Entrepreneurial PhD position – Microfluidic Perfusion Instrument for Retinal Models

Microfluidics Innovation Center; Paris; Hybrid; EUR 42,000 - 48,000; Full time

Job summary

The Microfluidics Innovation Center (MIC) in Paris invites talented PhD candidates to join the MSCA Doctoral Network PANDORA. You will develop a benchtop microfluidic instrument to keep retinal tissue alive outside the body and integrate sensors, feedback loops, and culture control.

Start date is April 2027, with an emphasis on market-driven research and entrepreneurship. You will address AMD modeling, work with end-users, and prepare IP while collaborating across an intersectoral team within

Qualifications

• Master's degree in physics, engineering or related field.
• Experience with cell culture, sensors or electronics is desirable.
• Interest in AI-based approaches on technical subjects.
• Fluency in English; French is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Bring a new product to the market before the end of your PhD.
• Develop a benchtop microfluidic instrument to model retinal tissue outside the body.
• Collaborate with consortium partners and translate user needs into engineering specs.

Skills

English fluency

Initiative

Interdisciplinary

Analytical thinking

Creativity

Education

Master's degree in physics, engineering or related fields

Tools

Python

CFD simulations

3D CAD

3D printing

Sensors/electronics

Job description

Entrepreneurial PhD position – Microfluidic Perfusion Instrument for Retinal Models

Publication Date

October 13, 2026

Contract

CDD

42,000 € /year (48,000 € with family allowance, if eligible)

Start

April 2027

Your microfluidic SME partner for Horizon Europe

We take care of microfluidic engineering, work on valorization and optimize the proposal with you

Do you want to experience more than the academic world?
You want to combine entrepreneurship and a PhD?
You feel ready to jump into an interdisciplinary research project?

IMPORTANT: You must not have lived, worked or studied in France for more than 12 months in the 3 years before your start date, and you must not already hold a PhD (see full eligibility criteria below).

About the MIC

Our vision

A major technological revolution is underway in the world of biotechnology, which is accelerating progress in medicine like never before. Microfluidics is one of the cornerstones of this revolution.

Our mission

To accelerate the biotech revolution by developing innovative microfluidic prototypes within EU consortia, transforming them into market-ready products, and fostering the creation of deep-tech startups.

Our company

The Microfluidics Innovation Center (MIC) is a French SME based in Paris, created in 2011 and fully independent since 2024. Ten deep-tech startups have been spun out of our technologies to date. We are passionate, selective and demanding. In return, we offer you a dynamic and challenging work environment, and the possibility of career and personal development with no other limits than your own.

Our culture

• No ordinary job, no ordinary days. We act! We think like generals and act like wildlings. We always seek to innovate in a way no one else would. Our vision and our passion drive us, as well as our clan and our mission.
• No single player either, we care about and for one another. Together, we are crossing an ocean to fulfill our mission; only sticking together will let us withstand the storms!

About the PhD position

A PhD at MIC has little to do with a typical PhD. You will be immersed in an SME with a strong entrepreneurial and innovative spirit, and you will be part of the action from day one.

Your mission

To bring a new product to the market before the end of your PhD. Besides the science, you will learn hands‑on how to identify a market, get in touch with end‑users, translate their needs into engineering specifications and a real product, and secure the IP at every step. This experience will allow you to learn the basics of entrepreneurship and market‑driven research.

The scientific project

PANDORA is an MSCA Doctoral Network of 13 PhD students studying the role of the complement system in Age‑related Macular Degeneration (AMD), the main cause of blindness in the elderly, and developing new ways to model and treat it. Your project is the development of a benchtop microfluidic instrument that keeps living retinal tissue alive outside the body for weeks. Unlike conventional static culture, where the medium is exchanged by hand every couple of days, your platform will recirculate the medium continuously through a closed loop, and you will build it from MIC’s flow control technology, integrating sensors and feedback loops to give full control of the culture microenvironment. A key research question is how to recreate the low‑oxygen conditions of the diseased retina, turning the platform into a disease model in its own right. You will validate it with consortium partners on retinal organoids and living retinal explants, including combination drug treatments, and evaluate its path to market.

Your main project will be carried out at our MIC headquarters in Paris under the supervision of Dr. Lisa Muiznieks.

Your profile to become the rockstar of the team

• You have a master’s degree (or equivalent) in physics, engineering (bioengineering, mechatronics, engineering physics etc) or related fields.
• Ideally experience with one or more of the following:
• Cell culture (3D cultures or organoids)
• Sensors or electronics
• Python
• CFD simulations
• 3D CAD and 3D printing
• Strong interest in applying AI‑based approaches on technical subjects (experience desirable)
• You are scientifically rigorous, creative, practical and results‑driven.
• Fluency in English (IELTS 6.5 or equivalent for non‑native speakers)
• Knowledge of French is a plus, but not required.
• You can think “outside the box” to find simple solutions to complicated problems, you like to tackle complex problems and bring your own proposals to the team.
• You don’t like routine, you take initiative and you’re able to quickly adapt to changes in direction.
• You want a job that makes sense, want to see the outcome of your PhD in the real world and not only on a lab shelf.
• At MIC, we like: Action; creative, autonomous and curious people, team players. Those who act more than they talk, people who challenge themselves and yet care about others. Those who question themselves, those who want an intense and contrasted life.

Eligibility criteria

The applicant:

• shall not have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies etc.) in France for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the recruitment date (unless as part of a compulsory national service or a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention).
• shall not already be in possession of a doctoral degree (*).
• can be of any nationality.

(*) researchers who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree will not be considered eligible

Selection process

Doctoral candidates will be selected based on scientific qualification and experience, research interest, additional knowledge/skills and their motivation to participate in an intersectoral research‑training program. The position is recruited in line with Open, Transparent, Merit‑based (OTM) recruitment.

Why should you join us?

Because you want to conduct your PhD in a stimulating environment and to create new marketable microfluidic innovations!

How to apply?

Applications will be accepted via [e-mail].

For the application, please prepare one PDF including:

• Detailed CV
• Motivation letter (max. 2 pages). The motivation letter should indicate your level of English and the name and contact details of two previous mentors or collaborators who can act as references.
• Mobility declaration: a list of all places (city/ country is sufficient) you have lived in for the past 3 years, with dates (MM/YY) and main reason for stay (e.g. work/ study/ family) (short vacations do not need to be declared).

Recruitment calendar

Call opening: 12.10.2026

Deadline for applications: 13.11.2026 (18:00 h CET)

Remote evaluation and interviews: November/ December 2026

Start date of the fellowship: by April 2027

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out at [e-mail]

We are looking forward to your application!

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska‑Curie grant agreement no. 101312030 (PANDORA).