[Vacancies] Two Internship Research Positions at LabMath?Indonesia: HARBOUR WAVES MODELING and HIV-AIDS MODELING

Two Internship Research Positions are available at LabMath‐Indonesia: HARBOUR WAVES MODELING and HIV-AIDS MODELING.
Details respectively below.

These vacancies are also available via
www.labmath-indonesia.or.id

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HARBOUR WAVES MODELING (Deadline 15 October 2008)

The internship announced below is related to a research Project executed in collaboration with
Universitas Gajah Mada,
Laboratorium Hidraulika & Hidrologi.
Pusat Studi Ilmu Teknik.

Supervison of the research will be done at LabMath‐Indonesia by the senior staff in this project:
Dr. Radianta Triatmadja (UGM) and Prof. Dr. Brenny van Groesen (LMI & UTwente).

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Waves from the ocean decrease in wavelength and increase in amplitude when approaching the shallower coastal area. The effect of the waves on the coast and the structures in the coastal zone is of general importance, especially since Climate Change will produce much higher wind‐waves to many parts of the Indonesian coast.
This project will deal with the question what type of waves can be expected in a harbour that is in some specific way connected to the ocean. The geometry of the harbour will play a dominant role. Not only the position of the harbour entrance compared to the direction of incoming waves, but also the contour of the harbour will dominate the wave pattern inside the harbour. Long waves (generated by nonlinear effects from the short coastal waves) may even give rise to resonance phenomena with high – unwanted – waves (seizes).
The aim of the project is to use mathematical modelling techniques to calculate the harbour waves. From physical models and numerical calculations, we aim to simulate the resulting harbour waves depending on the incoming waves. After initial investigations of a synthetic harbour design, we will tackle a realistic case for which accurate measurement data form experiments in the UGM laboratory are available.

INITERNSHIP RESEARCH POSITION: OFFER
The internship will be executed at LabMath‐Indonesia, Jl. Anatomi 19, Bandung. Including a one‐month probation period, the position is at least for a period of 3 months (full‐time) up to one year (possibly part‐time). If desired, we will support your personal development, including improvement of English when needed, and support to find continued study abroad (MSc or PhD). During the execution you will get valuable experience in mathematical modelling and simulation for oceanographic ‐ civil engineering problems, and will work in a stimulating environment with more than 10 other internship students.
Depending on the university regulations, it may be possible to execute this project as part of your academic curriculum; ask your supervisor. The salary will depend on qualifications and performance.

REQUESTED QUALIFICATIONS
Candidates should be eager to learn new topics and ideas. They should have basic knowledge of calculus/analysis and water waves, and have experience in programming, for instance in Matlab. Students or graduates with good grades in S1 or S2 from civil engineering, mathematics, oceanography, geoscience, etc can profit very much from this research experience. A sound scientific attitude (critical, inventive and independent) should be accompanied by a strong motivation and disciplined work attitude. Application procedure
Candidates should send an updated CV, a copy of last degree and academic record, proof of English proficiency and letter of motivation before 15 October 2008 by email to the manager of LMI:
Dr. A. Sopaheluwakan ardhasena@labmath‐indonesia.or.id
with cc to
Prof. van Groesen groesen@labmathindonesia.or.id
and
Dr. Triadmadja radiantatoo@yahoo.com.

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HIV MODELING (Deadline 15 November 2008)

The internship announced below is related to a research project executed by university groups in Indonesia, Belgium and The Netherlands, and funded by EU and Cordaid. The project is called
IMPACT, Integrated Management for Prevention, Control and Treatment of HIV‐AIDS,
and is hosted at the Health research Unit (UPK), UNPAD / Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung Indonesia.
HIV‐AIDS is a rapidly growing problem in Indonesia, in particular in West‐Java. It is strongly related to intravenous drug use. It primarily affects the young people but challenges the health system and community at large. In the project biomedical, socio‐behavioural and public health expertise is combined for evidence‐based and sustainable prevention, control and treatment.
The internship will be executed as partner in a twin-project with a biomedical science student from Radboud University who is doing her final thesis before completing her bachelor on the topic described below.
Supervison of the internship at LabMath‐Indonesia will be done by Dr. Reinout van Crevel (infectious disease specialist, UPK & Radboud University) and Prof. Dr. Brenny van Groesen (LMI & U Twente).

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) primarily infects CD4‐positive T‐cells. Uncontrolled HIV‐replication leads to a gradual loss of CD4 T cells thereby undermining the immune defence. Following infection, patients usually experience a variable period (years) of asymptomatic infection, followed by symptomatic infection and finally AIDS (acquired immune eficiency syndrome). If untreated, HIV‐infection will lead to death after an average of 10 years.
Different biomedical and behavioural interventions can delay or reverse disease progression in individual patients and HIV‐transmission to others. Through the IMPACT‐program information has been collected about biomedical and behavioural characteristics of the HIV-epidemic in Bandung. From these data, and previously research from other settings we want to try and identify those interventions which are most effective to improve HIV‐control in Bandung and in Indonesia as a whole. The questions we therefore want to tackle in this twin-project are: what is the natural course of HIV‐infection in Indonesia; what interventions are most effective to control HIV‐transmission and disease progression; and what determines the success of these interventions. To this purpose we propose to develop a simple mathematical model based on the following ideas.
The progress of HIV is mirrored by a gradual loss of CD4‐cells which can be measured in the blood. Typically, without intervention, HIV‐infection will lead from complete health to death in a period of 8 to 10 years, with the CD4‐cell count falling from ~1000 to 0‐200/mm. For simplicity we can think of this as a decaying straight line. Anti‐HIV drugs which suppress HIV‐replication delay or reverse the decline of CD4‐cells and the occurrence of AIDS. Behavioural interventions and HIV‐suppression can reduce the risk of HIV‐transmission to others.
The idea is to plot CD4‐cell curves corresponding with and without a (restricted) number of known biomedical and behavioural interventions. Using available data of (about 400) patients that have been characterized and treated in Bandung, we can relate the changes of the patients’ curve slope to the interventions they experienced. Problems arise because the patients‐curves are only roughly known (data points only at a few moments of testing), and usually a combination of interventions – which may very well be correlated‐ were experienced in between tests. Statistical methods may be helpful to get a better insight, even in this case where the number of data is restricted.

INTERNSHIP RESEARCH POSITION: OFFER
The internship will be executed at LabMath‐Indonesia, Jl. Anatomi 19, Bandung. Including a one‐month probation period, the position is at least for a period of 3 months (full‐time) up to 6 months (possibly part‐time). During the execution you will get valuable experience in mathematical modelling and simulation for relevant, nonstandard medical problems. At LMI you will work in an environment with some 10 other internship students; in the contacts with the hospital and the project partner you will experience a very different, equally stimulating surrounding. The internship allowance will depend on qualifications and performance.
Depending on the university regulations, it may be possible to execute this project as part of your academic curriculum; ask your supervisor.

REQUESTED QUALIFICATIONS
Candidates should have basic knowledge of mathematics and statistics. Students or graduates with good grades in S1 or S2 from mathematics, (technical) medicine and other areas can profit very much from this research experience. A sound scientific attitude (critical, inventive and independent) should be accompanied by a strong motivation and disciplined work attitude.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Candidates should send their CV, a copy of last degree and academic record, proof of English proficiency and letter of motivation before 15 November 2008 by email to the manager of LMI:
Dr. A. Sopaheluwakan ardhasena@labmath‐indonesia.or.id
with cc to Dr vanCrevel R.vanCrevel@AIG.umcn.nl
and
Prof. van Groesen groesen@labmath‐indonesia.or.id.

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LabMath‐Indonesia (www.labmath‐indonesia.or.id) is an independent non‐commercial research institute aimed to facilitate the execution of scientific research and to disseminate the results to the community. LMI advocates and stimulates the use of mathematical modelling and simulation in various disciplines for real‐life problems of any kind. LMI‐Residency supports human resource development by acting as host for young students, scientists and practitioners from Indonesia and abroad, thereby creating an inspiring scientific and international atmosphere.