Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering
The Khammash Lab at ETH Zurich is seeking a motivated and skilled technician to join our interdisciplinary team working at the interface of synthetic biology, control engineering, and immunoengineering.
This position is part of our newly funded ERC Advanced Grant, which aims to develop genetically engineered feedback control circuits in human T cells to tackle challenging diseases. The successful candidate will work closely with a team of engineers and biologists to design, clone, and test synthetic circuits in primary human T cells, and help translate these circuits into functional cellular therapies.
Job Responsibilities
- Engineering, transducing, and characterizing primary T cells with synthetic genetic circuits.
- Optimizing and executing protocols for retroviral or lentiviral transduction, cell culture, and immune functional assays.
- Supporting the development of in vivo models, such as adoptive T-cell transfer in mice, for preclinical testing of engineered circuits where relevant.
- Collaborating closely with molecular biologists, computational modelers, and clinical and preclinical research partners.
- Documenting results clearly and contributing to publications and presentations.
- Providing technical support and troubleshooting in T cell culture, molecular cloning, and viral production workflows.
Qualifications
- MSc/BSc in biological sciences or a related area, with extensive hands-on experience.
- Strong practical background in primary T-cell isolation, culture, transduction (retroviral/lentiviral), and flow cytometry.
- Hands-on experience with viral vector production (e.g., lentivirus, retrovirus) and/or non-viral gene delivery tools such as PiggyBac or Sleeping Beauty is highly desirable.
- Experience with murine models, especially adoptive cell therapy, is a strong asset but not mandatory.
- Experience with engineering allogeneic T cell products is a strong plus.
- Excellent laboratory and organizational skills; ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative team.
- Good communication skills in English.
In addition to the technical skills, the candidate is expected to have social and leadership competencies needed for a positive work culture, including acting responsibly, nurturing well-being, driving innovation, living inclusivity, building bridges, and enabling people.
What We Offer
- A stimulating, supportive, and international research environment at ETH Zurich.
- The opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge research at the interface of control engineering, synthetic biology, and medicine.
- Competitive salary according to ETH standards.
- Access to state-of-the-art facilities and world-class collaborators.
We look forward to receiving your online application using the form below.
Note: Only applications matching the job profile will be considered.
For further information about the department, please visit our website. Questions regarding the position should be directed to Prof. Mustafa Khammash at mustafa.khammash@bsse.ethz.ch (no applications).
Please be aware that the pre-selection is carried out by the responsible recruiters and not by artificial intelligence.
For recruitment services, the GTC of ETH Zurich applies.