Nature-inspired Microengineering – MEMS with an strong simulation background
Nature-inspired Microengineering – MEMS with an strong simulation background
About us
We are developing Wear & Forget® wearables for continuous sweat biochemistry monitoring, combining on-demand sweat extraction with aptamer-based biosensing. Based at the Lausanne Biopôle, we are a small, multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers (fewer than 20 FTEs) driven by a shared passion for impact. We thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment where creativity, scientific excellence, and rapid iteration are at the core of everything we do.
The role
We're looking for exceptional PhD graduates, final-year PhD candidates (graduating within the next 3 months), postdoctoral researchers, or early-career scientists to lead the development of next-generation aptamer technologies for hormone sensing.
You have a strong background in aptamers, biosensing, chemistry, biochemistry, chemical biology, biomedical engineering, materials science, or a related field. You'll lead the discovery, optimisation and validation of aptamers for the selective detection of hormonal biomarkers in sweat, ensuring robust molecular recognition, specificity and performance for integration into next-generation wearable biosensing platforms.
We're especially excited to meet candidates with hands-on experience in aptamer development, aptamer-based biosensors, or nucleic acid affinity probes.
Responsibilities
- Perform SELEX and post-SELEX optimisation of aptamers for hormone target
- Design and optimise aptamer candidates using computational approaches where appropriate
- Work closely with the biosensing team to evaluate aptamer performance, including sensitivity, selectivity, affinity, and regeneration
- Develop and optimise binding assays, analyse experimental data, and establish performance benchmarks for aptamer candidates
- Evaluate aptamer performance in sweat, interstitial fluid models, and other physiologically relevant matrices
- Stay current with advances in aptamer engineering, biosensing and molecular diagnostics, bringing new approaches and ideas into the team
- Contribute to mentoring and development of junior team members within the biosensing team
- Contribute to scientific publications, intellectual property generation and technology development
About you
- You have a PhD (or are close to completion), postdoctoral experience, or equivalent research experience in chemistry, biochemistry, chemical biology, biomedical engineering, materials science, or a related discipline
- You have worked on aptamer development, including SELEX, post-SELEX optimisation, aptamer characterisation, or the development of aptamer-based sensing assays
- You have experience understanding and optimising molecular recognition performance, including affinity, specificity, stability and target-binding behaviour
- You are familiar with DNA nanotechnology
- You are comfortable with independently planning, executing and interpreting complex experimental programmes
- You communicate scientific findings clearly and collaborate effectively within multidisciplinary teams
Nice to have:
- Experience with electrochemical biosensors, electroaptasensing or other affinity-based sensing platforms
- Familiarity with binding kinetics, affinity techniques such as SPR, BLI, QCM-D or related label-free characterisation methods
- Experience with surface chemistry, biomolecular immobilisation or antifouling strategies for continuous sensing
- Experience with fluorescence-based binding assays and conformational switching measurements
- Experience with HPLC, LC–MS, gel electrophoresis or oligonucleotide quality control
- Familiarity with design of experiments, statistical analysis and data-analysis tools such as Python, R, GraphPad Prism or equivalent
What we offer
- Ownership from day one
- The opportunity to build next-generation molecular sensing technologies with real clinical impact
- Swiss visa and work permit sponsorship for outstanding international candidates
- A fast-moving, highly collaborative team where decisions happen quickly
- Flexible working hours
- Resources, autonomy and trust to do exceptional work
- Access to EPFL's world-class laboratories and research ecosystem
- Direct collaboration with leading scientists and engineers across biosensing, chemistry and device development
- Clear opportunities to grow into technical leadership as the company scales