Last Date: 11th of February, 2024.
The services offered by the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Clinical Nutrition include the care of outpatients and inpatients with diabetes mellitus, endocrine disorders, overweight / obesity and rare metabolic diseases. Ongoing intensive research in all these areas is performed.
We are inviting applications for a PhD position under the supervision of Prof. Dr. med. Philipp Gerber in the area of human metabolism and nutrition with a technological part in the form of breath analysis. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work on an innovative and interdisciplinary research project. The project focuses on clinical research for the monitoring of prescribed diets in different patient groups. We aim to use existing and novel technologies (e.g., continuous glucose monitoring and breath analysis) to monitor patients longitudinally to better understand individual differences and to help guide diet interventions much better in the future. This project is funded by Innosuisse (Swiss Innovation Agency).
Your responsibilities
Your main task will be to design, organize and conduct clinical studies in the field of human nutrition and metabolism. The goal of these clinical trials is to investigate different patients (e.g., patients with obesity and/or diabetes) during different therapies / interventions (e.g., carbohydrate restriction, ketogenic diet, intermittent fasting) including measurements with a newly developed breath sensor (developed by collaborators). This includes all tasks that are part of conducting a clinical study: drafting and submitting ethics proposals, planning the study, supervising study participants, collecting data and biosamples, analyzing data and writing manuscripts with the aim of publication in high-ranking journals and presentation at international conferences. You get the opportunity to participate in the PhD program in Clinical Science, attend courses and to be involved in teaching activities.
Your profile
- Master’s degree in Medicine, Biomedicine, Biology, or Health Sciences or related with excellent grades
- Fluent in German and English (strict requirement)
- Strong interest in clinical research & novel technologies
- Ability to work both independently and in a team with good communication skills
- High degree of initiative and reliability
- Excellent interpersonal skills and enjoy working with study participants
- Strong analytical skills, statistical knowledge as well as computer application skills (MS Office, statistical software, etc.)
What we offer
Varied, interesting and challenging work embedded within a highly interdisciplinary research team:
- Competitive work environment embedded in an Innosuisse-project
- Flexible and friendly working environment
- Collaborative work with research teams of the ETH Zurich
- Diversity and inclusion are important to us
- Opportunity to participate in international conferences
- Teaching opportunities and supervision of research projects / MSc theses
- Interesting curriculum by the PhD program in Clinical Sciences providing skills in Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Post-doctoral supervision experienced in the field
- Salary according to the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
Place of work
Universitätsspital Zürich, Rämistrasse 100, Zürich, Switzerland
Start of employment
Start date: 1.5.2024 or by arrangement.
Please submit your application by 11th of February. Interviews are planned for the second half of February.
