PhD position “Soft Active Matter Microrobots for Medicine (SAM3)” — Empa
NewCHF 73'500 - 111'500
Empa · Dübendorf (ZH)
- Location
- Dübendorf
- Contract
- full-time
- Posted
- Yesterday
SalaryCHF 73'500 - 111'500
Role overview
Materials science and technology are our passion.
With our cutting-edge research, Empa's around 1,100 employees make essential contributions to the well-being of society for a future worth living.
Empa is a research institution of the ETH Domain.
- Materials science and technology are our passion.
- With our cutting-edge research, Empa's around 1,100 employees make essential contributions to the well-being of society for a future worth living.
- We will appoint 1 PhD student on this project, related to 11 other positions open in the SAM3 EU network.
- He/she will be registered within Doctoral School in Materials Science and Engineering Sciences at EPFL (Lausanne, Switzerland) with Prof.
Key requirements
- We will appoint 1 PhD student on this project, related to 11 other positions open in the SAM3 EU network.
- He/she will be registered within Doctoral School in Materials Science and Engineering Sciences at EPFL (Lausanne, Switzerland) with Prof.
- Johann Michler and Dr.
- Jakob Schwiedrzik as supervisors.
- The candidate should have a Master degree or diploma in materials science, mechanical engineering, or similar, less than 5 years of career at the recruitment date and not having a doctoral degree.
- We are seeking talented and enthusiastic students to perform a PhD, with a solid background in mechanics of materials and simulations.
- Experience with material characterization using electron microscopy, nanoindentation, or other methods, and light-based 3D printing is an advantage.
- Regarding soft skills, the candidate should have strong motivation for research (curiosity, commitment, teamwork spirit and open to discussions with colleagues, science, modelling, experiments, writing and communication skills).
- The candidate should have good command of spoken and written English, and German or French skills are of course an asset.
- For more information regarding the PhD studies at the EMPA please check the website ( https://www.epfl.ch/education/phd/edmx-materials-science-and-engineering/ ). Our offer Duration: 3 years full time Starting date: From October 2026
Application process
- Research project on Design, synthesis, and multiscale characterization of materials for soft robotics applications (SAM3/ESR12 – soft robotics)
- 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. Your tasks
- This specific PhD project will focus on design, synthesis, and multiscale characterization of materials for soft robotics applications and has application in all three endoscopic areas.
- The goal of the PhD is to computationally design using a simulation-guided approach and synthesize via light-based 3D-printing architecture (meta)materials for medical soft robotics applications.
- Furthermore, the morphology, microstructure, and mechanical behaviour of the metamaterials for soft robotics applications will be characterized as a function of environmental and boundary conditions in order to identify structureproperty- function relationships.
- The expected results are further set as follows: 1) Functional architectured material designs and synthesis routes via 3D printing with applications in medical soft robotic applications. 2) Characterization setup for probing mechanical behaviour of active and passive materials for soft robotics applications under various boundary conditions (variable strain rate, relative humidity, etc.). 3) Multiscale characterization of materials and systems developed in the SAM3 project in terms of process-structure-mechanical property-function relationships.
Contacts
- Applications should be sent to the mailbox [email protected] dedicated only to recruitment.
- They should include: a) a digital copy with all academic certificates and the respective official transcription in English; b) a detailed CV and a motivation letter in English; c) 2 letters of recommendation.
Additional details
- 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.
- An academic stay of 3 months is planned at ULB (Prof Pierre LAMBERT, Bruxelles, Belgium) for the design of metamaterials for soft robotics, a second academic stay of 3 months is planned at UMONS (Prof Jérémy ODENT, Mons, Belgium) for the synthesis of soft robotics materials and an industrial secondment of 5 months is planned at Alemnis AG (Dr Jean-Marc BREGUET, Thun, Switzerland) for micromechanical testing of metamaterial structures. Research environment
- For more information regarding the PhD studies at the EMPA please check the website ( https://www.epfl.ch/education/phd/edmx-materials-science-and-engineering/ ). Duration: 3 years full time Starting date: From October 2026
Notes and original content
- Your tasks
- An academic stay of 3 months is planned at ULB (Prof Pierre LAMBERT, Bruxelles, Belgium) for the design of metamaterials for soft robotics, a second academic stay of 3 months is planned at UMONS (Prof Jérémy ODENT, Mons, Belgium) for the synthesis of soft robotics materials and an industrial secondment of 5 months is planned at Alemnis AG (Dr Jean-Marc BREGUET, Thun, Switzerland) for micromechanical testing of metamaterial structures.
- Research environment
- Your profile
- For more information regarding the PhD studies at the EMPA please check the website ( https://www.epfl.ch/education/phd/edmx-materials-science-and-engineering/ ).
- Duration: 3 years full time
- Starting date: From October 2026
Questions about this listing
What salary does Empa offer for this role?
Empa lists CHF 73'500 - 111'500 gross per year for this position in Dübendorf. This is the salary published in the original listing (or, when the employer omits a figure, a realistic estimate for the role and sector) — the calculator on this site converts it to your actual net take-home once cross-border tax and social contributions are applied.
Is this a full-time role, and what type of contract does Empa offer?
This listing is a full-time position. The contract type shown here comes directly from the employer's original posting; always confirm exact hours, notice period and probation length with Empa during the application process, since these details can vary by role even within the same contract category.
Do I need a cross-border work permit for a role in Zürich?
EU/EFTA residents living in the border zone of the country adjoining Canton Zürich can apply for a G permit; the Swiss employer files it with that canton's migration office after the contract is signed. Border-zone rules and processing times vary by neighbouring country and canton, so confirm the specifics with Zürich's cantonal migration office or with HR during the application.
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