PhD scholarship in Wearable Sensors & Biosensors

Description

About the Opportunity

The Nguyen Lab at Flinders University is recruiting a highly motivated PhD candidate to develop next-generation wearable and implantable biosensors for continuous health monitoring and bioelectronic medicine. The project builds on the lab's track record in flexible sensor arrays, field-effect-transistor biosensors, and functional nanomaterial interfaces, and will contribute to translating lab-based biosensing platforms toward real-world, on-body diagnostic devices.

You will join a well-funded, internationally collaborative research group led by Dr Khoa Tuan Nguyen, an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award and incoming National Health and Medical Research Council, working at the interface of advanced manufacturing, microtechnology, and bioelectronic medical devices.

About the Supervisor & Lab

Dr Khoa Tuan Nguyen leads the Advanced Mechanical Systems & Bioelectronic Medical Devices group. His research spans advanced manufacturing, flexible and implantable electronics, and biosensing, with work published in journals including PNAS, Nature Communications, Science Advances, ACS Nano, and Advanced Functional Materials. He holds an h-index of 33 with 3,200+ citations, over 100 journal publications, and has secured $2.3M+ in competitive research funding, including the ARC DECRA (2024–27) and NHMRC Investigator Grant (2027–31).

The Project

The successful candidate will design, fabricate, and characterise wearable and/or biosensor devices for physiological or biomolecular sensing. Depending on the candidate's interests and background, the project may involve device design and microfabrication, functional material/interface engineering, and integration and testing of sensors in wearable or implantable formats.

Benefits

• Competitive PhD scholarships (3.5 years, fully cover tuition fee plus stipend of AUD 36,061.00 per year and increased every year) plus some other benefits.
• Access to state-of-the-art fabrication and characterisation facilities, including national cleanroom infrastructure (ANFF).
• Supervision from an internationally active, well-funded research group with strong industry and academic collaborations.
• Training in multidisciplinary skills spanning device engineering, materials science, and biosensing.

Eligibility

• A Bachelor's or Master's degree (Honours or equivalent research experience) in Mechanical, Electrical, Biomedical, or Materials Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, or a related discipline.
• A strong academic record and demonstrated interest in research.
• Good written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
• Eligibility to meet Flinders University's PhD admission and English-language requirements.

Desirable

• Experience with surface functionalisation and interface chemistry (e.g. biofunctionalisation, self-assembled monolayers, surface modification of biosensing materials).
• Experience in microtechnology / microfabrication (cleanroom processing, photolithography, MEMS, or related techniques).
• Prior exposure to biosensors, wearable electronics, or semiconductor device fabrication.