Beschreibung
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Doctoral Position in Soft and Musculoskeletal Robotics, Biohybrid Systems, and Robot Learning
The Soft Robotics Lab within the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at ETH Zurich is inviting applications for open doctoral positions. Our lab's goal is to build, model, and control robots in a fundamentally different way, so that they become more flexible, dexterous, capable, and adapt better to their environment. We work along four directions: soft and musculoskeletal robotics, biohybrid living systems, dexterous manipulation and learning, and simulation for embodied AI. We are looking for exceptional researchers in any of them.
We do not hire against a narrow project description. We hire people who will define their own. Tell us which of our directions you want to push, and why you are the person to push it.
Project background
Today's robots are mostly rigid, fragile, and a world apart from the agility and resilience of biological bodies. Our bet is that the next generation of robots will be soft, musculoskeletal, and in part alive. They will be built to make contact with the real world rather than to avoid it. We pursue this across four directions, and a strong candidate will find a home in one of them and borrow from the others.
Soft and musculoskeletal robotics. We build bodies from compliant structures, bones, joints, and tendon-like actuation. Our electrohydraulic musculoskeletal leg jumps, moves fast, and adapts to terrain at roughly 1.2% of the energy a motor-driven leg needs (Nature Communications, 2024). Our low-voltage HASEL actuators run near 1100 V, are safe to touch, and work untethered and underwater (Science Advances, 2024). We recently extended these muscles to full antagonistic motion ranges (ICRA 2025) and to a sensorless, inherently compliant anthropomorphic hand driven entirely by electrohydraulic actuation (IROS 2026).
Biohybrid living systems. We grow engineered muscle and use it to actuate machines. We bioprinted multicellular muscle-tendon units that transmit force along a real musculoskeletal path (Science Advances, 2025), embedded sensors directly into muscle for closed-loop control of proprioceptive biohybrid robots (Advanced Intelligent Systems, 2025), and established functional volumetric bioprinting with xolography (Advanced Materials, 2026). Co-optimized volumetric muscle designs for large dynamic deformations are in press at Nature Communications (Balciunaite et al., 2026). The same fabrication line reaches clinical work: with University Hospital Zurich we printed implantable reinforced cardiac tissue patches (Advanced Materials, 2025).
Dexterous manipulation and learning. We build hands and the policies that run them. One of our initial hand designs is now commercialized through our spin-off Mimic Robotics. ORCA is our open-source, reliable, and cost-effective anthropomorphic hand for uninterrupted dexterous task learning (IROS 2025). On top of that hardware we work on cross-embodiment skill transfer through latent action diffusion (ICRA 2026) and on sample-efficient policy fine-tuning directly on the real robot. We also build controllable dexterous world models, high-resolution sensorized skin (ICRA 2024), and a benchmark of dexterity for anthropomorphic hands.
Simulation, fabrication, and embodied AI. Building these robots requires tools that did not exist. Vision-Controlled Jetting prints rigid skeletons, soft tissue, tendons, and sensors in one pass, including a full musculoskeletal hand and forearm (Nature, 2023). We close the sim-to-real gap with learned residual physics (RA-L, 2024, Best Paper Award), and we released SORS, a modular high-fidelity soft-robot simulator, at RoboSoft 2026.
Underwater and aerial systems run through all of this, from SoFi and tendon-driven swimmer digital twins to our open-source soft aerial manipulation platform (CoRL 2024).
Job Description
Depending on your direction, your work will emphasize different parts of the following. All of it happens in a lab where hardware, biology, and learning sit in the same room.
- You will take a research idea from concept to a working system: designing the architecture, building it, integrating sensing and control, and validating it through systematic real-world experiments
- Each design cycle feeds the next, so rapid prototyping, measurement, and iteration sit at the heart of every project
- Drawing inspiration from biological musculoskeletal systems, you will engineer how bones, joints, tendons, and muscles can be recreated with compliant materials, artificial actuators, or living tissue, and how their interplay produces strength, dexterity, and robustness
- You will build robots that derive much of their capability from their embodiment, achieving rich, adaptive behavior with less reliance on complex centralized control
- If your focus is learning, you will develop control and perception methods that work on real, compliant, contact-rich hardware, not only in simulation, and you will help define the benchmarks that make such claims measurable
- If your focus is biohybrid systems, you will work in our biological laboratories at ETH, culturing and bioprinting tissue and turning it into a controllable actuator
- You will publish at the top venues in the field, release open-source hardware and code where it helps the community, and present your work internationally
- Close, day-to-day collaboration across our hardware, muscles, and machine learning teams is expected and is what makes this work possible
Profile
- You are extremely curious, highly motivated, greatly independent, and you want to make a real difference with your research
- You work best when you are in a team, you are respectful and thrive when you can collaborate with others and provide support
Through your prior experiences, you have ideally already shown your understanding and skills in:
- 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 of: hands-on system building (CAD, 3D printing, machining, molding, electronics, robot integration), machine learning and control for real robots, soft or bio-inspired materials and actuators, tissue engineering and biofabrication, or physics-based simulation
- A bias toward action: you like to build, test, break, and iterate quickly rather than stay purely in simulation
- Prior research experience demonstrated through a Master's thesis, research project, or equivalent work, with strong written and spoken English
- Strong motivation for interdisciplinary, experimental research and the curiosity to develop new skills throughout the Doctorate
- A collaborative, supportive mindset and the drive to make a real difference with your research
- A clear idea of what you would want to work on with us, and why it matters
Nobody arrives with all of this. Show us the few things you are already good at and the appetite to learn the rest.
We offer
- Your job with impact: Become part of ETH Zurich, which not only supports your professional development, but also actively contributes to positive change in society
- You can expect numerous benefits, such as public transport season tickets and car sharing, a wide range of sports offered by the ASVZ, childcare and attractive pension benefits
- A world-class lab with state-of-the-art fabrication facilities, our own biological laboratories, dexterous robotic hands and arms, and compute for large-scale learning
- A multidisciplinary team of mechanical engineers, materials scientists, biologists, and machine learning researchers, embedded in the broader robotics ecosystem at ETH Zurich
- Strong ties to industry and to our spin-offs, and support for turning your research into something that leaves the lab
Working, teaching and research at ETH Zurich
We value diversity and sustainability
In line with our values, ETH Zurich encourages an inclusive culture. We promote equality of opportunity, value diversity and nurture a working and learning environment in which the rights and dignity of all our staff and students are respected. Visit our Equal Opportunities and Diversity website to find out how we ensure a fair and open environment that allows everyone to grow and flourish. Sustainability is a core value for us – we are consistently working towards a climate-neutral future.
Curious? So are we.
We Look Forward To Receiving Your Online Application With The Following Documents As a Single Merged PDF Document, Titled With Your Last Name And Initials As Well As The Application Date (for Example, 20230701_DoeJane_application) In The Following Order
- Cover letter with a description of your research achievements and research interests, naming the research direction you want to pursue with us
- Detailed CV
- Transcripts of all degrees (English)
- Names and contact information of at least three references
- Representative published research work (e.g., papers and thesis)
Further information about our group can be found on our website. Questions regarding the position should be directed to Federica Poltronieri, federica.poltronieri@srl.ethz.ch (no applications).
Please note that we exclusively accept applications submitted through our online application portal. Applications via email or postal services will not be considered.
The application deadline is on a rolling basis, we have several Doctoral Positions to fill in the next months. Start date by agreement, but not later than mid next year.
About ETH Zürich
ETH Zurich is one of the world’s leading universities specialising in science and technology. We are renowned for our excellent education, cutting-edge fundamental research and direct transfer of new knowledge into society. Over 30,000 people from more than 120 countries find our university to be a place that promotes independent thinking and an environment that inspires excellence. Located in the heart of Europe, yet forging connections all over the world, we work together to develop solutions for the global challenges of today and tomorrow.
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