This page reflects PhD openings within the EDBB program to the best of our current knowledge and is constantly evolving as we are being informed of new openings and as we approach the January Hiring Days. Please do not hesitate to also contact the laboratories which interest you to find out whether they have upcoming openings.
Next PhD application deadline: April 15, 2025
At LPDI, we integrate computational protein design, structural biology, and synthetic biology to address fundamental and applied challenges in immunoengineering and protein science. Our work spans multiple disciplines, including bioinformatics, molecular biology, and translational immunology, with the ultimate goal of engineering proteins with novel functions and therapeutic potential.
The successful candidate will work on innovative projects that involve:
- Computational protein design: Developing and applying cutting-edge algorithms to design proteins with custom functions.
- Experimental validation: Expression, purification, and characterization of designed proteins using techniques such as X-ray crystallography, cryo-EM, and biophysical assays.
- Applications in immunology and therapeutics: Engineering proteins for use in vaccines, diagnostics, and targeted therapies.
We are looking to hire a graduate student in cell-free synthetic biology. The prospective graduate student will work on building the foundations for the development of a synthetic cell. This project will involve developing state-of-art techniques and approaches in cell-free synthetic biology combined with microfluidic technologies to push the current boundaries of in vitro synthetic biology and cell-free transcription – translation systems. The graduate student will be embedded in a highly international and dynamic research environment.
The Laboratory for Biomedical Microfluidics (LBMM, www.epfl.ch/labs/lbmm) develops new approaches in antibody discovery and personalized cancer therapy.
The group is very interdisciplinary, including people with a primary training in biology, bioinformatics and engineering. Powerful technology platforms in the field of biomedicine and genomics have been developed over the past years, also leading to the establishment of two startup companies (www.veraxa.de and www.besttherapyforme.com).
Having a comprehensive microfluidic toolbox at hand (and expanding it continuously), we are now inviting applications for two projects:
- Highly multiplexed RNA-seq biomarker discovery for drug sensitivity in leukemia. Here we plan to combine our Combi-seq approach (Mathur et al., Nature Communications 2022) with single-cell phenotypic cell sorting for drug sensitivity.
- Library vs library screening of T-cells and antigen-presenting cells for novel immune oncology approaches”. Here we aim to set up a platform for screening cell pairs for affinity. The project is carried out in the context of a large Sinergia grant consortium, including several bioinformatics groups.
In Tang lab, we leverage the power of metabolic and cellular bioengineering, synthetic chemistry and material engineering, and mechanical engineering to achieve controllable modulation of immune responses against diseases. The incoming student will work on projects in which we reprogram immune cell metabolism with engineered proteins, cells, and molecules for enhanced proliferation, function, and longevity (Metabolic immunoengineering), or investigate and manipulate the mechanical properties and interactions at molecular, cellular and tissue levels for enhanced immunotherapy (Mechanical immunoengineering).
How cells protect themselves from Oxidative damage: from fundamental biology to therapeutic applications
In the van der Goot Lab, we address fondamental biological questions that remain unanswered. This ranges from the spatiotemperal control of proteins within cells, to understanding cellular responses to damage/stress, to genetic and infectious diseases. We always use multidisciplinary approaches to answer our questions, including structural biology, molecular dynamics, cell biology, bioinformatics, biochemistry, a wide range of imaging technologies, cellular systems and animal models when appropriate.
The current project deals with cellular responses to oxidative damage. Many conditions ranging from cancer to inflammation to aging, involve the formation of reactive oxygen species which may damage DNA, proteins or lipids. Lipid oxidation if not detoxified leads to rapid cell death. It is therefore of utmost importance to control the response to lipid damage, but the pathway involved has remained mysterious. We have recently identified the pathway through which cells genetically control de response to lipid and membrane damage, the LORD (Lipid Oxygen Radical Defense) pathway. The aim of the project is to identify the regulation of this pathway and explore how activation of the LORD pathway could benefit to the treatment of cancer, inflammatory disease and healthy aging.
At the Laboratory for Bio-Iontronics (BION), our research is highly interdisciplinary. The mission is to make bioiontronic systems for biointerfaces and hybrid intelligent systems. To that end, we pioneered the development of droplet networks (dropletronics) with key functions of embodied energy, logic control, stimuli-responsiveness, and therapeutics delivery, enabling interactive communication with biology. The present position is focused on developing multimaterial microfluidic 3D printing systems and robust polymer and hydrogel components for dropletronic implants. The role requires the candidate to carry out original research on 3D printing, polymers and hydrogels, cell culture and in vitro/vivo experiments.
For more details, see web pages of the EDBB program’s potential thesis directors.