Katrien De Bock

ETH Zurich is offering a fixed-term postdoctoral-level bioinformatician position in the Laboratory of Exercise and Health , led by Prof. Dr. Katrien De Bock at the Department of Health Sciences and Technology (D-HEST). The role focuses on single-cell and spatial omics in the context of vascular biology , skeletal muscle physiology , and metabolism . The lab investigates how the muscle microvascular niche and specialized endothelial cell subpopulations interact with macrophages, pericytes, fibro-adipogenic progenitors, and other niche cells to maintain muscle homeostasis. The project combines human patient samples , mouse genetic models , single-cell and spatial transcriptomics , and CRISPR-based perturbation and cell-cell interaction tracing to understand how disrupted niche communication contributes to muscle dysfunction. The successful candidate will lead the full single-cell and spatial transcriptomics workflow and work closely with PhD students, postdocs, and Prof. De Bock. Responsibilities include scRNA-seq analysis of human and mouse skeletal muscle samples, cell-state annotation, cross-species integration, multi-omics integration with spatial transcriptomics, ATAC-seq, metabolomics and multiplex imaging, cell-cell communication analysis, metabolic modeling, pseudobulk and differential expression analysis, in silico perturbation, and the development of reproducible bioinformatics pipelines and Shiny apps. Applicants should hold a PhD in bioinformatics, computational biology, computational genomics, or a related quantitative field . Strong hands-on experience with single-cell RNA-seq analysis is essential, and experience with spatial transcriptomics is highly desirable. The role also requires strong programming skills in R and/or Python , familiarity with Bioconductor/scverse tools, version control and collaborative development platforms such as GitHub/GitLab, and experience with high-performance computing . A genuine interest in skeletal muscle physiology and/or vascular biology, strong communication skills, team spirit, and advanced English proficiency are expected. The position offers access to state-of-the-art infrastructure at ETH Zurich, dedicated computational resources, and a highly collaborative, internationally oriented research environment. The salary is competitive and aligned with ETH Zurich regulations. ETH Zurich emphasizes equality, diversity, and an inclusive working culture. Application: Submit your application online via the ETH Zurich portal with a CV, a one-page motivation/research statement, and contact details of two references. Questions about the role may be directed to Prof. Dr. Katrien De Bock at [email protected] . Applications by email or post are not accepted. Institution: ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Deadline: not specified in the posting.