Postdoctoral Positions in Robot Learning and Soft, Musculoskeletal, and Biohybrid Robotics ETH Zürich in Switzerland

ETH Zürich’s Soft Robotics Lab in the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems is recruiting several postdoctoral researchers in robot learning and soft, musculoskeletal, and biohybrid robotics. The lab works across four tightly connected directions: soft and musculoskeletal robotics, biohybrid living systems, dexterous manipulation and robot learning, and simulation for embodied AI. The team is especially interested in candidates who either design and build the robots themselves or develop the policies that make those robots work in the real world.

The research environment is highly interdisciplinary and hands-on. Projects may involve compliant mechanisms, tendon-driven and electrohydraulic actuation, anthropomorphic hands, tactile sensing, imitation learning, diffusion policies, reinforcement learning, sim-to-real transfer, physics-based simulation, tissue engineering, bioprinting, and closed-loop control of living or soft actuators. The lab emphasizes taking ideas from concept to validated hardware, with rapid prototyping, measurement, iteration, and collaboration between hardware, biology, and machine learning researchers.

For systems-focused applicants, the role can include mechanism design, compliant structures, actuator development, tendon routing, embedded electronics, motor control, sensing integration, CAD-to-fabrication workflows, and long-term hardware validation. For learning-focused applicants, the work can include policies for contact-rich robotic manipulation, real-world reinforcement learning, perception for compliant robots, multimodal representations combining touch and vision, and benchmark development. For biohybrid researchers, the lab offers access to biological laboratories at ETH Zürich for culturing, bioprinting, and turning tissue into controllable actuators.

The position is hosted at ETH Zürich in Zurich, Switzerland. The lab provides state-of-the-art fabrication and test facilities, including multi-material 3D printing, a machine shop, an electronics lab, biological laboratories, robotic hands and arms for data collection, tactile skins, and dedicated GPU computing resources. The appointment begins with an initial one-year contract, renewable annually, and most postdocs stay two to four years. The lab also supports independent career development and external funding applications such as SNSF Ambizione, Postdoc.Mobility, ERC Starting Grant, and Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowships.

Applicants should hold a completed PhD in a relevant field and demonstrate strong publication records, real-world experimental experience, and the ability to work across disciplinary boundaries. The application is reviewed on a rolling basis until 2026-11-30. Candidates must submit their materials through ETH’s online portal as a single merged PDF.