11 Postdoctoral Fellowship at ETH Zurich, Switzerland

• Development of theoretical concepts for tools leveraging digital technologies for circular construction, facilitating circular processes along the value chain (identification and categorization of reusable materials, design with reused elements, etc.) in the construction sector
• Exploration of implementation possibilities for automated workflows and digital technologies in new and existing construction projects
• Use immersive technologies to enhance construction processes and training
• Active participation in research activities, including publishing scientific papers and presenting findings at conferences and workshops
• Supervision of Master, and/or Bachelor students, as well as teaching

• Conduct innovative research in the areas of urban planning, life cycle assessment, and circularity measurement within the built environment
• Develop and implement tools and methodologies to assess and enhance circularity in urban planning and architectural design
• Manage and coordinate activities related to Horizon Europe grants, including budgeting, reporting, and compliance with EU regulations
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams across ETH Zurich and with international partners to advance project goals
• Publish research findings in high-impact scientific journals and present at international conferences
• Contribute to the mentoring and supervision of PhD students and technical staff within the lab
• Assist in proposal writing and securing additional funding for future research initiatives

The two year project will focus on the development of an online cell sorting sample introduction system for quantitative element analysis of single cells using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The major goal is the development and characterization of an novel approach combining online cell sorting at high throughput and a unique downwards pointing inductively coupled time of flight plasma mass spectrometer.

The researcher will have access to State of the Art ICP and unique ICP-TOF mass spectrometers. Furthermore, collaboration with colleagues from different Departments at ETH will provide access to cell cultures and cell cultivation facilities to prepare proof-of-concept samples for testing the instrument development progress.

In this role, you’ll be working on the cutting edge of science, at which we combine artificial intelligence with synthetic biology to create novel, nature-inspired molecules as potential drug candidates. Your contributions will be key to design, producing and testing millions of these molecules to address unmet medical needs.

• Implement and execute high-throughput engineering of novel biosynthetic gene clusters
• Assemble large DNA libraries to produce “synthetic natural products”
• Develop, execute and optimize lab-automation methods for genetic engineering of microbes
• Screen for bioactivity to identify promising candidate molecules
• Produce candidate molecules in various microbial hosts
• Purify and analyze these molecules using HPLC-MS
• Supervise master students working on related topic
• Collaborate with both internal and external project members

In this role, you’ll be working on the cutting edge of science, at which we combine artificial intelligence with synthetic biology to create novel, nature-inspired molecules as potential drug candidates. Your contributions will be key to design, producing and testing millions of these molecules to address unmet medical needs.• Design natural product-inspired molecules targeting specific diseases
• Implement iterative cycles of in silico molecule design and biological testing
• Microbially produce and purify candidate molecules
• Screen for bioactivity to identify promising new drug candidates
• Develop and implement machine learning workflows and synthetic biology pipelines
• Supervise master students working on related topics
• Closely collaborate with both internal and external project members

The ideal candidate has a strong background in physics, math, and/or statistics, some specialized knowledge in one or more components of the coupled climate system (especially the atmosphere and/or ocean), and an intellectual curiosity about the many interdisciplinary aspects of climate science.

The position is fully funded for up to 18 months, and there are pathways to secure one’s own funding to extend the position. The position comes with the possibility to supervise master’s and bachelor’s students working on similar topics.

You are expected to conduct research toward a net-zero economy, focusing on the innovation, scale-up, and diffusion of carbon dioxide removal (CDR). While your work includes understanding technological advancements, your research should address broader organizational, institutional, or technological questions to comprehensively tackle climate challenges, for example:

• How can we build innovation ecosystems that facilitate the development of CDR technologies?
• Which policy designs enhance – or hinder – the adoption of CDR?
• What are effective governance structures for carbon markets to support CDR?
• How can entrepreneurship & finance contribute to scaling CDR technologies?
• Which role could CDR play in companies’ climate strategies?

Your profile fits particularly well with our ongoing research if you have worked on novel CDR methods with a technology aspect such as direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS) or bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).

Your work is scientifically rigorous and at the same time relevant to industry and policymakers. An integral part of your work consists of advising PhD and master students. By supporting some of the group’s diverse teaching activities, you are directly contributing to SusTec’s innovative approach to sustainability and helping bridge research and learning. Further, you will have the opportunity to contribute to shaping the group’s strategy, involve yourself in crafting funding proposals and gain experience in leading research projects and teams.

“In general, postdoctoral researchers at ETH Zurich have a full-time employment. A part-time employment may only be considered in exceptional cases (e.g. child- or familycare, other projects or employment).”

The Computer-Assisted Drug Design (CADD) group of the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) at ETH Zürich, is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to work in tight collaboration with Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED) at Roche Innovation Center Basel. The CADD group focuses on developing innovative concepts, algorithms, and software for rapid identification of bioactive tool compounds and pharmaceutical lead structures. Our research leverages AI for drug discovery and design, advancing machine learning methods to tackle diverse challenges in medicinal and bioorganic chemistry.

As a Postdoc, you will work simultaneously at the D-BSSE located in Basel and at the Roche Innovation Center Basel. Your focus will be on developing and refining deep learning models for reaction prediction within the context of small molecule drug discovery. Your responsibilities include data curation, designing and developing computational methods such as active learning, graph neural networks, language models, and quantum chemistry for condition prediction, substrate prediction, reaction design and classification, yield and binary prediction, substrate screening, and forward and multi-step reaction prediction for library design. This work will be closely coordinated with members of the CADD, Medicinal Chemistry, and CLEL groups to integrate the models into existing workflows.

We are looking for a Postdoc to spearhead metagenomics and computational biology in the Environmental Microbiology group. The candidate will:

• Identify extrachromosomal elements in metagenomic datasets an analyze them in silico
• Establish a metagenomic and computational software infrastructure
• Communicate findings at conferences and through high-quality publications
• Mentor and train graduate, master, and bachelor students

The project adopts a comprehensive experimental perspective on the early-stage development of electrochemical technologies in the sustainable heating and cooling industry. In your work, you are expected to lead the experimental activities to assess the behavior of electrochemical heating or cooling reaction pairs, previously identified as promising candidates, by:

• testing half-reactions in isolation, through various techniques (e.g., linear sweep voltammetry, cyclic voltammetry, and chronoamperometry), aiming at quantifying the voltage-current relations, reversibility and selectivity of the reactions.
• Testing full reactions in prototype electrochemical cooling and heating cells.

You are also expected to lead the modeling activities needed to gain insight into the studied systems and steer their design through, e.g., the development of 1D models able to predict the voltage-current characteristics measured by cyclic voltammetry.

The work will deepen your understanding of the potential of electrochemical cooling and heating technologies. You work on fundamentals and their translation into practice. Collaboration with partners from industry and academia will be crucial for success.