The University of Sheffield is a remarkable place to work. Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Their diverse backgrounds, abilities and beliefs make Sheffield a world-class university.

We offer a fantastic range of benefits including a highly competitive annual leave entitlement (with the ability to purchase more), a generous pensions scheme, flexible working opportunities, a commitment to your development and wellbeing, a wide range of retail discounts, and much more. Find out more about our benefits (opens in a new window) and join us to become part of something special.

Overview

This position is funded as part of an £8M EPSRC programme grant “Networks of Cardiovascular Digital Twins (CVD-Net)”, which is jointly held by Imperial College London, the Universities of Sheffield and Nottingham, and the Alan Turing Institute. The wider focus of this research programme is to develop both physics-based and data-driven models of heart function and blood flow through the cardiovascular system that are personalised to individual patients and updated whenever new data from wearable and implanted sensors are available. This post will focus on using these agile and personalised digital twins to forecast the disease trajectories of individual patients, and to assess the value of model-based forecasting over purely data based methods.

You will join an interdisciplinary team based across all four institutions. You will develop computational tools to enable forecasting of disease trajectories and stress testing of a library of different cardiovascular system models. You will work collaboratively to develop novel tools for personalisation/calibration and updating of cardiac and cardiovascular system models, using these models to forecast the future disease state of individual patients. We are looking for an ambitious candidate with a strong background in mathematical and statistical methods for both physics-based modelling and machine learning, and their application to engineering problems in healthcare. You should also have experience with large scale scientific computing, working with sensitive patient data, in development and management of research code, and with cardiac and cardiovascular system models.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Apply mathematical and computational expertise to refine and use a library of physics-based models of heart function and blood flow in the cardiovascular system.

• Develop methods to forecast the progression of pulmonary arterial hypertension, using personalised cardiovascular system models and healthcare data.

• Work collaboratively with the CVD-Net team to develop, establish, and maintain cohorts of cardiovascular digital twins, and to develop and implement novel methods for calibration and updating of these digital twins from patients data.

• Implement computational models within a framework that adheres to good research software engineering practice.

• To operate at all times within the governance and ethics framework that applies to personal patient data.

• Attend regular research meetings, collaborate, and communicate with other researchers to ensure overall progress is maintained. 

• Work collaboratively with other investigators and researchers in the team to identify priorities and timescales for different aspects of the research; in particular to specify, develop, and curate computational tools.

• Manage workload in order to meet deadlines, completing tasks on time and to a high standard, and working throughout with scientific rigour and integrity.

• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of the relevant literature, technologies, and state-of-the-art.

• Plan own research activities in discussion with the supervisor team, incorporating factors such as the availability of resources, deadlines, project milestones and overall research aims.

• Write and contribute to research papers for publication in high quality peer-reviewed journals, and give presentations at workshops and conferences.

• Travel to other centres involved in the programme for meetings and work visits as required.

• Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post

Person Specification 

Our diverse community of staff and students recognises the unique abilities, backgrounds, and beliefs of all. We foster a culture where everyone feels they belong and is respected. Even if your past experience doesn't match perfectly with this role's criteria, your contribution is valuable, and we encourage you to apply. Please ensure that you reference the application criteria in the application statement when you apply.

Further Information

Next steps in the recruitment process

It is anticipated that the selection process will take place on week commencing 15/09 2025. This will consist of a presentation and an interview. We plan to let candidates know if they have progressed to the selection stage on the week commencing 08/09 2025.

If you need any support, equipment or adjustments to enable you to participate in any element of the recruitment process you can contact com-researchrecruitment@sheffield.ac.uk.

Our vision and strategic plan

We are the University of Sheffield. This is our vision: sheffield.ac.uk/vision (opens in new window).

What we offer

• A minimum of 41 days annual leave including bank holiday and closure days (pro rata) with the ability to purchase more.

• Flexible working opportunities, including hybrid working for some roles.

• Generous pension scheme.

• A wide range of discounts and rewards on shopping, eating out and travel.

• A variety of staff networks, providing opportunities for social interaction, peer support and personal development (for example, Race Equality, LGBT+, Women’s and Parent’s networks).

• Recognition Awards to reward staff who go above and beyond in their role.

• A commitment to your development access to learning and mentoring schemes; integrated with our Academic Career Pathways and Professional Services Shared Skills Framework 

• A range of generous family-friendly policies

  • paid time off for parenting and caring emergencies

  • support for those going through the menopause

  • paid time off and support for fertility treatment

  • and more

More details can be found on our benefits page: sheffield.ac.uk/jobs/benefits (opens in a new window).

We are a Disability Confident Employer. If you have a disability and meet the essential criteria for this job you will be invited to take part in the next stage of the selection process.

Closing Date : 21 September 2025

We are a research university with a global reputation for excellence. Our ideas and expertise change the world for the better, making a real difference to society. We know that when people come together with different views, approaches and insights it can lead to richer, more creative and innovative teaching and research and the highest levels of student experience. Our University Vision (www.sheffield.ac.uk/vision) outlines our commitment to building a diverse community of staff and students that recognises and values the abilities, backgrounds, beliefs and ways of living for everyone.