PhD Opportunities in Agriculture in Switzerland

The University of Basel is offering a PhD position in the Plant Microbe Interactions research group within the Department of Environmental Sciences. The project examines how complex soil microbiomes influence plant growth and defence, with a focus on the genetic and immune mechanisms that allow some plant genotypes to benefit from particular microbiome communities. As part of the Swiss National Science Foundation project “Decoding plant growth in response to complex soil microbiomes” , the docto...

The University of Bern is offering two fully funded PhD positions in plant community ecology and ecosystem functioning , beginning in March 2027. The project, “Effects of transient plant species on ecosystem functioning and soil microbial communities, using the PaNDiv grassland field experiment,” will investigate how temporary or transient plant species influence the functioning of grassland ecosystems and associated soil microbial communities. The research connects plant community ecology with ...

The University of Fribourg in Switzerland is offering a full-time, ERC-funded PhD position in the Department of Chemistry within Pascal Bertsch’s group and the ERC Starting Grant project GI-CORONA. The doctoral researcher will formulate lipid-based colloids, including emulsions, liposomes and lipid nanoparticles, and investigate how these systems digest in the gut and which proteins form their gastrointestinal “biocorona.” The project aims to use this knowledge to design improved oral drug-deliv...

Doctoral Position in Groundwater Microbial and Viral Ecology and Environmental Bioinformatics at ETH Zürich The Geomitigation of Greenhouse Gases group at ETH Zürich is recruiting a highly motivated doctoral candidate to join a newly funded SNSF interdisciplinary project. The project examines how microbial and viral communities shape carbon cycling in groundwater systems, combining environmental microbiology, microbial ecology, viral ecology, environmental genomics, hydrogeochemistry, and bioinf...

Doctoral Position in Environmental Microbiology at ETH Zurich The Environmental Microbiology group led by Prof. Marie Schölmerich in the Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich is recruiting for a fully funded 4-year PhD position . The project is embedded in the interdisciplinary NCCR Genesis network, which connects microbiology with geochemistry, planetary science, physics, chemistry, and origin-of-life research. This doctoral project focuses on the physiology and bioenergetics ...

EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland is offering a full-time PhD position within the Plant Ecology Research Laboratory (PERL) focused on forest ecophysiology , remote sensing , forest ecology , and plant responses to drought . The project will study how forest canopy temperature and spectral properties reflect tree physiological responses to increasing atmospheric drought and soil water limitation. The research combines field ecophysiology, forest drought experiments, thermal and spectral remote sensin...

PhD position in Bottom-up Bioenergetics and Cell Metabolism at the University of Bern This PhD project sits at the interface of synthetic biology, biochemistry, bioenergetics, cell metabolism, membrane proteins, enzymology, and quantitative modelling . The work focuses on building cell-like systems from defined molecular components, with an emphasis on ATP and NAD(P)H regeneration, coupling energy modules to metabolic and biosynthetic pathways, and creating increasingly cell-like compartments in...

Fully funded PhD opportunity in Accounting at the University of Zurich , starting August 2027 . The program takes an economics-based approach and welcomes applicants interested in financial accounting, disclosure, capital markets, managerial accounting, incentives, performance measurement, corporate governance, disclosure regulation, sustainability, and the intersection of accounting, economics, and finance. Students will begin with Year 1 foundational coursework and move into research from Year...

The Swiss Nanoscience Institute (SNI) at the University of Basel is inviting applications for 6 fully funded PhD positions in the SNI Nanoscience PhD program. These projects span a broad nanoscience portfolio, including quantum physics , chemistry , materials science , nanotechnology , biochemistry , cell biology , and nanomedicine . Example topics include circuit quantum electrodynamics in atomically thin nanoelectronic devices, nano photonics with fibre cavities, nanopore detection of nanoclus...