Postdoc Data-Driven Cardiovascular System Dynamics Modeling for Heart Failure Populations

Develop cardiovascular digital twins to personalize heart failure treatment, reduce symptoms, and improve lives by combining physics-based models with clinical data and patient-specific insight.  

Job description 

Heart failure remains one of the most pressing challenges in cardiovascular medicine. In particular, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) or mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF) affects millions of patients and remains difficult to treat due to its complex, heterogeneous, and often misunderstood mechanisms.

At Delft University of Technology, we are launching a translational research project to address this challenge by building next-generation cardiovascular digital twins, personalized computational models of the heart and circulation, that can guide treatment decisions. Our focus is on understanding the complex interplay between cardiac function and systemic hemodynamics, both at rest and during exercise. We aim to use this insight to optimize and personalize novel mechanism targeted therapies, including left to right atrial shunting, to reduce left atrial pressures, improve exercise tolerance, and potentially reverse disease progression.

As a postdoctoral researcher, you will take the lead in developing and applying reduced order models of the cardiovascular system, integrating multiscale heart and circulation interactions. These models will be personalized through inverse modeling pipelines using clinical data collected during ongoing trials, including pressure and flow measurements and echocardiographic assessments. You will evaluate the mechanistic effects of interventions such as atrial shunting across virtual patient populations and contribute to the design of personalized strategies that are tuned to individual physiology.

You will work closely with leading clinical and industrial partners and will play a key role in translating computational insights into tangible scientific and therapeutic impact. This is a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of fundamental modeling, translational medicine, and real world application.

You will be part of the lab of dr. ir. M. Peirlinck in the Department of BioMechanical Engineering at TU Delft. Our group brings together experimental data, physics based modeling, and machine learning to understand and predict the behavior of the cardiovascular system across scales.

In this role, you will:

• Develop and implement cardiovascular digital twins based on lumped parameter models.

• Personalize these models using clinical data at rest and during exercise.

• Analyze the mechanistic impact of atrial shunting and other interventions.

• Contribute to collaborative work with clinical and industrial stakeholders.

• Publish in high quality clinical and engineering journals and present at scientific conferences.

• Support mentoring, teaching, and additional funding acquistion activities.

This position is offered for two years, with an initial one year appointment and a strong intention to extend based on performance and shared enthusiasm. We are looking for eager, motivated scientists who want to grow their careers, drive an interdisciplinary project forward, and make a direct scientific impact on the future of heart failure treatment.

Job requirements 

You are an ambitious and independent researcher with a strong interest in cardiovascular modeling and a desire to make scientific contributions that translate into real-world impact. You enjoy working on complex problems at the intersection of engineering, medicine, and computation, and you are motivated to collaborate with clinical and industrial partners.

Required qualifications:

• A PhD or equivalent academic research experience in mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, medical physics, applied mathematics, computer science, or a related field.

• A solid understanding of cardiovascular system dynamics and physiological modeling.

• Proven experience with mathematical modeling of biological or physical systems.

• Strong programming skills in Python, C++, Fortran, or a similar scientific computing language.

• Fluency in English and excellent communication skills.

• A collaborative mindset and the ability to work across disciplines.

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience with reduced order modeling of the cardiovascular circulation, particularly using zero-dimensional lumped parameter models.

• Familiarity with inverse modeling, system identification, and data assimilation.

• Experience with uncertainty quantification or Bayesian inference methods for model calibration, prediction, or personalization.

• Experience working with clinical data.

• Interest in contributing to team science, mentoring, science communication, or the development of future project proposals.

Please clearly describe how your background matches the required and preferred qualifications in your motivation letter. Applications that do not address these criteria may not be considered.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty Mechanical Engineering

From chip to ship. From machine to human being. From idea to solution. Driven by a deep-rooted desire to understand our environment and discover its underlying mechanisms, research and education at the ME faculty focusses on fundamental understanding, design, production including application and product improvement, materials, processes and (mechanical) systems.

ME is a dynamic and innovative faculty with high-tech lab facilities and international reach. It’s a large faculty but also versatile, so we can often make unique connections by combining different disciplines. This is reflected in ME’s outstanding, state-of-the-art education, which trains students to become responsible and socially engaged engineers and scientists. We translate our knowledge and insights into solutions to societal issues, contributing to a sustainable society and to the development of prosperity and well-being. That is what unites us in pioneering research, inspiring education and (inter)national cooperation.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. Do you want to experience working at our faculty? These videos will introduce you to some of our researchers and their work.

Conditions of employment 

• Duration of contract is 2 years.
• A job of 38 hours per week. 

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged. 

Will you need to relocate to the Netherlands for this job? TU Delft is committed to make your move as smooth as possible! The HR unit, Coming to Delft Service, offers information on their website to help you prepare your relocation. In addition, Coming to Delft Service organises events to help you settle in the Netherlands, and expand your (social) network in Delft. A Dual Career Programme is available, to support your accompanying partner with their job search in the Netherlands.  . 

Additional information

For more information about the application procedure, please contact recruiment-me@tudelft.nl.

Application procedure

Are you interested in this vacancy? Please apply no later than 21 July 2025 via the application button and upload the following documents:

• A motivation letter explaining your interest in the position and how your experience/expertise aligns with this project.

• Your curriculum vitae.

• Academic transcripts and diplomas from your BSc, MSc, and PhD studies (if applicable).

• Names and contact information of at least two academic references, ideally including your PhD supervisor or a senior collaborator.

• PDFs of up to three prior publications relevant to this position.

• A PDF copy of your PhD dissertation (if applicable).

You can address your application to Mathias Peirlinck.

Please note:

• Screening of applications will begin before the official deadline. Therefore, if you are interested in the position, we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.
• You can apply online. We will not process applications sent by email and/or post. 
• A pre-employment screening can be part of the selection procedure.
• For the final candidates, a knowledge security check will be part of the application procedure. For more information on this check, please consult Chapter 8 of the National Knowledge Security Guidelines. We carry out this check on the basis of legitimate interest.
• Please do not contact us for unsolicited services.