Postdoctoral 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 postdoctoral researchers 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 expected to design their own research line.

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 compliant, contact-rich 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.
• Co-supervise doctoral and Master's students and collaborate daily across the hardware, muscles and machine learning teams.

Required profile

• Completed PhD in mechanical engineering, robotics, mechatronics, electrical engineering, computer science, materials science, bioengineering or a closely related field.
• Deep expertise in at least one area: system building and mechatronics, machine learning and control for physical robots, soft or bio-inspired materials and actuators, tissue engineering and biofabrication, or physics-based simulation.
• Experience taking a system or method from idea to a validated result on real hardware, and evidence of peer-reviewed publications.
• Prior experience mentoring or co-supervising Master's or PhD students; strong written and spoken English.

What we offer

• Support to write your own funding (SNSF Ambizione, Postdoc.Mobility, ERC Starting Grant, Marie Skłodowska-Curie).
• A lab with multi-material 3D printing, a machine shop, an electronics lab, biological labs, tactile skins, over 20 dexterous hands, 12 robot arms and a GPU cluster.
• An initial one-year contract, renewed annually, on the ETH Zurich postdoctoral salary scale.
• Public transport season tickets, car sharing, sports, childcare and pension benefits.

Applications are made online only, as a single PDF containing a cover letter, detailed CV, three references and two to three publications, until November 30, 2026. The process includes an online interview and technical deep dive, followed by a lab visit in Zurich.