著作出版基金资助的学术专著。凌教授还担任多个知名杂志的审稿人，如Nature Communications和Light: Science &Applications。在浙江大学光电科学与工程学院获得本科和博士学位后，凌教授曾在斯坦福大学Hansen实验物理实验室和斯坦福医学院眼科系进行博士后研究，探索光学干涉成像方法在神经元电信号检测及机理研究方面的应用。他发明的随机编码混合光栅波前传感器曾获得《中国激光》杂志社“2015年度中国光学十大进展”提名，并荣获中国光学学会“王大珩光学奖”。

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Deadline updated to May 14, 2023.