Doctoral Researcher - Robot Learning and Soft Robotics

About the role

The Soft Robotics Lab at the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems, ETH Zurich, is recruiting several doctoral students in robot learning and soft, musculoskeletal and biohybrid robotics. The lab builds, models and controls robots that are flexible, dexterous and better adapted to their environment, working on soft and musculoskeletal robotics, biohybrid living systems, dexterous manipulation and robot learning, and simulation for embodied AI. Candidates are asked to choose one of these directions; the thesis topic is shaped together in the first months.

Key responsibilities

• Take a research idea from concept to a working system: design the architecture, build it, integrate sensing and control, and validate it with real-world experiments.
• If focused on systems design, design and build robots: mechanisms, compliant structures, actuators, tendon routing, embedded electronics, motor control and sensor integration.
• If focused on learning, develop policies and perception for real, compliant hardware: imitation learning, reinforcement learning and fine-tuning, sim-to-real transfer, and multimodal representations using touch and vision.
• Help define benchmarks for dexterous manipulation and publish at top venues, releasing open-source hardware and code where helpful.
• Supervise semester and Master's projects and collaborate daily across the hardware, muscles and machine learning teams.

Required profile

• A completed or nearly completed Master's degree in mechanical engineering, robotics, mechatronics, electrical engineering, computer science, materials science, bioengineering or a closely related field.
• Depth in at least one area: hands-on system building and mechatronics, machine learning and control for real robots, soft or bio-inspired materials and actuators, tissue engineering and biofabrication, or physics-based simulation.
• Evidence of taking work through to a result on real hardware, such as a thesis, semester project, competition team or internship.
• Substantial project or thesis work readable, and ideally a publication or preprint.
• Strong written and spoken English, motivation for interdisciplinary experimental research, and a clear idea of what you want to work on.

What we offer

• Weekly one-on-one supervision, a lab in one space, and co-supervision by senior doctoral students and postdocs.
• Conference travel budget and a fully funded doctoral position at ETH Zurich's competitive salary rate, with full social benefits.
• An initial 18-month contract, extended annually, with coursework of the D-MAVT programme and some teaching.
• Public transport season tickets, car sharing, sports, childcare and pension benefits.

Applications are made online only through the university's application portal, as a single PDF containing a cover letter, CV, transcripts, a Master's thesis or project report, up to two publications and two references. Applications are reviewed until November 30, 2026, and the process includes an online interview, a technical deep dive and a lab visit in Zurich.