CMR PhD student Malte Laustsen is currently conducting an external research stay at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Biophysics, in Beijing.
The 2.5-month research secondment of Malte is hosted by Professor Rong Xue, and is the first of several visits spanning a total of 9 months.
The external stay is part of the broader Chinese-Danish university collaboration called Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research, who co-funded Malte's PhD project. Malte’s particular PhD project is focused on motion correction in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Malte will work with motion tracking and correction approaches, especially aimed at neuroimaging at ultra-high magnetic field.
The Beijing MRI Center for Brain Research at Institute of Biophysics is one of an increasing number of research facilities with an ultra high-field 7 tesla MRI scanner. Interests and challenges are therefore largely shared with DTU's Center for Magnetic Resonance that is a partner in the Danish National 7 Tesla Project centered around Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre.
MR measurements often takes minutes to acquire, and a major challenge is subject motion, which can distort and degrade the images, or render them useless entirely. At ultra high-field, these problems are amplified, and are more challenging to address due to the less spacious scanner bore, and tightly fitting closed head coils.
The aim of Malte's first external stay is to implement methods for fast and reliable recording of B0 and B1 field maps at ultra high-field, which he needs for tracking and correction of field inhomogeneities arising from subject motion. This is an essential step towards motion-robust imaging at 7 tesla.
The Danish SDC office provides funding for PhD scholarships within SDC’s research themes. Since 2011 more than 100 PhD's have received financial support.
Danish SDC PhD students are enrolled at one of the eight Danish universities and must have both a main supervisor from a Danish university and a co-supervisor from Chinese Academy of Sciences or another approved Chinese partner institution.
The PhD students must spend at least 6-12 months in a Chinese research environment depending on the funding model. PhD students funded by the Danish SDC office are also expected to contribute to the educational activities on the SDC Master's programmes in Beijing during their stay in China.
For more information, visit:
http://sdc.university/research/phd/