24 Postdoctoral Fellowship at ETH Zurich, Switzerland

The laboratory of Single-Molecule and Single-Cell Biophysics (BMC) is a research group in the Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (D-ITET) at ETH Zürich led by Prof. Morteza Aramesh. We work in close collaboration with the Laboratory of Biosensors and Bioelectronics (LBB) led by Prof. Janos Vörös.

The BMC group focuses on developing technologies that enable single-molecule and single-cell studies, merging engineering and biophysics to address important biological questions at single-cell level and with a much higher temporal and spatial sensitivity compared to the existing methods. We explore cellular processes like protein secretion and how immune cells combat diseases through their protein repertoire. Our research aims to create devices for monitoring cellular processes, with a particular interest in fluidic devices for sorting and characterizing proteins in low quantities and volumes, secreted from single cells.

The PriME collaboration brings together nine research groups from seven leading universities in Europe and the US. We collaborate towards reaching a quantitative understanding of how the functions of microbial communities emerge from the behaviors of individual microbes and interactions between them. The collaboration focuses on marine microbial communities and aims to uncover principles that govern the dynamics of these fascinating biological systems. 

Within this collaboration, our research group focuses on distributed metabolism in microbial communities – a situation where many community members perform only partial metabolic pathways, and where complete pathways emerge through the exchange of metabolites between members. Our goal is to better understand how selection for proteome efficiency drives the emergence of distributed metabolism, and to elucidate how metabolic interactions at the level of individual cells scale up to determine the dynamics of microbial communities. 

Our project is a joint initiative between the Quantum Device Lab at ETH Zürich and the Hybrid Quantum Circuits Lab at EPFL. This collaboration has secured an Innosuisse grant to advance the capabilities of parametric amplifiers based on superconducting circuits. Both labs have a proven track record of successful research on parametric amplifiers and will assemble a talented team to elevate this research to the next level.

This post-doctoral position offers a unique opportunity to engage in cutting-edge research at the intersection of ethics, public health and the governance of emerging technologies, with a particular focus on digital health and artificial intelligence.

The successful candidate will be expected to:

• Conduct innovative research in the field of bioethics, with a focus on digital health and artificial intelligence
• Contribute to the analysis and development of policies and ethical guidelines related to the integration of emerging technologies in healthcare
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to address complex challenges at the intersection of health, technology, and ethics
• Publish research findings in reputable academic journals and present at relevant conferences

The position is focused on building up a research group in the field of sustainable structural design. The research focusses on three main areas:

• Use of sustainable materials (low-carb, biobased, earth-based, regenerative, reclaimed, …) for structural purposes
• Reducing the amount of material needed for a specific structure by parametrization, optimization, digital fabrication etc.
• Working with the existing building stock as well as reuse of components and materials

We will investigate movement patterns and features of walking outdoors and in the neighbourhoods among vulnerable older adults (suffering from OA as well as at high risk of falling) in order to understand perceptions on interacting with built environment. We will acquire these movement patterns and features using the state-of-the-art inertial measurement units (wearables such as ZurichMOVE or Axivity) sensors. These sensors are equipped with triaxial accelerometers and gyrospcopes and provide assessment of aspects such as impact and swing behaviour during different movements. Specifically we will be addressing the following research questions:

1. What are the kinematic characteristics of walking among older adults with OA and/or previous falls under ecological settings (neighbourhoods)?
2. Do the kinematic characteristics of naturalistic walking predict physical activity rates?
3. Does the design of walkways (including overall layout, e.g. design of curbs, pathways etc and accessibility features e.g. size of the curbs, or height of side walk, ramps vs stairs) impact overall levels of physical activity as well as specifics of walking quality?

N2O is a strong greenhouse gas emitted during microbial N cycling in soils, particularly N-fertilised agricultural soils. Fertiliser use in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is currently relatively low, however increased fertilisation to drive higher agricultural productivity is predicted in the coming decades. There is great potential for implementation of climate smart agricultural techniques in this region to ensure food security while minimising environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions. However, financial investment in sustainable agriculture in SSA is very low, in part due to the scarcity of data, in particular regarding N2O fluxes and emission factors.

This project aims to implement a novel measurement technique to monitor N2O fluxes and isotopic composition at an experimental agricultural site in Eldoret, Kenya, and thus infer N2O production and consumption pathways for the first time in SSA.

In this project, we are focused on advancing scene understanding through onboard sensing, enabling real-time evaluation of the environment for full autonomy and shared control with dynamic path planning. Our goal is to leverage advanced real-time sensor fusion for human modelling for personal mobility devices to achieve highly reactive shared control at different levels of autonomy.

As a team member, you will experience a range of exciting challenges, including multimodal data analysis, developing innovative technologies, and collaborating with leading experts in the field.

Professorship in Pathogen Evolution and the Department of Aquatic Ecology is seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Researcher to study drug resistance evolution in various pathogens through population genetic modelling and pharmacodynamic data analysis.

The project’s first objective is to develop a modular polygenic model that will help us understand the mechanisms underlying drug resistance emergence and propagation, with a focus on ploidy, repro-ductive mode, and lifestyle. The second objective is to extract and analyze a large amount of phar-macodynamic data from various sources and design a user-friendly database. The project website provides more information about the project.

We are looking for a highly motivated post-doctoral researcher with experience in Amazonian languages to join the QUANTA team based at ETH Zürich and led by PI Rafael Núñez. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to interact closely with the other three QUANTA teams based at University of Bergen, Norway (headquarters; PI Andrea Bender), Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany (PI Russell Gray), and University of Bordeaux-CNRS, France (PI Francesco d’Errico).

• The successful candidate will be in charge of investigating in detail quantification and numeral systems in languages and cultures from Amazonia.
• The successful candidate will take part in the research team’s academic and social activities.
• The working language is English.
• The position is full time (41 hours per week) by default, but can be reduced for care-work, health, or wellbeing.

The position is dedicated to research on a project of your choice in the field of interest of the professorship. Academic exchange at the professorship, at the department and beyond is expected. Teaching is expected as well as support in the organization of scientific conferences and other events.

The position is paid according to standard ETH scale. Support for conference travel and research expenses is also available.

Successful participants could use coupled global (CMIP) simulations, design and set up new model experiments using CESM2, nudged circulation simulations or use existing regional model simulations to improve climate scenarios and link them to impacts.

The goal is to develop high-resolution climate information within the framework of the SPEED2ZERO initiative of the ETH domain. Climate scenarios of various types are required to quantify the impact of climate change and extremes on the availability of renewable energy resources and biodiversity in Switzerland and Europe. Novel machine learning models enable the emulation of high-dimensional density distributions and can learn from high-resolution climate model simulations to generate new plausible weather patterns at a much lower computational cost.

Creating realistic computational models of biological neural networks is among the most difficult challenges of neuroscience. However, such models could be extremely useful both in uderstanding how the brain processes and stores information, and also for reducing the vast parameter space of experimental efforts.

At LBB, we have the technology to build well-defined, in vitro networks of living neurons, and interact with them using microelectrode arrays. This provides us with a large amount of highly reproducible data that can be used to validate computational models.

• 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

We are looking for motivated postdoctoral researchers to contribute to this effort. The envisioned research will address: 

1. Lifelong learning and adaptation using digital twins for continuous process optimization in industrial processes, using methods such as reinforcement learning, continual learning, Bayesian optimization and adaptive control. 

2. Development of digital twin-based learning and optimization methods for manufacturing processes such as 3D Printing, laser cutting, precision motion, and robotic manipulation using methods in machine learning, federated learning and optimization.

For both poistions, the results will be demonstrated on real-world advanced manufacturing and robotic systems in collaboration with industrial partners, helping to improve the efficiency and sustainability of their products.

The candidate will be the project coordinator for a running project about circularity in the building sector with a team of 15 researchers.

The candidate will co-supervise two doctoral students of the Ecological Systems Design Group and collaborate with them on the development of frameworks for assessing circular economy strategies. This will entail utilizing methodologies such as life cycle assessment (LCA), material flow analysis (MFA), and statistical analysis. In particular, the following tasks will be performed in collaboration with the two doctoral students: 

• modeling of the embodied and operational energy and emissions of the Swiss building stock using Python programming language;
• conducting LCAs with the Brightway library, as well as MFAs while taking into account spatial and temporal characteristics of the building stock; 
• defining and assessing various scenarios and circular economy strategies, such as increased wood use, increased reuse/recycling of building components and materials, etc;
• developing metrics to assess circularity in the construction sector.

This is a fixed term 3-years postdoc position with a possible start after July 1st 2024. 

The project will involve high-pressure and high temperature experimental work using a laser-heated or externally-heated diamond anvil cell combined with various laser spectroscopic methods (Raman, Brillouin scattering) and synchrotron X-rays to determine the physical properties of deep planetary materials.

The successful candidate is expected to perform high-pressure and high-temperature experimental research in collaboration with group members, to teach, and to undertake infrastructural tasks. 

The position will be based at the Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology, ETH Zurich (Prof. Motohiko Murakami).