"PhD Position on "Antimicrobial Materials as Antibiotic Alternatives in Dentistry""

Materials science and technology are our passion. With our cutting-edge research, Empa's around 1,100 employees make essential contributions to the well-being of society for a future worth living. Empa is a research institution of the ETH Domain.

The Nanomaterials in Health Lab is a truly interdisciplinary environment that conduct pioneered investigations in nanomedicine. We are active in:

• Provide key contributions to novel personalized strategies of particles design for drug delivery, imaging, or diagnosis.
• Characterize, understand, the interaction of particulate materials with cells or tissues.
• Pioneered investigations on particle bio-functionalization, particles uptake, accumulation, translocation across biological barriers and their bioresponses.

PhD Position on "Antimicrobial Materials as Antibiotic Alternatives in Dentistry"

Your tasks

• Synthesize photoactive nanozymes: Ensure reproducibility and scalability; modify surface chemistry for biocompatibility and stability.
• Formulate and optimize solution: Integrate nanozymes into a clinically relevant solution formulation; characterize physicochemical properties.
• Understand and tune the enzymatic activities: You will correlate the different enzymatic activity of the nanomaterials with their structure and functionalization.
• Phototherapy evaluation: Study activation under NIR light and assess catalytic and photothermal performance.
• Biomedical evaluation: Validate efficacy in vitro astrocytoma relapse models and ex vivo patient-derived tissue samples.

Your profile

Completed Master’s degree in biomaterials, chemistry, nanotechnology, or biomedical engineering.

• Experience in nanomaterial synthesis and characterization.
• Familiarity with cell culture, 3D models and in vitro assays.
• Experience in phototherapy, programming and large data analysis is a plus.
• Excellent communication skills and fluency in English (written and oral).

Our offer

The project is planned for 3 years with the potential to be prolonged and will be carried out as a PhD thesis. It is supported by Empa under the supervision of Dr. Giacomo Reina (scientific supervisor) and in collaboration with PD Dr. Isabel Hostettler (Kantonsspital St. Gallen). The candidate will perform research at Empa in St. Gallen with joint affiliation to ETH Zürich (D-HEST, Prof. Peter Wick). Desired starting date: May 1, 2026 or up-on mutual agreement. We live a culture of inclusion and respect. We welcome all people who are interested in innovative, sustainable, and meaningful activities – that's what counts.

We live a culture of inclusion and respect. We welcome all people who are interested in innovative, sustainable and meaningful activities - that's what counts.

We look forward to receiving your complete online application including a letter of motivation, CV, certificates, diplomas and contact details of two reference persons. Please submit these exclusively via our job portal. Applications by e-mail and by post will not be considered.