Magnetic ultra-soft untethered microrobots for the olfactory pathway transfer
Pubblicato il 13-08-2026 - University of Mons in Italia
BioRobotics Institute of the Scuola Superiore Di Studi Universitari E Di Perfezionamento SantAnna (https://www.santannapisa.it/en/institute/biorobotics)
Organisation/Company BioRobotics Institute of the Scuola Superiore Di Studi Universitari E Di Perfezionamento SantAnna (https://www.santannapisa.it/en/institute/biorobotics) Research Field Chemistry Engineering Technology Medical sciences Physics Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Application Deadline 31 Aug 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Brussels) Country Italy Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 38 Offer Starting Date 15 Sep 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - MSCA Reference Number EU HORIZON-MSCA-2025-DN-01-01 # 101312674 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No
Offer Description
This project takes place within the Marie Curie Doctoral Network on Soft Active Matter Microrobots for Medicine (SAM3).
This doctoral network of 12 PhD candidates aims at exploring the ear-nose-throat area from a microrobotics perspective. Thanks to active matter and small scale microrobotics engineering, three specific goals are targeted: (1) access the middle ear through the Eustachian tube; (2) access the olfactory clefts for mucosal biopsy; (3) access the skull cavity through the nose and the cribble plate for cerebrospinal fluid biopsy.
This specific PhD proposal onMagnetic ultra-soft untethered microrobots for the olfactory pathway transfer is part of the second endoscopic area namely olfactory clefts. The goal of the PhD is the magnetic transfer of ultra-soft untethered microrobots through complex environments like the olfactory foramina in the cribriform plate: the technology could enable the access of untethered microrobots to the brain, bypassing the blood-brain barrier, for innovative diagnostic (biopsy) and therapeutic (drug delivery) procedures.
The expected results are further set as follows