PhD: High-Throughput Protein Interactions & Mechanobiology

Immigration Policy Lab; Basel; On-site; CHF 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Doctoral stipend

Interdisciplinary lab environment

Conference funding

Job summary

The Nash Lab at ETH Zurich Basel is seeking a Doctoral Student to develop high-throughput analysis of protein–protein interactions. You will work at the interface of protein engineering, mechanobiology, and machine learning, applying sequencing and computational methods to study force-dependent behavior.

Jointly affiliated with ETH Zurich and the University of Basel, the project offers hands-on training across design, data analysis, and predictive modeling, with opportunities to contribute to

Qualifications

• Master's degree in a relevant field (bioengineering, biochemistry, molecular biology, biophysics) and strong quantitative background.
• Hands-on experience with molecular biology and protein expression techniques, plus interest in high-throughput methods.

Responsibilities

• Establish and validate a quantitative, high-throughput assay for measuring mechanical stability of protein-protein interactions.
• Cross-validate high-throughput assay results against AFM measurements.
• Design and construct DNA variant libraries and display them on yeast.
• Apply next-generation sequencing to quantify phenotypes.
• Develop computational pipelines to convert sequencing data into quantitative fitness values.
• Collaborate with a computational biology group to develop ML models.
• Prepare data and manuscripts for publication and present results at lab meetings and conferences.
• Enroll in and complete the D-BSSE Doctoral program in Basel.
• Contribute to undergraduate teaching and practical supervision at the University of Basel.

Skills

Molecular biology

Protein engineering

Python / data analysis

Machine learning

Yeast display

AFM / single-molecule biophysics

Directed evolution

Team collaboration

Education

Master's degree in bioengineering/biochemistry

Tools

AFM

Next-generation sequencing

Python

Job description

The Nash Lab at ETH Zurich Basel is seeking a Doctoral Student to develop high-throughput analysis of protein–protein interactions. You will work at the interface of protein engineering, mechanobiology, and machine learning, applying sequencing and computational methods to study force-dependent behavior.

Jointly affiliated with ETH Zurich and the University of Basel, the project offers hands-on training across design, data analysis, and predictive modeling, with opportunities to contribute to